As I was exploring Berlin, DE last week with old friends and enjoying the nice hot weather with super cold beers, I got the warm feeling of summer coming ahead. So when I got back to London, I thought of going down to Brick Lane to scout out some henna to create a mendhi for myself (just in time for my b-day trip to California)!

I found a few options at a small grocer on Old Bethnal Green Road and bought the recommended Al Qamar CONE Henna Paste. I was expecting to buy the ingredients to mix, but this seemed like a much easier and faster solution. The guy behind the counter was right. This is by far the best £1 I’ve ever spent! There is no waiting for the paste to set and no messing with home-made cones, which made it super easy.

I was pretty happy with the end result. It’s a very nice dark reddish-brown color. You can tell that the design is darkest, where I began, on my hand so next time I’ll try removing parts of the henna towards the bottom first that way the design carries the same tone of color all through out.

This is what the design looked like before the paste was washed away.