I think what I like most about henna is how it makes me feel. I think it’s fairly safe to say that human beings love to decorate their bodies. Whether it’s with gems and jewels, make-up, tattoos and piercings, face-painting and airbrushing, scarification, or coloring our hair purple or orange, people on this planet like to have fun playing around with turning their bodies into into living, breathing ornaments. Mind you, there is also a lot to be said for a beautiful, bare, unmarked body. And that’s why there will always be a market for temporary body art.
But adorning myself with henna, whether with henna kits or if a henna artist paints me, doesn’t just allow me to come up with a new way to look. There’s something about henna body art that makes me feel special. It’s not just the delightful reactions I get from total strangers who barely notice permanent tattoos anymore because it seems like everybody’s got one, right? (Mind you there are some gorgeous permanent tattoos out there!) Part of it is the act of taking part in a ritual now thousands of years old, which, according to lore, imparts love, prosperity, and luck upon the wearer, but that’s not totally it. And even though the love for henna tattoos by westerners nearly 20 years after they were first introduced on this side of the world continues to endure, that’s not it, either. After all, trends do come and go quickly, but not henna. This is no trend. It’s a keeper.
No, it’s none of those things. I’m thinking that the reason I feel special when sporting a henna tattoo is that when I look at it, it makes me smile. I’ve also seen that smile on thousands of faces of people we’ve painted with henna over the years. Because that gorgeous reddish brown stain is a totally enchanting and fabulous thing to behold.