Henna Hands

Henna hand decorations are often painted for a special occasion such as a wedding. In this case the occasion is my departure! There are many beautiful traditional designs - this one is a Gujerati style, and took over 3 hours to paint complete "gloves" on both my hands. The process is like icing a cake with a fine tube of icing, which sets quite crisply, again like icing. You have to protect your gloves overnight, and try not to get them wet until the next day when the set icing natuarally starts to chip away, leaving just the coloured design, which will fade gradually over the next week. Look how tiny and delicate the artist's hands are next to mine! She is not a professional henna artist - it is her hobby!