Albawaba.com
Dubai
For decades, Henna has been an essential beauty product for Gulf women and its popularity has not declined with the arrival of modern cosmetics.
Henna, a bushy plant with leaves that resemble olive leaves has been used to color hands, feet, and hair. Tattoo-like Henna drawings on the hands, arms, feet, and legs have created a mystique for all those who use it.
Brides would decorate their hands and feet as part of the wedding ceremony and to charm the groom. Gulf women used to reward their husbands who returned from long diving trips searching for pearls with Henna decorations on their feet and hands.
Today, Henna drawings have become common commerce in salons around the world. The ancient practice has entered the computer age with many salons using computers to compose a Henna tattoo.
Henna was discovered during the time of the Pharaohs and was considered a blessed plant. Beside its powers to enhance beauty, it was used to cure headaches.
According to tradition, the Prophet Mohammed used Henna and advised Muslims to use it as a natural, God-given beauty product. Its two colors, black and red can be used separately or mixed together to give an auburn-like color. On hair, Henna has been proven to be gentler than modern chemical-based coloring products. International research labs agree that Henna does not cause hair to dry or break as do the chemical coloring products.
Once a product that Arab women went searching for in the fields or grew in their gardens, Henna can now be found on beauty shop shelves or mixed and applied at beauty salons around the globe.
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