Arca ~ Who is French and writing in English.

I mix about 2 tablespoons of henna powder with about one or two teaspoons of fructose and lemon sugar to obtain a paste like chocolate paste. I let it set for two hours. Then I add three or four drops of essential oil (my preference is tea tree but I use cajeput also) and I let it set again for 6 hours. After that I put the paste into a plastic cone and I can use it.

Carly ~ Andante Henna Design

100 g Jamila henna powder (henna caravan)
10 packets sweet 'n low
15 ml lavender EO
10 ml cajeput/orange EO (henna caravan)
lemon juice

combine henna powder, sweet 'n low, EOs; add enough lemon to bring to yogurt consistency; let paste sit overnight or until there is a noticeable brown layer at top of mix (dye release); divide into five or so small tupperware containers or zip lock baggies. Each container makes 3 or 4 small cones; use paste within 3 days (freeze whatever you won't use in this much time).

Darcy ~ Courtesan Henna Lounge

I call it Goddess Blend and it smells like heaven!

2 heaping tablespoons henna
freshly squeezed lemon juice (strained)
1 teaspoon of essential oil blend: cajeput, clove bud, and cardamom essential oils in a 2:1:1 ratio (in that order)

Add lemon juice to henna powder until desired consistency is achieved. Cover and let sit 2-3 hours (or until dye release begins). Add essential oils, cover and let rest another 6-8 hours. Enjoy!

DeLani ~ aka Scryberwitch

2 heaping tbsp. henna powder, usually Jamila or Tazii.
approx. 1/2 tsp. sifted walnut powder (leave this out for people with nut allergies/sensitivities)
Enough lemon juice to bring to stiff mashed potato consistency
1 1/2 to 2 tbsp. molasses, enough to bring to a smooth, silky consistency (runs off the spoon like honey).

Mix well in a glass bowl with a silver spoon while thinking happy thoughts. Cover with saran wrap (directly on surface of henna) and put air-tight lid on bowl. Let set in a warm spot overnight or till you see a good dye release on the surface of the henna.

Then add 1 1/2 tsp. Tea Tree oil  and 1/2 tsp. Rose Geranium oil.

Mix well and cover as above. Let sit overnight again. Strain through a pantyhose into a plastic baggie. Clip the corner of the baggie and squirt into cones. Use or freeze immediately. If you freeze, put the cones in an air-tight (freezer-burn-proof) and light-proof container. Those dark silver plastic bags that computer parts come in are good.

Ilithiya

Brew:

1 cup lemon juice
8-10 dried hibiscus blossoms
10 cloves three
4" piece of dried lemongrass
10 cardamom pods, crushed
1 dried black lime, crushed

Simmer everything on low for about 15 minutes; remove from heat and cool to room temp. Freeze the extra or dilute it with water and add some honey! Yes, it's tasty, kind of like a cross between Red Zinger and chai.

Paste:

1 tbsp sifted henna
1 ml palmarosa
1 ml niaouli
enough brew to consistency

Transfer to a sandwich baggie and leave in a warm place for about twelve hours - I usually use the top of the fridge. On a warm day, it takes a lot longer! Check for dye release, then use. This usually gives me just enough to fill one jacquard bottle with a top off when I need it.

This works great for hair, too:

100g henna
2 cups of brew + addtl lemon if necessary
5 ml palmarosa
5 ml niaouli
5 ml lavender

I have waist length hair and this recipe will be just enough for me.

Kara ~ Henna Healing

Pre-mixing:

Sift Kenzi Moroccan powder. Put 2 sugar cakes (peloncillo) of cane sugar with lemon juice (just enough to cover the cakes) and let it all dissolve. You'll only need 2 Tbsp for this recipe, store the rest in an air tight container to use as lemon sugar sealer. It's very thick sugary, so for seal, you may want to add more lemon juice.

Brew:

Simmer water, tea leaves, dried lime, whole clove (optional), dried lavender. Strain well. You'll want 2 Tbsp of this for now. With the rest, pour into ice cube trays and freeze. After frozen, pop out of tray and store in double freezer bag so you don't get freezer burn or lose them to evaporation. Next time you make another batch of henna mix, just let 2 ice cubes melt and use as liquid to mix paste.

Mixing:

In a strong zip lock baggie add:
1 Tbsp each of Jamila, Kenzi Moroccan, and Khasma
2 Tbsp of the Lemon/peloncillo mix (very thick sugary mix!)
2 Tbsp of the simmer/strained brew.
Just a few drops of Essential Oils (I prefer lavender or cajeput)
Need more liquid? Add lemon juice or water or more brew.

Knead the baggie to totally mix powder and liquid. Careful, of course, of seams and closure. I have found that I can gently lay my bag flat on counter top and actually *slowly, gently* roller over it with my heavy, marble rolling pin!! Totally gets out all lumps.  Let it set overnight. In the morning it should be brown brown brown! Open baggie and add a LOT of essential oil -- same oil as you started with, either lavender or cajeput for me. I don't measure this really  because it depends on how thick or flaky I want the paste to be. For skin, I want it more
thick and sticky to the skin so it doesn't flake off too fast. So for skin, I add a bit less oil (still a bunch though). For applying henna to wood, I want it more flaky so that I don't have to damage the wood in scraping off the paste. So for this I add much more oil. After you add oil, let it set another few hours.

Clip the corner off the baggie and pour into individual cello cones. I get 6 to 9 medium size cones out of this. More if I'm making some smaller cones. Leave out the cone you want to use immediately. Put the others in double freezer baggie ziplocks. You may want to write with a sharpie on the bag to note the date and what's in this particular mix (what E.O. you used,
etc). Make sure all the air is out of the bag before you zip closed. I then wrap the bag in one of those Rubbermaid blueIce strips of frozen stuff -- they make them for summer time coolers. But I find they wrap well around the ziplocked cones and keep the light out while really freezing the paste. Then when you need a new cone, just take one out and let it thaw on the counter top. In between uses of a thawed cone, put it in the fridge to make paste last longer. I find that, if I take one day to do all this up front, I end up with a baggie full of cones that lasts me quite awhile -- even when I'm in high production mode for making henna pieces for an art show or something.

Kenzi ~ Kenzi.com

This is my recipe for doing henna the Moroccan way, with a few changes. I use only Moroccan henna which tends to achieve dye release quickly.

Moroccan henna powder + lemon juice + sugar - mix these with the following approximate proportions: 4 parts henna to 2 parts liquid to 1 part sugar

For bridal henna add 1 part orange blossom or rose water.  This gives your henna a divine fragrance especially after the essential oils.  I am always tempted to eat my paste when there is orange blossom water in it!  I don't usually add anything else because I mostly use my henna on clients and I don't want anyone with allergies to suffer from something in my paste.  I also add a few drops of oil (olive oil is fine) just to give my paste a nicer consistency and flow.

In Morocco, the henna artist usually mixes her henna right before she is going to use it so she will add hot water to this mix to make the dye release quickly.  Moroccan henna will achieve dye release in about 3-12 hours if made with room temperature liquids, but you can make it release faster by warming the liquids up before adding them.

I usually mix my paste in a ceramic bowl with a small rubber spatula.  Like DeLani, I like to think happy thoughts when mixing.  I mix the paste to a thickish consistency and then cover the bowl with saran wrap.  I leave the bowl of paste in the warmest room of my house, usually the kitchen.  After about 12 hours I can be pretty sure that I have dye release.  I check to see if I have dye release by scraping off a bit of the surface of the paste to see if the paste below it is a lighter color than the surface.

Once I have dye release, I add the essential oils.  You can also add the oils in the initial mix if you're in a hurry.  I like to use cajeput because it's refreshing, but not cloying or antiseptic.  I also like the smell of the cajeput mixed with orange blossom water.  Other oils that I like to add to make the smell more interesting are cardamon (expensive!), frankincense (also pricey) and lavender.  I love that the clients enjoy the smell of the henna, no matter what mix I use.

When mixing in the essential oils I also adjust the consistency of the paste with more lemon juice.  I try to get the consistency such that it dribbles off the spatula like a ribbon of caramel.  I find this is the perfect consistency for jacquard bottles; you might need it thicker depending on your tool preference.

Once I get the right consistency, I strain my paste to get rid of any lumps.  I first put a plastic sandwich bag over the opening in a drinking glass, just to hold it upright. Then I put the stocking over the glass in the same way so that the toe of the stocking hangs down into the sandwich bag. I then scrape the henna out of the bowl and into the stocking which is being held open by the glass. Once it is all in, I pull the sandwich bag off the glass along with the stocking and using the bag to keep the henna off my hands, I pull and squeeze the henna down through the stocking and into the bag while pulling the stocking out of the bag (like milking a cow very strongly). I repeat this to make sure I get everything out. Then I squeeze the bag to get all the paste down to one corner of the bag and tie the open part of the bag off with a twist-tie, snip off the corner and squeeze the paste into my bottles.

I like to make a lot of paste and freeze it in jacquard bottles.  I try to fill them up to the very top and screw the cap on tight to keep air out; then I just chuck them in the freezer until I need them.  When I have a gig I grab a couple of bottles and stick them in my bag; they are usually completely thawed by the time I arrive at my gig.

For aftercare, I usually use lemon-sugar (equal parts of each), but I am experimenting with maxx's lemon and glue mixture (40:60 ratio of each).  In Morocco, the traditional aftercare is lemon, sugar, crushed garlic and black pepper. The garlic and the pepper are thought to heat up the skin, but oh! the smell!

maxx ~ izmudd

This is my most favorite mix, quite elaborate.

Da brew:

about two cups dried limes, maybe three
2-3 cinnamon sticks
handful of whole cloves
1/2 handful of cardamom pods
1 1/2 cups molasses

Place it all in a pot with about six cups water, bring to boil, reduce to low simmer. Let simmer until reduced by half, mashing up limes as they soften.
Strain this liquid, twice even, add to henna warm. Let henna sit until ready.
Add eucalyptus, tea tree and rose geranium essential oils in generous quantities.

When mixing a batch of 100 grams, I use at least 10ml of essential oils.

Let sit an additional half day, or overnight.  Enjoy this delightful henna!
If you use this mix on your hair, the scent will linger for a few days.

Thea ~ Adorn Henna

Add lemon juice (concentrate or strained fresh) to henna powder. Stir in little by little until your mix is the consistency of creamy mashed potatoes. Let your henna/lemon mixture sit in covered container in a warm, but not too hot place for about 8 to 12 hours.

Gently bring to the boil the Magic Tea packet and 1 / 1/2 cup filtered water. Cover, turn down to low simmer for 1⁄2 hour. If you don't have the Magic Henna Tea packet make your own henna brew! Try a blend of about 1 T each: black tea, coffee, sugar. Other nice things are: Cloves, black pepper, cardamom, fenugreek seeds, tamarind, dried black limes, citrus juice, wine, honey, pomegranate, molasses, rose petals. Turn off, let rest while the henna and lemon juice is developing.

Rewarm tea brew to bathwater temperature. Strain thoroughly. Be sure to use only liquid completely free of particles to prevent clogging later when painting. You may use a piece of nylon stocking or muslin cloth for straining. I just wrap the cloth over the top of a container and secure with a rubber band.

Slowly add your strained tea to the henna and lemon, stirring very well to blend. Add lemon juice a little at a time until the paste is a smooth consistency, somewhat similar to warm chocolate frosting, or stirred yogurt. Add Mehndi oil or tea tree, eucalyptus or clove essential oil (1/4 teaspoon to 100 grams powder, 1/8 to 50 grams) to the henna paste. Stir, then stir some more! Remember if you need to adjust the consistency of the paste that it's far easier to add liquid if it's too thick than to add more henna powder if it's too thin.

Cover your paste and let sit- yet again for another 6 to 12 hours allowing the henna dye to release. The time it takes for the henna to release its dye properties is somewhat relative to the temperature. If it's a hot summer day it works more quickly than if it's cold out. You can tell when the paste is ready to use when you can see a dark film on top of the paste and/or there is an orange/reddish color in the liquid forming around the edges. Stick your finger in it to see if it's a lighter color under the top layer.

Paste can be kept for one week in airtight container in fridge, and up to six months in the freezer. Take extra care to seal it from oxygen and light to preserve its dye strength. It generally thaws in about 1/2 hour on a sunny counter top, or you may put it in a bowl of warm water to thaw. Re-freezing paste is not recommended. You may however reseal dry powder and pop it in your freezer for no longer than a year.