India 72% Dark

The ancient practice of henna art transcends time, religion, and culture, with enormous beauty to be found in the mesmerizing ritual of its expression.  It begins with the henna plant, Lawsonia inermis, a flowering shrub of desert climes believed to have originated in the Middle East and North Africa and dating back to the Neolithic and Bronze Ages. The henna plant carries a history of interconnected uses, particularly within medicine and the arts; beyond this, it is often believed to be a conduit of the divine. The leaves it bears are lance-shaped and green, yet they yield a rich, mahogany-colored powder when dried and ground. This substance forms the base of the revered dye used in the ceremony of mehndi, the adorning-of-the-body with henna paste. Mehndi derives its name from mehndika in Sanskrit, its application woven deeply into the social canon of ritual and festivity of the various regions where it is practiced. Many claim that the art form’s earliest documentation exists in anci