Find a professional henna tattoo artist near you

Henna is a flowering plant. Once its leaves are harvested, dried, and mashed into a powder mixed with water, tea, and essential oils, it can be used as a paste to dye hair, eyebrows, fingernails, and skin. Back in Ancient Egypt, Egyptians used henna to paint the nails of mummies before their burial. Now, different cultures use and draw henna tattoos in their unique way. 

Henna tattoos usually last on the skin for a week to a few months before they start fading. It all depends on their location, how thick the skin is, and how frequent you wash it. To make your henna tattoo last longer, leave the paste on overnight. You can also use the Indian method of keeping it moist using lemon and sugar.

Like most temporary tattoos, getting a henna tattoo is not at all painful. It doesn't need needles or pricking, which means that you also won't bleed during the application process. Henna tattoo is applied to the surface of the skin using a plastic cone or a piping bag. 

Organic henna is generally safe. But if you have allergies and skin reactions to hair dye products, sunscreen, or tanning products, you should avoid getting one to be safe. Also, watch out for black henna, which contains a chemical that is extremely harmful to the skin. It can cause redness, irritation, swelling, and permanent skin allergy.

Safety-wise, both henna and a permanent tattoo have their advantages and disadvantages. If you prefer getting painless, temporary tattoos, henna is the better option for you. If you have high pain tolerance, and if a particular design means so much to you that you want it on your body for the rest of your life, then a permanent tattoo is your best bet.

It all depends on the complexity of the design. Simplistic designs usually take henna tattoo artists around 30 minutes to complete. Henna tattoos that require extreme details and intricacy, like bridal henna tattoos, can take 6 hours to be finished. If you're conscious of time and want a specific time frame, feel free to ask your tattoo artists so you can set your expectations as well.

The most important thing to do before a henna tattoo session is to know if you have skin allergies, rashes, itching, or any other skin irritation. Colour develops best on bare skin, so you may want to avoid applying creams, gels, lotions, or oil-based skin products before a henna tattoo session. Since waxing, bleaching, or a Moroccan bath session opens the pores, it's also best to not get them before your session to avoid any adverse skin reactions.