Mendhi (Henna)

Mendhi is a common practice in India and nowadays is used to color hair. Mendhi, also known as henna in the States, is made from grounding eucalyptus leaves. A cone is used to apply henna, (similar to icing a cake) if the tip of the cone is small than the lines are thinner and the designs are more intricate. There are books with designs you can select from or you can tell the artist what you prefer and they come up with a design. The artists are quick, in less than 15 minutes both my hands were completed. After the mendhi dries on your hands then fresh lemon is squeezed into a bowl with sugar and rubbed on the hands to bring out the color (turn it a deep red). I also has it applied to my hair, after a couple of hours I rinsed it out and my aunt applied coconut oil, which made my hair silkier.