Henna Tattoo- Transcending Beyond Tradition

I have got love for art. This is to be expected because I am a creative and creativity is really about expressing oneself which is what art is about. Hence my love for henna tattoo which is a form of body art that causes certain people to cringe, if you get what I mean.

Henna is a form of body art that is done with the aid of a dye gotten from henna plant. It is very peculiar in the Northern part of Nigeria and is a part of their custom and tradition. Usually, it is used to beautify a bride during her wedding ceremony but today, it has infiltrated the system such that it becomes a part of the beauty regimen that one considers just as we consider going to the salon to have a new hair do.

For me, I have always shivered at the idea of body art cos I didn’t want to have my head chopped off by my parents. I wasn’t sure how they will react. Coincidentally, I am yet to deal with them frowning at it probably because my dad hasn’t exactly seen it or, because we have a few of our family members in the North that he gets it. However, I have had the frown from another parent figure in my life who wasn’t having it when she spotted it but I guess, she thought it was the permanent tattoo. Though she didn’t push, she made sure to voice her disapproval of it. Like her, I have heard a few others discuss how their parents raised an eyebrow when they came home with henna tattoo because in the words of Tayo Afolabi, “no parent likes their children to have a tattoo”.

Irrespective of how some people may look at it, henna tattoo has come to stay and its influence in the beauty industry is not one that can be overlooked. Spas are opening up and making it a core part of their beauty treatments as we showed you HERE. For me, it is an alternative to the permanent tattoo which you could really do for fun and after 2 weeks or 4, it fades off. Usually, when I do henna tattoo, you can sort of depict my feelings or thoughts. In the featured image, I guess I am just excited about the future. Hence the inscription. I get bored easily which is why I will never consider a permanent tattoo but with this, I can express myself at a given moment, live and enjoy that moment and move on. This seems to be the thought of a few other ladies who I reached out to on what Henna means to them. Take a look below;

What does henna mean to you?