If a person is in a salon to have their hair hennaed, or if a woman is hennaing her hair at home, there will be time for additional henna applications and beauty care while henna stains the hair, just as was done until recently in henna-using cultures.
Well into the 20th century women in areas of the world where henna was a tradition went to the hammam, the women’s public baths, as often as they could manage.1 Hammams were often as elegantly decorated as a cathedral, with steam rooms, cold and hot baths, attendants and masseuses. The hammam was the traditional setting for applying henna to hair, feet, and hands. A visit to the hammam was a necessity once-a-month treat for complete cleansing after a menstrual cycle or for preparing for a holiday or family celebration. Women spent the whole day at the hammam, visiting with their friends, catching up on gossip and local news while the henna stained their hair, soles, and fingertips. Henna was part of women’s regular health and beauty maintenance program, integrated with social and family life. Bathing, health, and beauty practices today are private, medicalized, tend to be secretive and hurried, and are framed in scientific jargon and ‘new and improved’ products. A century ago, across much of the world, women’s health and beauty was a cooperative effort among their family and friends who used their own formulations and shared techniques.
Read more:https://www.mehandi.com/v/vspfiles/downloadables/chapt15_additional-techniques-for-henna.pdf
Links to specific topics in this chapter:
Additional Techniques for Henna at Home and in the Salon
Ancient Sunrise®Henna as Part of a Manicure
