ASMR | Henna Design Procedure | Mehindi Art

In this ASMR episode BeiBei draws a henna design on Kally's hand.

Mehndi is a form of body art and temporary skin decoration usually drawn on hands or legs, in which decorative designs are created on a person's body, using a paste, created from the powdered dry leaves of the henna plant (Lawsonia inermis). It is a popular form of body art among the women of South Asia such as India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, Maldives, and Sri Lanka, and resembles similar practices found in North Africa and the Middle East. In the West, mehndi is simply known as "henna." [1]

According to a 2013 study, henna has been used as a dye for the skin (as well as the hair and nails) for more than 4,000 years.[2]

According to A Dictionary of Urdu, Classical Hindi and English Mehndi also refers to "the marriage-feast on the occasion of the bride's hands and feet being stained with henna (ḥinā)" or "an ark, or tabernacle, carried in solemn procession by some Muslims on the eve of the anniversary of the death of a person who died just as he was about to marry:—meṅhdī bāṅdhnā (-meṅ)."[3] It was originally used for only women's palms and sometimes for men, but as time progressed, it was more common for women to wear it[citation needed].

There are many variations and designs. Women usually apply mehndi designs to their hands and feet, though some, including cancer patients and women with alopecia occasionally decorate their scalps.[4] The standard color of henna is brown, but other design colors such as white, red, black and gold are sometimes used.[4]

Mehendi in Indian tradition is typically applied during Hindu weddings and festivals like Karva Chauth, Vat Purnima, Diwali, Bhai Dooj, Navraathri, Durga Pooja and Teej. Muslims in South Asia also apply mehendi during Muslim weddings, festivals such as Eid-ul-Fitr and Eid-ul-Adha.

In Hindu festivals, women often have henna applied to their hands, feet and sometimes the backs of their shoulders. Conversely, men usually have it applied on their arms, legs, back, and chest. For women, it is usually drawn on their palms, backs of their hands and on feet, where the design will be clearest due to contrast with the lighter skin on these surfaces, which naturally contains less of the pigment melanin.

Alta, Alata, or Mahur is a red dye used similarly to henna to paint the feet of the brides in some regions of the Indian subcontinent.