HennaTattoos.com » How Does Henna Work?

The Fading Process

Aileen — Tue, 29 May 2007 20:24:36 +0000

Natural Henna Body Art products contain a natural permanent dye, Lawsone. Henna Tattoos only appear to fade away because the skin itself is infact temporary; and so the body naturally regenerates its epidermis (the upper layer of skin) where the Henna Tattoo has been applied.
As the body sheds its dead skin cells naturally, the henna stained epidermal cells are shed and replaced with new skin cells that have not been stained with henna. Hence the Henna Tattoo will begin to gradually fade away, until it has completely disappeared.
On average a Henna Tattoo generally lasts between 10-15 days, it can sometimes take a further 7 days to completely disappear.
The specific fading timescale for a Henna Tattoo is dependent upon the area of your body where it is applied, as well as your skin type and lifestyle at the time.
As a general rule, Henna Tattoos on the face and neck fade away within 1 week because the epidermis is thinner, continuously exposed to the elements and washed and dried more frequently than other areas of the body. Whereas Henna Tattoos on the arms tend to last for around 2 weeks, because the epidermis is thicker, and more protected from the elements etc…
Your lifestyle also effects the fading time of your Henna Tattoo. If you are in and out of swimming pools, saunas & hot tubs etc… you will encourage your body to regenerate its skin at an accelerated rate, hence shortening the lifespan of your Henna Tattoo.

If you want to speed up the fading out time of your henna tattoos, then you can exfoliate your skin to encourage cell regeneration. Don't over do it though, your skin needs to be loved and nurtured.

The Final Colour

Aileen — Tue, 29 May 2007 20:05:59 +0000

After 48 hours you will not see any further colour darkening, the Henna Stain has finished oxidising and reached its optimum colour.
The exact shade of each piece of Henna Body Art is dependent upon each individual's skin type , skin condition and their initial aftercare. The usual colour is within a ‘Burgundy/Brown’ colour range.
Henna works best on the areas of the body with the thickest epidermal layers, like the hands and feet (also knees and elbows). The same rule applies in reverse, where the skin is thinner the stain appears lighter by comparison, like on the neck, collarbone and face.
If you have ‘peeling’ skin from sunburn, or any areas of ‘flaky’ dry skin, then do not apply Henna Paste to those areas; as the colour will appear to peel away or flake off when your skin does, giving a patchy appearance.
When you first remove your Henna Paste, and during the colour development time, you need to be gentle with your skin. Avoid scrubbing, or rubbing it, only use mild soap and warm water when bathing/showering, then gently pat the area dry etc…

The Developing Process

Aileen — Tue, 29 May 2007 19:34:21 +0000

The innitial henna staining takes place during the time that the skin is in contact with the wet henna paste. Where the colour achieved is usually a bright orange shade.
However, the majority of the colour appears, as if by magic, after the henna paste has dried out and been removed.
This development process is due to oxidisation. As the air gets to make contact with the freshly hennaed skin it affects the chemistry of the henna in the epidermal skin. Basically repeating the initial ‘staining’ process an undetermined but finite number of times, actually stopping the process when it reaches its maximum oxidisation (12hours – 48hours)
During this development process the colour of the henna stain moves through shades of bright orange > deep orange > light brown > reddish brown > dark brown.
Individual skin types dictates the specific development time, some people’s Henna Tattoos reach their best colour in the first 12 hours, whilst others can take up to the full 2 days.
It is extremely important to keep your Henna Tattoo dry during the first 12 hours of colour development. If it gets wet during this time it completely stops the colour development.

The Colouring Process

Aileen — Tue, 29 May 2007 19:23:22 +0000

The active ingredient ‘Lawsone’ that occurs naturally in the leaves of the Henna Plant is preserved naturally within the dried henna powder.
The dye begins to work when the Henna Powder is activated by a catalyst, the key component being hot water. Other ingredients have been found to improve ‘hot water’ as a catalyst, such as tea, lemon juice, cloves, essential oils etc.
Once the Henna Paste comes into contact with your skin (or other materials) the dye starts to work and begins to stain the skin.
The Henna Paste needs to stay on the skin for 2 hours to make sure the skin takes on a good colour.
After 2 hours you can remove the Henna paste by brushing it off, you will see an orange coloured design underneath on your skin. You must not wash it or get it wet at this stage, or it will prevent full colour development during the oxidization process.

Of course, you can achieve lighter shades by choice by actively choosing the ‘wet’ your freshly revealed henna design.