Henna is “the most ancient and celebrated” of dyes. It is made from a mixture of dried henna leaves that have been ground and mixed with water, lemon, and sometimes eucalyptus oil or black tea.[1] Depending on how it is made and how long it is allowed to set, the color of henna dye can range from reddish brown to a deep black.
Henna body painting is widely practiced in Morocco, for the natural dye is believed to have medicinal powers that protect the body against a wide range of ailments.[2] There are also a number of spiritual rituals associated with henna-painting ceremonies. Henna is also used to decorate the hands and feet of brides, and thus is a way to identify a woman as married. Henna is not only used to adorn the body but also has been used for thousands of years to dye and paint woolen textiles both to wear on the body, and to decorate the domestic spaces.[3]
[1] Salah Hassan, “Henna Mania: Body Painting as a Fashion Statement, from Tradition to Madonna,” The Art of African Fashion, ed. Els van der Plas and Marlous Willemsen (Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press, 1998), 110, 127.
[2] Niloo Imami Paydar and Ivo Grammet, The Fabric of Moroccan Life (Indianapolis Museum of Art: 2002), 147.
[3] Paydar and Grammet, 147.