I had my hand done at Rakkasah. The picture is from the scanner, and I had a terrible time trying to get it in under 50 meg! I've been trying to get a good scan since Monday, and it was getting critical because it's starting to fade already.
The flower in the center is actually round, but I guess I squished my hand funny on the glass.
When I was talking to the guy who was doing the henna, I told him that I had tried it several times on the back of my hand, and it just doesn't take on me - even when it was done by a friend who really does know what she's doing. He said that he has known a few cases of that, but in every case it was people who take flax oil or fish oil supplements.
Surprise. I take fish oil, and I alternate flax oil and lecithin (which my dyslexia pronounces "lethicin", which is embarrassing). Apparently, the oils block the stain from penetrating live skin, so he suggested that we do it on the palm instead of the back, since I'd have a thicker layer of dead skin there.
It did take very nicely, although the paste drying on the palm of my right hand made things very difficult for the last hour of the festival. Just before I left for home (a 2.25 hour drive), he coated it with a mixture of lemon juice and sugar to "seal" it, and keep it from cracking off for another few hours.
My poor van's steering wheel was a sticky mess. I had picked off almost all of the paste before I got halfway up the thruway - it was driving me crazy - and I stopped at a rest area to wash the stickiness off. Underneath, the stain was a nice dark solid red-brown. Very satisfactory.
It's supposed to last up to three weeks, depending on how fast one's skin replaces itself, but I don't think I'll make it anywhere near three. It's already, four days in, fading on the tips of my thumb and forefinger, and in the crease between those two fingers. I'll be lucky to make it 10 days.
If it lasted longer, I'd do it more often. I like it.
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