Desi Mahendi ( heena )

Mehandi is the Hindi word for a beauty treatment involving the crushed leaves of the henna plant. The leaves of this plant, when mixed with essential oils and water and applied to hair or skin, leave a beautiful reddish-brown stain that can last from several days to several weeks.

Also called mehandi or henna, mehndi has been a tradition in India, Africa, Eastern Europe and the Middle East for thousands of years. Women in these cultures ornament themselves with mehndi for weddings and other celebrations. The mehndi paste is piped onto the skin in ornate patterns, then kept moist as long as possible with lime juice, eucalyptus oil and sugar to allow the stain to deepen.