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Henna Designs With Tattoos

Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010
Have you ever seen henna design? It’s simply captivating as an art form. It’s used in society as a popular way to produce natural tattoos that are temporary by nature. It harnesses the power of nature and produces beautiful manmade results in the form of temporary tattoos.

Natural henna ink is used for henna tattoos. It is made from a powder that is derived from the henna plant’s leaves. This powder is made into a paste that is used in the henna ink. Just like with real ink tattoos that are more permanent, your tattoo artist can paint a henna tattoo design anywhere on your body on your body that you would like.

The henna plant is thought to come from Egypt where it was called Egyptian Privet. Later henna was brought to India as a state gift from the Egyptians. Queen Mumtaz who ruled in the 1600’s was the first Indian queen to be decorated with henna. Today, it is common to find artists practicing their henna crafts outside the Taj Mahal, which was built to honor Queen Mumtaz. Traces of henna have been found on mummies from 1200 BC. It is also known that Pharoahs hands and feet were first dipped in henna prior to mummification.

Henna is one of the best alternatives to permanent colour and is much in demand for its cosmetic value. Henna tattoos are made from henna paste that is formed from ground green henna leaves, mixed with water and other natural products. The paste, when applied to the skin or the hair, leaves a colour that can vary from orange to rich mahogany, depending on the quality of the henna being used. A major reason for henna’s growing popularity is that its colour is temporary and fades away with time and washing.

I happened to notice the henna design as I was walking around the fair trying to capture the color of all that I saw. I saw two women sitting on the on ground and were totally engrossed in their task. When I moved closer, I saw that it was a henna artist and that she was applying one of the finest henna designs I have ever witnessed.

A note of caution concerning henna is the use of a product labeled as “black henna” or an indigo. The natural does not come in dark shades. The dark colors are actually made by combining henna with a chemical. There can be very harsh side effects such as skin blistering. As with any product, even a natural one, there can be allergic reactions. This is particularly true if the individual has a rare genetic condition called a G6PD deficiency. In large doses the dye molecule in henna can be fatal.

The most attractive feature that makes henna temporary tattoos a fashion statement is that they are pure and herbal in nature. People prefer to buy henna also because of its known cooling and medicinal properties as an anti-irritant and anti-inflammatory herb. Other types of temporary tattoos include some form of chemicals and ink that can harm the skin and lead to allergies.

It’s the ideal practice way to find your online gallery tattoo, have it airbrushed on, then wear it around for a while and decide if it’s worthy to get permanently inked. If not, you can always go through and find different designs in the gallery to get airbrushed until you find the one that looks and feels right.



By: ayushvedaa

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Read About Herbal Remedies Also Read About Henna Designs and Wedding Suits



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Have a Green Mehndi!

Wednesday, February 24th, 2010
Most Indian wedding traditions, especially Mehndi, have been “green” well before the world woke up to the word “eco-friendly!” Traditionally the Mehndi ceremony precedes the wedding function. The bride-to-be gets her hands and feet decorated with henna ( mehndi). Young girls and ladies too have Mehndi put on their hands as a symbol of joy, participation and happiness.

Mehndi or Henna itself is eco-friendly. It is a natural tattoo paste, made from the roots of the Henna plant. Green Mehndi is ground to a fine paste. Mehndi is symbolically an important part of the Indian wedding. As Mehndi changes its colour from green to orange-red after application, so does a bride flower into her womanhood after marriage.

We bring you some great ideas to get eco-friendly and have a truly “green” Mehndi!

The Bride…

* Dress the bride with fresh flowers in stead of jewellery. Make bracelets, earrings, necklace and maang tika out of fresh flowers.

* Decorate her chair / seat with fresh jasmine strung together.

* Make a canopy of brocade silk and fresh flowers, for the bride to sit under. jasmine strings and

The Venue…

* Sprinkle flower petals at the entrance or pathway leading to the function.

* Decorate the house with fresh flowers: float lotus in urns, string marigolds and jasmine, or bedeck the venue in green leaves, roses and tuberoses.

* Use plantain leaves and the auspicious coconut to decorate.

The Food…

* Plates made out of leaves, are ideal to serve food

* Place a plantain leaf in each plate before serving

* Use trays lined with plantain leaves to serve the sweets

* Use clay pots delicately painted in white and red, to serve the food.

* Leaf “donas” are ideal for chaat and pani poori.

The Giveaways…

* Let your giveaways be eco-friendly.

* Avoid plastic bags, use cloth bags instead. You can take your pick from tissue, cotton, brocade or silk.

* Let the giveaways be fruits, terracotta diyas, aromatic candles, glass bangles or terracotta lamps

* Use recycled paper for wrapping, if necessary

So, if you are getting married, or if you are helping a friend plan her Mehndi function, go all out and have a perfectly “green” Mehndi, and make it truly memorable for yourself and your guests! What’s even better: you can have an eco-friendly Mehndi well within a budget. Its your ideas that are priceless!



By: Sitagita.com

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Iraqi Wedding Traditions

Sunday, November 8th, 2009
Every wedding starts with the engagement, the guy see a girl, then if they like each other, he asks for her hand (in other words to get marry), she might be a relative, neighbor, cousin, they might be work mates, or students in the same collage etc. First he goes with his parents to hers, and tells them his desire to ask their daughter to get marry, (if the girl’s father is dead, he should go to her eldest uncle).

The parents ask about the guy whether he is good, polite, co-operative, etc, in his work place or his collage, and they also ask about his family reputation.

Then after the agreement there is a tradition we call ” Mashaya” in which the men ( specially the most solemn men) from both families get the chance to meet each other , to get the good impression about each other, you see the lineage of the family is very important here..

When the girl says “Yes”, they buy the engagement rings, a golden one for the girl and a silvery or platinum one for the guy.

Then the engagement party (Khitooba) is the coming step, in this party the girl and the guy’s close family members are usually invited, (the parents, sisters, brothers, uncles, aunts and cousins). In this party they wear the rings, the fiance also bring a golden gift to his fiancee, dinner will be served , music as DJ or a band is very important to celebrate this important event.

During the engagement time they begin to know each other more and more , and of course, they start shopping for their new house .In these days, as the life is very expensive, it is not easy for the young men to buy a house, that is why they may live in his parents’ house, they may build an apartment in the garden or as a second floor apartment.

Shopping includes buying clothes, jewelries, make-up stuffs, perfumes, the wedding “Nishan” and “Laylit al henna” party’s dresses, they also look for house’s necessities & furnishers ).

After that there is another party called ” Nishan “, where the traditions are so much fun.

Anyway, the bride wear many dresses ( long time ago in Mosul the bride used to wear 7 dresses, but now they wear 3-5 depend on their financial condition, I didn’t know that till my friend talked about her sister’s Nishan and how they follow the old traditions and bought seven dresses, red, blue, off-white, black, yellow ,and purple I don’t know what is the seventh colour ), both families and the fiance adduce golden jewels to the bride, now days the life become more expensive that’s why some bride’s family comprehend the groom’s financial condition , and not incommode him to bring much, only few grams, but there are still some families ask for very much gold, specially the Kurds, who adduce kilos of gold to the bride!!.

As they may make a heavy golden belt to her.

Nishan is like all the parties, there is music, dancing, then dinner, my mom’s Nishan started at 10 pm till 2 am!! But now because of the stroll bans and the very bad situation, the Nishan party starts at 3 pm till 6!!!! In spite of the very hot weather, it’s SUMMER for god sake.

What can people do?

My relative “Noor” want to have her Nishan party in a celebration arena, because their house is too small, but they can’t, it is not safe. My grandma told her that she is welcome to have her party in our large garden.

(Two years ago, we had Nishan party for my dad’s cousin in our garden, I was the DG girl, I have many music CDs and it was a beautiful Nishan party).

Anyway after Nishan or before it there is al-Qiran, it is the lawful wedding.

In Qiran, the judge joins the two bridegrooms to be a husband and wife.

After the Qiran union, the new couple allocates candies in special cups to everybody they know, neighbors, relatives, friends, colleagues etc, to inform them about their union.

A night before the wedding day, there is “Lailat Al-henna” party in this day; one of their relatives put the privet in the newlywed’s pinkie or palm. Some relatives may like to have privet in their hands too.

The bride’s mother, aunt, or anyone close prepare the Henna’s salver, they put green plant we call it” ace “, it really smells good, henna (means the privet), and some candles, I love the salver’s view. (The Shiite has different tradition in Qiran and lailat al henna, they put the seven whites, I wrote a post about that once).

Lilat al Henna is a small party, just like the engagement party, just for the new couple, their parents, brothers and sisters, close friends and some time uncles and aunts.

After the Lailit al Henna the Wedding day comes (finally , huh? ), it is just like yours, the bride wear her white dress, and the groom his new suit .they either bring a real band or DJ .the two couples dance as well as their friends and relatives, they make Dabka( special dance in my country), then cake ceremony comes next, and in most of the weddings the bride get jewelries from her family, her husband and his family and from some close friends. Then dinner is served too.

After that the honey-moon starts, as there are no hotels in the last three years, they spend their honey moon in their apartment, or if they have money they go to the north or our side Iraq.

There is another party after the wedding called the Fourth-day (Arb3t Ayam) in Mosul ,and the seven-days (Sab3t Ayam) in Baghdad, it is not necessarily after four days nor seven days ,some times they make it after two weeks or a month.

In this party the bride dress her wedding dress and many other new dresses or her Nishan dresses, in this party, the guests bring the gifts.



By: Rafi Michael

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Babylon Toronto Weddings Photography Dj Video Limo Services Wedding Photography & Video Productions Toronto we specialize in individually tailored Wedding Photography, Videos and DVD’s, offering an experienced, highly professional and affordable service.



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