Mehendi or Mehndi consists in the application of henna on the body extremities (arms, hands, feet, lower legs). It is temporal, lasting more or less time, depending on the skin grain and colour. It is done with a herbal paste, quite enjoyable to apply as it gives the impression of doing some aromatherapy. It is applied with either a paint brush or thanks to some sort of small pastry bag. Once it is dried and left for 2 hours, the paste should be brushed and the temporal tattoo appears.
It is done in several countries as it is part of some of the traditional and ceremonial outfits for both Muslims and Hindus. It is mostly women wearing these tattoos, when getting married and some people said that the darker the tattoo gets, the better the wife will be.
There are different designs for these tattoos and I learned some of them, displayed underneath on my hand.
Going away from Mauritius and totally in love with Mehendi designs, I decided to draw them on my house windows with some wet limestone powder during christmas time. It was giving such a different atmosphere, both exotic and peaceful.
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