How To Make Henna

Learn how to make henna paste with ease. Only a few simple ingredients are needed.

• High Quality Henna Powder (50 grams)
• Lemon Juice (or water) (1/8-1/2 cup)
• Lavender and/or Tea Tree Essential Oil (1/4-1/2 ounce)
• Sugar (optional)

If you want good henna color, don't use henna powder from a dusty old grocery store. Use a high quality powder that has been stored properly such as ORa henna or Jamila henna.

1. Mix henna powder and lemon juice or water to the consistency of thick mashed potatoes.
   Mixing henna with lemon juice leads to stable easy-to-use henna. If you make henna with water, the henna will lose it's dying capacity quicker, so lemon juice is preferred.
   
2. Add equal amounts of lavender and tea tree oil.
   If you'd like you can also add a touch of sugar (1/2 teaspoon-1 tablespoon). Sugar will make the henna paste stickier and take a bit longer to dry. This can lead to darker henna stains because it makes it easier to keep the henna paste on the skin on longer.
   
3. Set henna aside to await dye release.
   Dye release can be tricky. Different hennas release dye at different times, lemon juice has a longer dye release time than water, and colder temperatures lead to longer dye release times. Most henna will achieve dye release in 6-24 hours, but it can be as early as 4 hours or as long as 3 days in unusual circumstances.
   Check for dye release by placing a dot of henna on the palm of the hand. Leave the henna on for 5 minutes, then scrape it off. You should see a fairly bright orange stain on the skin.   
   
4. Once dye release has occurred tweak the consistency to your personal tastes.
   The henna paste has to be thin enough to work with, but not so thin that it's melty. Generally a texture somewhere between toothpaste and thick yogurt or even thick cake batter works well.
   
5. The henna is now ready to use!
   Strain the henna if you'd like and place it in individual cones. Freeze whatever henna you are not using.

 See? Making henna is easy!

Complete printable instructions are here at The Henna Learning Center.