EDMONTON – A new craze sweeping North America may be the answer for women who have always harbored a secret desire to get a tattoo, but have been too afraid.
Mehndi, an Indian body art using henna paste, is a way women can decorate their bodies without leaving a permanent mark, said Veronica Allen, who applies mehndi in a hair salon and in her own home.
“It’s a way to decorate your body for special occasions,” said Allen.
In India, mehndi is used to decorate women’s bodies for wedding days or feasts. Women get together and apply mehndi to the bride’s body and tell her the secrets of marriage.
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It’s not just a decoration but a way for women to socialize and bond, said Allen. She named her company Sisters’ Inc., because getting together is a way women bond, and Inc. is a play on ink.
Because mehndi can take up to five hours to dry it’s also a way to get out of work. “Women say ‘I can’t possibly do anything, I’ve got mehndi’,” she said.
The craze is sweeping North America, with singers and fashion models being photographed with mehndi and mehndi parlors springing up in large cities.
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Allen experimented with a series of formulas before coming up with a mixture of cloves, oil, lemon juice and tea used in the paste. The paste stains the skin and lasts about two weeks, depending on how often it is washed.
Allen, a former graphic artist, apprenticed as a tattoo artist. Women were pleased to see a woman artist who took the time to discuss a tattoo, she said.
While apprenticing she struck on the idea of temporary tattoos. Before a woman commits to a permanent tattoo, Allen will create a temporary one, using tattoo paint.
“It’s a big commitment for women and they really want to make sure about a tattoo.”
Allen also paints temporary tattoos on young women for their graduation ceremonies or their wedding day. She painted an elaborate grizzly bear head on a bride who wanted to surprise her hunter husband on their wedding night.
Other women come in and have a temporary tattoo painted on for special occasions to surprise their husbands.
“I’ve had brides think up some pretty wild things for scaring their husbands on their wedding night. I’ve had others paint on tattoos for shock value,” she said.
Allen has also painted fertility goddesses on women for bridal showers or girls’ night out parties.
