High quality paste consists of:
- A good henna powder
- A sour activator -releases dye from the henna powder.
- A tannin -enhances the henna color.
- A terpene-helps further enhance the henna color.
- And a sugar-to smoothen the texture of henna and prevent less breakage in the design lines so that more parts of the design can work in penetrating into the skin and giving a better color.
Note: Aromatherapy grade oils are the safest and most effective.
Below is a diagram of ingredients that work best in a henna paste:
Ingredients for Henna Paste |
|||
Tannins |
Sour Activator |
Sugar Smoothener |
Terpenes: (essential oils) |
| dark tea | dried limes | sugar | eucalyptus globulus |
| black pepper | dried lemons | brown sugar | tea tree |
| cloves | lemon juice (fresh or bottled) | dextrose | lavender |
| tamarind | lime juice (fresh or bottled) | fructose | *clove |
| dark coffee | grapefruit juice | honey | *cinnamon |
| dried pomegranate seeds | orange juice | jaggery/gur (hardened chunks of brown sugar found at an Indian grocery store) | *black pepper |
| citric acid powder | vinegar | molasses | frankincense |
| saffron | cajeput | ||
| cardamom | geranium | ||
| cinnamon | ravensara | ||
| sumac | cypress or cypress tips | ||
| cardamom | |||
| naiouli | |||
| (Low in terpenes but still good) | |||
| thyme | |||
| pine | |||
| neroli | |||
| rosemary | |||
| marjoram | |||
| juniper | |||
| * Skin irritant. Very strong oils. Use in very small quantities or avoid. | |||