Looking after your henna

You can see from the henna stain progression chart that henna applied to skin has a magical darkening property, which if looked after well will keep for between 7 -14 days, and sometimes for longer. The following tips will help you keep your stain fresh and strong.

1. The longer the henna paste is in contact with the skin, the stronger the colour will be. For brides I particularly recommend that you keep your henna paste on for at least 9 hours.
2. Your henna stain will be bright orange to begin with, but it will get darker over the next 48 hours. If you are having henna done for a particular occasion, you should bear this timescale in mind, get your henna done 2 days in advance of when you want it to look at its best.
3. If you go swimming, or use bleach products, this will lighten the stain considerably, so avoid this if you want to keep your stain strong.
4. To protect the stain you can shield it using barrier cream or vegetable oil.
5. The stain will last between one week and three weeks, depending on where it is, how often you wash / use that part of the body and your individual skin chemistry.
6. When you want to get rid of the remnants of a stain you can use an every day skin exfoliant to remove it.