Henna artists have often sought a "magic bullet" to make very fast, very dark henna stains. There are a few closely guarded family and business recipes that make henna paste which will stain  quickly, and darken before your eyes.

The secret is not magic.  The secret is  henna chemistry!

At the 2001 Serious Henna Conference, we did a series of tests on 100 people to see exactly what elements would create this effect, and how it could be done safely. Our intention is to provide individual henna artists with the information and understanding necessary to get fast, dark, henna stains with their own home-brewed paste.  The FDA does not permit pre-made henna pastes to be sold with unlisted or unapproved ingredients.  People should aware of all ingredients in their henna paste, in order to avoid  allergic reactions.  Thus, we feel that it is important that henna artists have access to the formulae for  very desirable fast-darkening pastes.

Here are the details of the results of these tests, the recipes generated from them.

Any henna artist may freely use these recipes in their personal mix, for use on their own clients!
However, NO person may reprint this page, this information,  or these recipes  in any form, printed or electronic, without written permission from their originator, Catherine Cartwright Jones.

The stain did not fade to orange.  It stayed brown/black to the last cell! Demise was rapid, though, the stain lasted only 12 days.

The geranium oil added to the cajeput made a paste that had the fragrance of summer rose gardens, flowery, intense and feminine. This scent filled the room while hennaeing, and stayed on the skin for 2 days. 
 

Other hydrocarbon solvents have often been used to create quick dark stains, but many of these are very toxic.  Gasoline, kerosene, and turpentine darken henna stains but are very dangerous to use!  Terpines of low toxicity, but which effeciently facilitate henna stains are: terpineol, geraniol, cineol, eugenol, and camphene.  Less helpful are eucalyptol, citronellol, and linalol.

Essential oils that have highest levels of the most effective  terpines are: Tea Tree, Cajeput, and  Ravensara.  These are by far the best intensifiers of henna stain. 

Essential oils that are nearly as good are: Lavendar,  Geranium, Cardamom, Cypress, and Cypress Tips. 

Essential oils that have lower levels of effective terpines, but which still darken henna somewhat are: Neroli, Pine, Juniper, Thyme,  Rosemary and Marjoram.

Helpful oils that can cause skin irritation which should be used sparingly are Clove Bud oil, and Back Pepper oil.  Citrus oils are phototoxic, therefore are not suitable for outdoor festival use. Camphor is an excellent darkener, but it is a transdermal intoxicant and can make the hennaed person ill.  Cinnamon oil iand clove oil can cause dermatitis, so should be avoided. 

Please visit http://www.hennapage.com/journal/issue_III/article_3/page1.html
for more information on essential oils!

What is NOT happening?
These oils are not "warming" the skin or increasing circulation to any useful extent.  Ginger essential oil, specifically used to warm skin and increase circulation has little or no effect on the stain results .... ginger has none of the  useful terpines.  It is not the "oil" that is creating this effect.  Plain oil, such as olive oil, has no effect on the stain. Essential oils distilled from resinous plants which have none of the useful terpines have little or no darkening effect  ... myrrh is one such.  These oils are not opening pores, or doing anything mystical.  These are simply solvents working in the henna paste to very effectively make the henna dye available, and facilitate a very fast oxidation  (darkening of the henna stain). 

Skin pre-care and aftercare, other than cleaning, produced no improvement in stain results. 

Elizabeth Roettger experimented tried to see if the oil penetrates the skin separately from the henna to react within the skin cells.  To test this, she applied plain henna to the skin next to 3 pastes made with 3 different essential oils.  After paste removal, she applied the same oils to the skin hennaed with plain paste ... but these applications made no difference in the stains, whereas the stains from henna paste mixed with essential oils showed dramatic darkening. 
It is crucial that the oils be in the paste, and be in there for at least an hour before application.  Pastes applied immediatly after the EO addition did not stain as well as those left for an hour.  The best stains occurred from 4 to 24 hours after mixing, when left at 80F. 
 
 

Use these mixes FREELY when making  your own paste ... 
but they are copyright Catherine Cartwright Jones, July 23, 2001, TapDancing Lizard.
This means this information is  FREE for you to use, but not free to take and claim as your own.
Please ask before linking to this page, and do not post these mixes on your page without written permission from Catherine Cartwright Jones!  FREE USE is permitted.  Theft is not.

These are the most successful mixes of all the trials.  Each will stain the skin within minutes!  Paste left on as little as 15 minutes will darken into a hazelnut-shell colored stain even on an upper arm.  Paste left on for an hour will darken to chestnut-husk color on the leg or inner wrist. It is not necessary to leave the paste on for longer than 3 hours! Navel henna, left on only an hour, darkend to brazil-nut shell color. Palms and fingers darkened to stained burgundy/black within 48 hours of paste removal, with neither sealer nor wrap! Very little, if any,  improvement in stain is gained from prolonged application with these mixes. 

A teaspoon of sugar seems to be a useful addition to all these mixes.  The "water-drawing" characteristic of sugar keeps the paste moist, and holds the paste on the skin.  Sugared mixes seemed to be darker in comparison to non-sugared mixes. However, in very humid weather, sugary pastes can become uncontrollably slimy. 

Prepare your paste by mixing lemon juice into good quality henna powder, until the paste is as thick as mashed potatoes. Leave that to brew overnight. Add more lemon juice and a bit of sugar to get the texture the way you like it.  Next morning add your essential oils.  These mixes presume you will start with 3 ounces, or 2 heaping  tablespoons (totally loaded soup spoons, glopped up as much as you can get,  of  henna paste .  Wait at least one hour after adding the oils before you use the paste.  The chemical reaction need time to happen. The paste will still give superb results at  24 and 48 hours after mixing. 

All these mixes were tested at about 80F. 

Tea Tree Essential Oil and  Geranium Bourbon Essential Oil
(this is NOT a bourbon you drink!)
add 2 tsp. (3 ml) of Tea Tree  and 1 tsp (1 1/2ml) of Geranium Bourbon.  Lovely, earthy summer rose garden scent that permeates your henna room and clings to your skin! The yukkyfunk of Tea Tree is totally obscured by the geranium! This gave chestnut-husk color results on my shin with NO sealing and No wrapping!  Half the paste was removed at 1 hour and half left on for 5 hours, and there was no difference in resulting stain!

Tea Tree , Cardamom, and Neroli
add 2 tsp of Tea Tree (3 ml) and 3/4 tsp ( 1 ml.) of cardamon and 1/2 tsp ( 2/3 ml. ) of neroli.  This is a helluva "guy" mix.  Very sexy, spicy, manly scented henna, that stains dark hazelnut shell color on shoulders!

Tea Tree,  Neroli and Clove Bud
add 2 tsp of Tea Tree and 3/4 tsp of Neroli, then 1/4 tsp of clove but.  This is also very manly, spicy and sexy, but don't use it on tender skin.  Clove can be harsh!

Cajeput and Cypress Tips
add 2 tsp of cajeput and 1 tsp of cypress tips.  This is a clean, resinous, woodsy scent. Rosemary can be added to soften the scent

Cajeput, Geranium and Thyme
add 2 tsp of cajeput and 1 tsp of geranium, and 1 tsp of thyme.   Earthy, summery, sexy female scent.  Note: thyme should NOT be used on women who may be pregnant!

Cajeput and Geranium Bourbon
add 2 tsp of cajeput and 1 tsp of geranium bourbon.  Heavenly scent... very womanly!

Cajeput, Cardamom and Frankincense
add 2 tsp of cajeput, 1 tsp of cardamon and a small bit of frankincense.  The scent is intoxicating and sensuous!

Ravensara and Geranium
I had less of the ravensara, to experiment with, but there's no reason for you to not try out the above mixtures with it.  2 tsp of ravensara and one tsp of geranium made a earthy, floral summer garden scented henna paste. 

 A  mix for impatient children.
Lavendar essential oil added to paste did darken the stain significantly, and is the least likely to cause a skin reaction of all the essential oils.  Therefore, an appropriate mix for children is henna with lavendar oil added. 
 
 
 

What's good about the Serious Henna Mixes?

You can get a chestnut colored stain between navel and bikini line with no wrapping, sealing or extra heat!  If you want to seal the henna with New Skin, just to prevent it being crumbled off on clothing ... you can, but it's not necessary. 

You can "treat'em and street'em"!   No wrap, no seal, no aftercare whatsoever!  Additional time, sealers or heat add little to the intensity of the color. 

If your clients can keep the paste on for one hour, they'll get an INTENSE dark henna stain.

YOU KNOW what's in the mix!  That is not only security for you and your client, it's artistic satisfaction!  Yes, it's convenient to buy a loaf of bread from the bakery, and the bread there is very good ... BUT..... I like the satisfaction and artistry of making my own bread, and I like to know what's in it!  I would be right cross if the bakers conspired to forbid people to know how to make bread!

As long as you have henna powder stashed in your freezer, you can have gonzo paste ready for a big festival.  Never again wonder if and when your shipement will arrive!

Your henna paste doesn't have to smell like medicine, cough drops or a hay bale. 

These henna mixes will  show up wonderfully on people of African origin, and other dark skinned people. The black women we put these mixes on developed deep bing cherry colored stains over bittersweet-chocolate colored skin. 

Wrist stains can be almost as dark as palm stains!  Top of foot and sole of foot are nearly the same color!

These EO's are bug repellants! 
 

What are the drawbacks of using the Serious Henna Mixes?

Good essential oils are hard to find, and they aren't cheap.
Good quality essential oils cost good money, and you may have to do some searching to find reliable product!  The FDA does not have a grading system for essential oils, so they can be adulterated without being labeled as such.  Different crops, different times of the year, and different processing all hugely affect the quality and constituents of the oils.  Find an excellent product, don't winge about the price, and use it generously.The results will pay you back far more than the money you spend, if you want fast, intense henna stains. It'll still cost less than pre-mix. 

YOU CAN NOT MAKE A MISTAKE!
Henna on the skin for as little as 15 seconds will darken to a significant stain!  Henna paste applied and wiped away while still WET darkened to hazelnut-shell colored stains!  If you can't draw freehand PERFECTLY on the first go ... these mixes may NOT be for you!

People may be sensitive to essential oils. 
There isn't ANYTHING that won't cause an allergic reaction in some poor soul.  That includes henna itself.  The more things you add to paste, the more likely someone will get an irritation.  I recommend mixing a festival batch of plain paste, and dividing it up.  Leave some plain for pregnant women, or sensitive people, put in just lavendar oil for children, and mix 2 or 3 different mixes for men and women so they can choose one they feel comfortable with.

I've excuded any oils from these mixes known to cause difficulties beyond occasional mild irritation in sensitive individuals. 
 

Sources for Henna, Essential Oils and excellent artifacts:

Hennaes tested for the Serious Henna Mix were provided by Castle Art, Jamila, Jani, and Kenzi .  All gave outstanding results and I would recommend any of them!

Jani Henna, supplied to the Henna Conference by Muhammad Karwadia, comes packed with a packet of terpineol!  If finding essential oils is difficult, and seems too complicated, you'll get great results from  http://www.janikone.com .

All essential oils used in these tests were from:
Wyndemere Naturals Inc,
Minneapolis, Mn.
1-800-207-8538
   

The Kabyle bracelet and Tuareg dagger were provided by Father Dunn!
Father Dunn is a purveyor of magnificent artifacts from North Africa, Nepal, Rajasthan, Afghanistan and Turkestan.  Contact: Brad Dunn; 2510 Primrose Lane; York, Pa.; 717-764-2855.