Temporary Henna Tattoos Come From Asian Culture

The rich cultural traditions of southern Asian, especially India, have produced another form of temporary tattoo known as Mehndi or a henna tattoo. This form often involves elaborate designs and has become especially popular among women.

How Henna Tattoos are Made

Temporary Henna Tattoos

These tattoos are made using a paste created from leaves of the Henna plant, Lawsonia Inermis, which have been ground into a powder. The dye in the powder, called Lawsone, attaches effectively to the keratin in fingernails and skin. Henna also is used frequently as a hair dye.

Temporary Henna Tattoos

While other types of temporary tattoos can be made using many colors, henna tattoos create designs that are shades of red, brown and almost black. Traditionally henna tattoos are applied to hands and feet in intricate patterns, but these days henna tattoos can be drawn anywhere on the body. Henna creates a temporary tattoo by staining the skin, and can last from several days to a month, depending on how well the wearer maintains the tattoo.

Temporary Henna Tattoos

It is possible to create henna tattoos at home. However, great caution should be used in choosing a henna product, as certain "fast-acting" preparations actually contain a chemical, para-phenylenediamine (PPD), that has been found to cause allergic reactions and sometimes scars the skin. Henna takes several hours to stain the skin properly, so anything that claims to work faster should be viewed with great suspicion.

How to make your own Henna

Temporary Henna Tattoos

To make a henna, purchase some genuine henna powder from a cosmetics supply or Asian product store. Assemble lemon juice, a cosmetic squeeze bottle with a fine tip, a bowl, a spoon, plastic wrap, nylon trouser socks, rubber bands, some honey, and a plastic container with a lid, such as a clean, used butter tub.

Temporary Henna Tattoos

First sift the powdered henna to remove any clumps. To do this easily, put the two nylon trouser socks together to make a double layer, then pour the henna powder into the sock. Knot the doubled socks to keep the henna inside. Put the sock into the container and close the lid firmly, then shake the container well.

Temporary Henna Tattoos

Once the henna is shaken well, open the lidded container, take out the sock and open into the bowl. Pour in enough lemon juice so that the powder looks like runny mashed potatoes when you mix it. Add a tablespoon of honey to thicken the mixture and help it stick to skin.

Temporary Henna Tattoos

Next top the bowl with plastic wrap and let it sit for several hours. Every hour, look at the mixture to see if the dye has released. The dye has been freed when the mixture turns brown on top, but looks dark green beneath. Transfer the mixture into the squeeze bottle using the spoon and store in a cool place.

Temporary Henna Tattoos

When ready to create this type of tattoo, start by boiling some lemon juice. Set it aside to cool while applying the ink to the skin using the fine-tipped squeeze bottle. When the design is dry, cover it carefully with a mixture of boiled lemon juice and sugar. Dry this with a paper towel, then wrap the henna tattoo with plastic wrap and leave on overnight to allow the ink to stain the skin.

Temporary Tattoos - How To Make A Fake Tattoo

Tattoos have been in existence throughout history. In fact tattoos were used as a form of body ornamentation thousands of years ago. Across generations, tattoos have evolved as a body art and recently tattooing has spread across the globe. Almost world-wide, tattoos are now regarded as an art form. There are even international summits, conventions and exhibits on the art of tattooing. This just goes to show how tattoos have evolved from a mere body ornament to a piece of art. But not everybody wants to have a permanent tattoo.

Temporary Tattoos

Having a permanent tattoo applied to any part of the body is painful. In order to make the tattoo permanent you must endure being pricked by a needle over and over again. This kind of tattoo is also permanent and requires surgery to remove. These are a few of the reasons why people are turning more and more to fake (or temporary) tattoos.

Temporary Tattoos

One method for a do-it-yourself tattoo is through the use of body paint. The materials you need are tracing paper, body paint, a ballpoint pen and pair of scissors. First, you have to choose tattoo pattern. You can find a pattern in books, tattoo albums or over the internet. Once a pattern is selected, you have to trace it with the tracing paper. All the details must be carefully traced. Then it is time to cut the pattern out. Once the pattern has been fully cut, position it on the body where you want the tattoo placed. Carefully, with the use of a ballpoint pen, draw the pattern on the body. The drawing must be clear because this will serve as the guide for applying the body paint. Apply the body paint over the entire transferred pattern. You have to be careful that the paint will not smudge; otherwise the tattoo will be messy. You may ask a friend to assist you with this. Once the pattern has been fully painted in, wipe around the pattern with cotton balls to remove the excess paint. Let the tattoo dry. The use of a blow dryer on the paint will speed up your drying time. You now have a brand new temporary tattoo.

Temporary Tattoos

Another way to make a temporary tattoo is by simply copying a tattoo pattern onto the skin with the use of ballpoint pens or color marker pens with a fine point. Just make sure that you are not allergic to any of the marker inks.

Temporary Tattoos

1. With the use of an eyebrow pencil of a colored pencil, draw the tattoo pattern very lightly on the body where you want your tattoo positioned.

Temporary Tattoos

2. Carefully trace the illustrated pattern with your ballpoint pen or fine pointed colored marker. The tracing must be done with care to make sure that the coloring will not go outside of the pattern. This is very important to make your tattoos look clean and neat.

Temporary Tattoos

Temporary tattoos are easy and fun to do. You just need to be creative when choosing a tattoo design to be placed on the body. Since the tattoos are temporary, feel free to experiment. Have fun, be creative, one's work of art is an expression of one's personality.