All About Bridal Mehndi Or Bridal Henna

One of the most important accessories of South Asian customs, weddings, traditions and festivals is mehndi. These fragrant henna designs on a woman's hands not only enhance the bridal look, but will also bring intrigue to the bride and guests of the wedding.

There are different types of mehndi designs that are doing its round as bridal mehndi today. Though westernized concepts and Arabic patterns were once used most for bridal mehndi, today traditional mehndi designs which require lots of fine work are well in demand.

Other famous mehndi designs doing its rounds in bridal mehndi are floral designs with paisleys and intricate details and practically anything that is funky. The latest trend seems to be green mehndi with color stones. In some weddings, people like wearing mehndi with designs that match the color of their outfits.

The Name Game

This bridal mehndi is usually applied on the bride a day before the wedding. This is organized as a part of the wedding function where professional mehndi designers will be invited to apply mehndi to the bride's hands, arms, feet and legs. In addition to this, the guests and relatives can have their hands or legs filled with mehndi to become a part of the wedding celebrations.

Part of the wedding ritual for bridal mehndi is the 'name game' where the groom has to find his name that is written, and hidden on the bride's palm. According to custom, it is said that if the groom does not find his name within the complicated outlines of the bridal mehndi, the bride will be the one ending up leading in their marital life. In fact sometimes, the wedding night is not allowed to start till the groom finds his name!

Though instant and chemical mehndi gives instant color to the mehndi design, it is not that healthy as the chemicals found in it can cause skin allergies and other skin reactions. It is always better to use traditional mehndi than instant mehndi using cones as cones give better control while drawing out the mehndi designs.

How to Apply Mehndi

When applying mehndi, it is important that the areas have to be first washed with soap and water. Avoid using oily soaps as this will only prevent the color of the mehndi from setting properly on the area. Then the bridal mehndi has to be kept on the area for 2-3 hours till it dries. After this, the mehndi has to be scraped off and not washed off.

Do not apply water to the area for a minimum of 24 hours to get the best color from the bridal mehndi. Make it a point to apply a mixture of sugar and lemon at least twice on the dry area and once the mehndi designs are completely dried, have some steam pass through cloves over the gas. You could also apply Vicks on the area for better color.

Once the mehndi starts to fade and tends to become patchy, you can remove the mehndi design completely using cosmetic body bleach. After applying mehndi on your hands or feet, avoid standing close to the air conditioner as it only dries up the mehndi.

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