Mehndi our ladies apply during all festivals

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SOURCE : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mehndi Friends, our ladies apply ‘mehndi’ on all festivals and auspicious occasions. It is the application of henna as a temporary form of skin decoration in Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh, as well as by expatriate communities from these areas. Mehndi decorations became fashionable in the West in the late 1990s, where they are sometimes called henna tattoos. Henna is typically applied during special occasions like weddings and festivals like eid and divali. It is usually drawn on the palms and feet, where the color will be darkest because the skin contains higher levels of keratin which binds temporarily to lawsone, the colorant of henna. Henna was originally used as a form of decoration mainly for brides. The term henna tattoo is inaccurate, because tattoos are defined as permanent surgical insertion of pigments underneath the skin, as opposed to pigments resting on the surface as is the case with mehndi. Henna paste is usually applied on the skin using a plastic cone or a paint brush, but sometimes a small metal-tipped jacquard bottle used for silk painting is employed. The painted area is then wrapped with tissue, plastic, or medical tape to lock in body heat, creating a more intense color on the skin. The wrap is worn three to six hours or sometimes overnight and then removed. When first removed, the henna design is pale to dark orange in color and gradually darkens through oxidation, over the course of 24 to 72 hours. The final color is reddish brown and can last anywhere from one to three weeks depending on the quality and type of henna paste applied, as well as where it was applied on the body (thicker skin stains darker and longer than thin skin). Likely due to the desire for a "tattoo-black" appearance, many people have started adding the synthetic dye p-Phenylenediamine (PPD) to henna to give it a black color. PPD is extremely harmful to the skin and can cause severe allergic reactions resulting in permanent injury or death. In western culture there is lot of use tattoos but in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and many countries in Asia are using Mehendi in all respective occasions. In India there are lots of commercial shops of mehendi. Friends I am sharing a tradition of ours, hope you like this, please share your views. Do you apply this on your palms? Have you tattoo on your body? Professor