Henna Tattoo Review
By Mark
Saturday 12th April 2008, Victoria Hall, Saltaire and the Jewel of Yorkshire was Connie's first Henna day.
Connie and I had seen henna artists at work before and had seen henna artwork on friends but this time it was Connie's turn, she'd said once that she'd like to try one so I talked her into it and made sure she didn't chicken out. The henna artist on duty at JoY was Pauline Qu (with her husband, Asif) so it wasn't really a scary experience. We met Pauline and Asif at the Shimmychicks last hafla at Sudbrook, we'd seen her dance, watched her applying henna and talked and talked
and been sucked in by her amazingly friendly and genuine personality. We also know that Pauline uses all natural ingredients in her stains so we knew we were in safe hands.
Connie sat in the hot seat and Pauline and Connie chatted about where Connie wanted her artwork and what she wanted. 'What' was easy, we hadn't a clue and were prepared to trust Pauline to find something that suited Connie's personality. 'Where' was a little more restricted. As a teacher at an independent school Connie couldn't really have a henna tattoo anywhere it would be visible to the kids… not because the kids would be shocked but because they'd think it was super-cool and want one themselves which would probably cause the headmistress to go orbital. At the same time you don't buy an art masterpiece and keep it under dust sheets so it needed to be somewhere she could show it off in the right circumstances. We finally settled on Connie's shoulder (no sleeveless tops to work for a few weeks) and Pauline set to work.
While they'd been talking Pauline had been mixing up a fresh batch of dark looking paste and loading it into a cone When she started applying this paste it was like watching an expert cake decorator at work with the icing. Henna cones are very similar to cake icing cones and the paste went on in very fine lines with no templates or drawing to copy from. As this
masterpiece emerged Connie and Pauline chatted away sixteen to the dozen while I made comments and took photos.
When the job was finished Connie was told to let it dry for half an hour before covering it or touching it. She had a lovely pattern on her left shoulder in a dark substance (sort of like fine Goth icing) so we went off to wander round the souk. I hovering protectively around her left side to make sure she didn't accidentally brush up against any expensive costumes or white mink coats. When the time was up she put her jacket on and her coat and we headed for home.
Back home a couple of hours later (it should have been an hour and a half but TomTom insisted on directing us through Bradford city centre) Connie looked at her pattern in the mirror and was almost heartbroken to see that it was flaking off. Mr Clever Dick said,"Pauline gave you some instructions, did you read them?" The dark henna paste is supposed to flake off and leave the pattern behind in a faint brown. Over the next 48 hours or so the pattern darkens and becomes bold as the
stain oxidises (or whatever it is it does)… so we had fun picking the rest of it off.
By Monday (next time I noticed) the pattern was there, clear, proud, a dark milk coffee brown and looking good apart from one minor blot where her bra strap smudged it while it was still wet. Connie will get to show it off at her dance class tonight and the photos below will show the process to those who don't see it in person.
If properly maintained it should last for between 2 to 6 weeks and all that's needed for maintenance is to give it a coat of baby oil or Vaseline before washing the area or taking a shower. Tattoos in areas that get regular friction or which are subject to heavy "glowing" (sweating) will probably fade a lot faster.
Pauline and Asif will be at Fay's hafla in Wrawby on the 25th and also at the Banat El-Raqs hafla on the 10th May so if you fancy having a go you can do it locally. Connie can guarantee that it's painless (if you have skin allergies or sensitivity tell Pauline before she starts work, I'm told that traditional, natural brown henna almost never causes a reaction) and the cost isn't painful either, depending on how big a work of art you want.
(Added on 26th April) Asif tells me that you need to be VERY careful of black henna, this often consists of a paste made from black henna hair dye and can cause serious reactions and chemical burns.
Will Connie do it again? Is the Pope Catholic?
For more info see Pauline & Asif's web site at: http://www.qarbodyart.com
Also: http://www.hennapage.com
Connie Does It Again
Connie is becomming a henna addict!! Also below are pictures of her latest design done at Fay's Wrawby hafla on the 25th April, again by Pauline Qu. Watch for it at the Banat El-Raqs hafla on May 10th at Nettleham, Pauline will be there too... and I hope she (Pauline, not Connie) does her sword dance again 'cos it was amazing!
By Mark
Saturday 12th April 2008, Victoria Hall, Saltaire and the Jewel of Yorkshire was Connie's first Henna day.
Connie and I had seen henna artists at work before and had seen henna artwork on friends but this time it was Connie's turn, she'd said once that she'd like to try one so I talked her into it and made sure she didn't chicken out. The henna artist on duty at JoY was Pauline Qu (with her husband, Asif) so it wasn't really a scary experience. We met Pauline and Asif at the Shimmychicks last hafla at Sudbrook, we'd seen her dance, watched her applying henna and talked and talked
and been sucked in by her amazingly friendly and genuine personality. We also know that Pauline uses all natural ingredients in her stains so we knew we were in safe hands.
Connie sat in the hot seat and Pauline and Connie chatted about where Connie wanted her artwork and what she wanted. 'What' was easy, we hadn't a clue and were prepared to trust Pauline to find something that suited Connie's personality. 'Where' was a little more restricted. As a teacher at an independent school Connie couldn't really have a henna tattoo anywhere it would be visible to the kids… not because the kids would be shocked but because they'd think it was super-cool and want one themselves which would probably cause the headmistress to go orbital. At the same time you don't buy an art masterpiece and keep it under dust sheets so it needed to be somewhere she could show it off in the right circumstances. We finally settled on Connie's shoulder (no sleeveless tops to work for a few weeks) and Pauline set to work.
While they'd been talking Pauline had been mixing up a fresh batch of dark looking paste and loading it into a cone When she started applying this paste it was like watching an expert cake decorator at work with the icing. Henna cones are very similar to cake icing cones and the paste went on in very fine lines with no templates or drawing to copy from. As this
masterpiece emerged Connie and Pauline chatted away sixteen to the dozen while I made comments and took photos.
When the job was finished Connie was told to let it dry for half an hour before covering it or touching it. She had a lovely pattern on her left shoulder in a dark substance (sort of like fine Goth icing) so we went off to wander round the souk. I hovering protectively around her left side to make sure she didn't accidentally brush up against any expensive costumes or white mink coats. When the time was up she put her jacket on and her coat and we headed for home.
Back home a couple of hours later (it should have been an hour and a half but TomTom insisted on directing us through Bradford city centre) Connie looked at her pattern in the mirror and was almost heartbroken to see that it was flaking off. Mr Clever Dick said,"Pauline gave you some instructions, did you read them?" The dark henna paste is supposed to flake off and leave the pattern behind in a faint brown. Over the next 48 hours or so the pattern darkens and becomes bold as the
stain oxidises (or whatever it is it does)… so we had fun picking the rest of it off.
By Monday (next time I noticed) the pattern was there, clear, proud, a dark milk coffee brown and looking good apart from one minor blot where her bra strap smudged it while it was still wet. Connie will get to show it off at her dance class tonight and the photos below will show the process to those who don't see it in person.
If properly maintained it should last for between 2 to 6 weeks and all that's needed for maintenance is to give it a coat of baby oil or Vaseline before washing the area or taking a shower. Tattoos in areas that get regular friction or which are subject to heavy "glowing" (sweating) will probably fade a lot faster.
Pauline and Asif will be at Fay's hafla in Wrawby on the 25th and also at the Banat El-Raqs hafla on the 10th May so if you fancy having a go you can do it locally. Connie can guarantee that it's painless (if you have skin allergies or sensitivity tell Pauline before she starts work, I'm told that traditional, natural brown henna almost never causes a reaction) and the cost isn't painful either, depending on how big a work of art you want.
(Added on 26th April) Asif tells me that you need to be VERY careful of black henna, this often consists of a paste made from black henna hair dye and can cause serious reactions and chemical burns.
Will Connie do it again? Is the Pope Catholic?
For more info see Pauline & Asif's web site at: http://www.qarbodyart.com
Also: http://www.hennapage.com
Connie Does It Again
Connie is becomming a henna addict!! Also below are pictures of her latest design done at Fay's Wrawby hafla on the 25th April, again by Pauline Qu. Watch for it at the Banat El-Raqs hafla on May 10th at Nettleham, Pauline will be there too... and I hope she (Pauline, not Connie) does her sword dance again 'cos it was amazing!
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