Body Painting: Henna Tattoo

Body Painting: Henna Tattoo By Lieve Lambrechts

Henna tattoos are an ancient custom in India: girls and women are body painted before ceremonies, like marriage. They painted complicated patterns on their hands and feet to symbolize their fertility.

Henna (or ‘Mehndi’, the Indian name) is made from the henna plant (Lawsonia Inermis). The leaves of the plant are dried and ground. The powder gets mixed with water and you get a sort of green-brownish mud. If you put that mud on your skin, let it harden, and then peel it off, you will notice it has left an orange color.

You can get your henna at an eastern shop or a ‘souk’ in many different colors. There’s orange, mahogany, brown and black. The orange one is the traditional henna. The black henna is synthetic. It contains PDD (P-phenylenediamene) and can cause allergic reactions. Even if it doesn’t cause irritations, it’s still unhealthy. Moreover, in the past, black henna at your wedding was considered a disgrace.

Henna Recipe

With one pack of henna, you’ll have enough to body paint the entire football team. Put the henna in a bowl and gently pour some lemon juice and boiling water in the bowl. Don’t use too much water, the mud has to resemble the thickness of sate sauce. The purpose of the lemon juice is to help the color hold better on your skin.

Your skin should be clean, dry and not fat. If you want to color your nails too, they shouldn’t have nail polish on them. Make sure you really want this, because your nails will be orange for about 2 months. It doesn’t come off! When the henna is cold, you can get to painting.

If you want to paint your foot soles, which is a traditional custom in Marokko, make sure you have a pillow of some kind to keep your feet off the floor, before you know it, the henna mud is everywhere! You can apply the henna with all sorts of instruments, what works best is a syringe (without the needle of course).

Symmetric and geometric shapes work best. Don’t make the lines too thin, the color won’t come on to your skin very well. The bigger the surface, the brighter the color will be. Now: the annoying part: Waiting…

Let the henna dry in the sun, the warmth of the sun will get your color deeper into your skin. You can also use a hairdryer.

If you make a mistake in the picture your painting: ACT QUICKLY! If you wipe it off too late, the henna will leave a red spot.

After a while, the henna will start to burst. Don’t peel it off yet! The henna has to stay on for at least two hours. Then you can start removing the crusts of mud.

DON’T remove the henna with water! Just scrape the crusts of your skin, you can do this with a bold knife. Don’t let your body painting get in touch with water for the first couple of hours. Right after you scraped off all the crusts, rub your skin in with olive oil. It will make the color brighter and help keep the color on as long as possible. Your henna painting will survive for about a month or so.

Also nice to know: Swimming, body peeling, scrubbing your back, and bodyscrub products will make the henna tattoo deteriorate faster.

For more information, visit the authors website on body painting.

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Henna Design Is An Ideal Way To Get A Temporary Tattoo

Henna Design Is An Ideal Way To Get A Temporary Tattoo By Richard Davies

Have you ever seen henna design? It’s simply captivating as an art form. It’s used in society as a popular way to produce natural tattoos that are temporary by nature. It harnesses the power of nature and produces beautiful manmade results in the form of temporary tattoos.

Henna designs are rich with colour. Artists that perform henna design often have a portfolio of designs to hand that you can choose from. Find one you like and have it put on you by the artist. There’s no need to worry about any long term effects due to the fact that by nature itself they aren’t long lasting. The artists requirements in terms of what they need to work with is quite minimal. A portfolio design and some henna combined with a large helping of creativity is all that’s needed. The henna design is then drawn onto the subject as per their requirements.

Henna designs tend to last for the longest duration of time on both the hands and feet, so this is where they are most commonly drawn. It is then put on the skin using something such as a brush, then once completed it its wrapped which results in a vibrant colour. Henna designs last anywhere from one to four weeks in duration. This is largely dependent upon what quality of henna paste was used.

Some henna designs can be very finely detailed with great complexity, which you may find surprising for something that is most certainly finite. I guess all good things come to an end, but the great thing is you can get another great design drawn onto you whenever you like. If you decide you do ever want a henna design or a permanent tattoo be sure to check out our site for more great coverage.

Article by Richard Davies at Tattoo And Piercing Information. Discover a diverse range of information all about popular tattoos and piercings for free, including nose rings, tattoo design, tattoo books, piercing supplies and plenty more at Henna Design

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Henna Tattoos – A Natural Way to Decorate Your Body

Henna Tattoos – A Natural Way to Decorate Your Body By Sarah Freeland

Henna tattoos are a natural form of body art – a safe and temporary alternative to getting a real tattoo. Henna tattoo artists use a natural henna ink which is made from powder from the leaves of the henna plant. They make a paste with the henna powder and paint a henna tattoo anywhere on your body.

The tradition of henna tattooing, also called mendhi, has been practiced for millions of years. They have found henna art traces as far as back as the tombs of pharaohs day. Henna tattoo art is still a popular tradition today.

Before applying henna ink to your skin, make sure to test a small amount on your body and check for allergic reactions. Henna tattoos rarely cause reactions in people, but its important to make sure. Once you know the henna ink will not cause a bad reaction, you or your henna tattoo artist can begin the work of art on your skin.

The sky is the limit with the patterns and images of henna tattoos, but the colors are usually limited to dark shades of red, green, brown, or black. This also depends on how your skin reacts since every skin tone will take the henna tattoo ink a little differently.

For more information on henna tattoos and tattoo supplies visit http://www.tattooandpiercingsupplies.com

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First Visit impressions of Morocco

First Visit impressions of Morocco By Philip Suter

Having never visited Morocco or even Africa, I was very excited at the prospect in mid November 2005.

As soon as I boarded the Royal Air Maroc plane at London Heathrow on a late Saturday afternoon I was in another world. Announcements and signage in English French and Arabic. Moroccan stile cuisine and hospitality.

On arrival at the Aeroport Mohammed V after showing you passport several times I was soon on the motorway to Casablanca that is the principal city of the country (but not the capital). It seemed rather like being in France autoroute signage, A French chain owned DIY store, but not so once the taxi had entered Casablanca itself. Here there were people walking out in front of cars, cars just about avoiding other ones and I was\very pleased I was not actually doing the driving, particularly with the lack of seat belts (or even one that worked!).

There is a great French influence in the country it was ruled by the French and Spanish till 1956 and a lot of architecture new and old is very much of the French influence and even the Post boxes are the same shape and yellow colour as in France.

November is probably not the best time of year to visit the country, particularly if you dont want to get wet. The rainy season is from October to November and April to May. On my second day I took the train from Casablanca to Rabat the capital. There is a very efficient and inexpensive rail network that is mainly in the north of the country. Unfortunately just before arriving at the station in Rabat the heavens opened. They had done on the previous day as I explored Casablanca, but the visit to Rabat only lasted just over an hour, because this wasnt rain, it was flash floods and the roads suddenly took on the appearance of rivers. So much for exploring Rabat.

The day before in Casablanca was much more successful. I had spent a while reading a popular traveler’s guide book that helped me understand more about the culture and people. I was not too surprised with offers by people wanting to help, show and ask for money. Men holding hands as they walked along or kissing when they met (like a guard greeting one his passengers) was part of normal life, it happened because they were friends, not a sexual relationship as would be thought of in the west. I also knew that I had to be careful taking photos as many women are not happy about this.

The city has the Mosquee Hassan II a spectacular site, that is built with a glass floor on the shore of the Atlantic Ocean. The minaret is the tallest in the world 200 hundred meters high. The roof also opens and shuts.

Unlike a lot of European countries where taxis are modern vehicles, in Morocco you will find the large Grand taxis that normally travel with as many people legally possible going from town to city and are usually a Mercedes of the 1980s era that will be a certain colour depending on the town or city they are based in. Each town will also have its own coloured Petit Taxi. Theses are normally Peugeots and Fiats (colour coded for each town or city) that most likely started life in the 1980 and 1990s in Europe and were exported south to start a new lease of life as a passenger carrying vehicle for four.

Moving onto Marrakesh ( known as Marrakech locally) by train proved to be very interesting. Paying the additional amount for first class at least guaranteed a comfortable seat, although my limited experience in second class did not prove to have any discomfort. The landscape changes with more and more dryer fields, even cacti being cultivated in places and farmers using ploughs pulled by horses or donkeys. You can see Atlas Mountains in the distance as you come into Marrakesh. Many people decide to stay in the Ville Nouvelle where you will find the western style hotels and even villa complexes a few miles out where you are enclosed from the outside real world. I was staying in a small Riad in the centre off the Djemaa el Fna the large city centre square in the Medina.

A Riad is a type of Guest House that is normally built round a patio garden. Normally some of the rooms are open plan to the elements and there is not so much rain there as nearer the coast. The experience of reaching the destination was varied. A petit taxi to the edge of the Djemaa el Fna and then because taxi are not allowed in after midday you have to hire a porter and cart.

The square is full of mobile restaurants, traders, snake charmers and appears to be very much alive most hours of the day. There are also several panoramic cafs where you can get a superb view day or night of the surrounding scene including the Koutoubia Mosque . If you want to sit there and have a beer or glass of wine think again. Morocco is an Islamic nation so alcohol drinking is not a high priority. Although wine and beer are produced in the country, many cafes and restaurants would only serve light drinks (Coke, orange, mineral water, coffee etc) or the national. drink -mint tea. You certainly would not have a problem in the hotels in the Ville Nouvelle.

The food is generally excellent and very reasonable as well. The traditional Moroccan Tajine (A steam cooked meat stew) and couscous were tried.

The country has great contrasts of wealth and poverty. There are numerous developments being built as holiday homes near to Marrakesh and the three hour drive back to Casablanca to take the plane back home took in the new prosperous areas and past little shantytown areas of small buildings with corrugated iron roofs held down with boulders and each having a satellite dish. The taxi driver made a couple of stops to buy cigarettes. By the side of the road someone would come out with either packets or split packets. On each occasion the driver bought 2 cigarettes.

Jobs are very important, the host at the Riad said that a waiter in a restaurant cannot afford to make mistakes. He knows that there is another million of unemployed people waiting to take the job. There are numerous police about. Normally going around in fours or more. They man roadblocks at the entrances and exits to most towns. This is probably high security or could be giving the employed force more to do.

If you are going there on holiday make sure that you spend your Dirhams before you get to the airport. You wont be able to change themback in the departures area or spend them on drink or tobacco at the Duty Free they only accept euros.

The country is large about the of California USA, there is a lot to see, I would like to visit other cities like Tangier and Fes. Even though it rained in Casablanca and Rabat it was hot dry and sunny in Marrakesh and the last night of 17 degrees centigrade on the roof of the Riad was quite a contrast to 24 hours later back in the south of England that was undergoing one of the first cold spells of the winter.

Philip Suter is a Director of JML Property Services, a UK based company offering Insurance products on line and a holiday home advertising service http://www.jmlvillas.com/ and management training with in the uk. He is a very experienced property consultant with over 30 years work in the Residential letting business and served in the national council of ARLA. He is a Fellow of the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) and a Member of The association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA)

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Experience the Morocco Culture

Morocco has an amazing culture. If you are friendly and courteous enough by nature, then you would soon start making good friends with the local people. Further if this happens you would be invited for a meal, so it is good to maintain some of the local customs. For example, you would normally take off your shoes when entering inside any house. You could follow a host?s example in this regard. Also, it is a fine idea to take a gift of some sort with.

If you are in a home at Morocco, you may take some pastries or some sugar with you. If you are in the county, it might be better to purchase a live chicken for the household that is likely to not be quite so well off. A home call is may be the most bona fide way to sample Moroccan dishes. Most Moroccan foodstuff is eaten with the hands.

Souks are a way of life in Morocco and you can generally wont have to go far to find one for yourself. You could often get good bargains here, but keep in mind that most Moroccans would have a lot more experience than you might when it comes to bargaining the price so you will hardly ever find yourself able to get better than that which is offered.

If you are going for a morocco tour and if you desire to take photographs of the local people, it would be wisest to ask their permission. Taking a photograph of someone with out their authorization ? particularly in rural areas ? could certainly cause offense. On the contrary, taking photographs of someone you have become gracious with is generally very welcome.

In general, Moroccan culture could be very exiting and worldly wise experience. The people are really friendly and the place extremely colorful. Hospitality is really a part of their culture so you can clout up friendships almost anywhere if you have the right attitude. Usually, this results in further friendship with these lively and interesting people and a real taste of Moroccan life. So you can plan for a Morocco tour in the near future for having a life time experience.

About the author:
Ronvictor is a Copywriter of Morocco Tours.He written many articles in various topics such as Morocco Holidays,Cultural Tour . For more information visit: http://www.experienceittours.com. Contact him at ron.seocopywriter@gmail.com

Article Source: http://www.Free-Articles-Zone.com

A Natural Way to Decorate Your Body – Henna Tattoos

Henna tattoos are a natural form of body art – a safe and temporary alternative to getting a real tattoo done on your body. Henna tattoo artists use a natural henna ink which is made from powder from the leaves of the henna plant. The artist make a paste with the henna powder and paint a henna tattoo design anywhere on your body.

The tradition of henna tattooing, also called mendhi, has been practiced for millions of years. They have found henna art traces as far as back as the tombs of Egyptian pharaoh’s day. Henna tattoo art is still a popular natural tattoo tradition today.

Before applying henna ink to your skin, make sure to test a small amount on your body and check for any allergic reactions. Henna tattoos rarely cause these reactions in people, but its important to make sure in case you have sensitive skin. Once you know the henna ink will not cause a bad reaction, you or your henna tattoo artist can begin the work of art on your skin.

The sky is the limit with the patterns, designs and images that can be created with henna tattoos, but the colors are usually limited to dark shades of red, green, brown, or black. This also depends on how your skin reacts since every skin tone will take the henna tattoo ink a little differently. To see how the ink will appear on your skin do a test first to be sure you will get the desired result.

Henna Tattoos Cause Scars

I have read several articles all over the internet claiming that a large amount of people around the world are having severe allergic reactions to henna tattoos. Granted most of these people have traveled out of the United States to somewhere in Asia. A nine year old girl from Greece got a henna tattoo and within hours of getting it, It blistered and when the blisters popped the ink began to scab off. Then it got redder and hotter. They went to a doctor and the docotor advised them to go to a burn unit at the hospital. Doctors are concerned that this temporary tattoo is going to scare this little girl for life.

There is also another horrible story about a 10 year old boy from Australia that is experience something a little different than blisters, very dark hair is growing around the henna tattoo. Dermatologists say these horrible allergic reactions are being caused by the toxic dye para-phenylenediamine, or PPD, that these people are using while giving people these henna tattoos. This toxic dye is similar to the dye that is used in hair dye. Also experts are suggesting that these places in Asia are using black ink and not the traditional brown ink.

So the best advise dermatologists and parents who have children that have had reactions to these henna tattoos is just to avoid them all together, especially if you are out of the country. Also if you notice the ink they are using is black is another huge indication to stay away from them. If you want a fake tattoo just stick to the original temporary ones.

Your Tattoo Friend

Ashley

Essential Oils – What Role Did Arab Physicians Play in the Middle Ages in the Use of Fragrances?

Arab physicians played an important role in the development of medicine especially in the therapeutic use of odors. When the School of Philosophy at Athens was closed because of religious pressure, the works of Galen and Hippocrates had to be smuggled out. By the third century the city of Alexandria became the new Athens where chemists perfected the process of distillation. In the tenth century the physician Avincenna improved this process by inventing the refrigerated coil for the extraction of essential oils, effectively doubling the Arabic production. The Arab influence actually convinced physicians to use essential oils for purifying, restorative and reviving effects. Aromatics were making a comeback. Pleasant odors were linked with ensuring good health and preventing the spread of disease especially during times of plague.

By the Middle Ages, the therapeutic use of the ‘perfumes of Arabia’ had spread all over Europe. Pomanders originating in the East were hollow spheres usually made out of gold or silver and contained solid perfumes which of course only the rich could afford. These were hung around the neck to protect against plagues and other diseases. Many today use aromatic lockets around their necks to help protect against airborne illnesses or to purify the air. In the Middle Ages they would use oils like musk, aloes, cinnamon and ambergris in these little aromatherapy lockets. In Britain, they also used scent boxes and ‘tussie mussies’ which were little posies of aromatic herbs. They also strewed aromatic herbs on their floors-rose petals, lemon leaves, chamomile and other herbs.

Want to know more about essential oils and how they can help us stay healthy? Consider becoming a certified clinical aromatherapist. The Institute of Spiritual Healing and Aromatherapy teaches classes throughout the United States on aromatherapy and energy healing.

The Origin of Culture

The Origin of Culture, Thomas Dietrich, 2005, ISBN 0976498162

Ancient history gets a very different treatment in this book, by looking at the scientific basis behind ancient mythology and astrology.

The country of Ireland deserves a much more important place in ancient history than it has received. According to a compendium of Irish history printed in 1625, the most ancient inhabitants of Ireland were a race of skilled navigators, astronomers and builders of forts and castles called Sea Kings, from Morocco. The Killamerry Cross contains Egyptian, Greek and Roman geometric principles and whose iconography has nothing to do with Christianity (presumably pre-dating Christianity). If one superimposes Da Vinci?s “Vitruvian Man” (the one with four arms), which came several hundred years later, over the Cross, the proportions are exact. The Cross is near a very old observatory at Knockroe. An ancient road was built right through it, so it was abandoned a very long time ago.

There is a cycle of world culture which generally moves from west to east, from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean, where culture is thought to have started. At the same time, there is a cycle of civilization which moves from east to west. Even though they conflict with each other, humanity needs both of them. It?s not good to have one without the other. The ancients were quite sophisticated when it came to astronomy and the universe, knowledge which is only recently being rediscovered. They had no problem thinking in terms of thousands, or tens of thousands, of years. If there is such a thing as the center of world culture, it is a former colony of Atlantis, which is now called Morocco. From there, it moved to Libya, which was once covered with forests, and then to Egypt.

I don?t claim to have understood everything in this book, but I very much enjoyed it. Those who are interested in ancient history will love it. This very interesting book is well worth the time.

Paul Lappen is a freelance book reviewer whose website, Dead Trees Review, has over 700 reviews on all subjects, with an emphasis on small press books.

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