[Lil Piranha]

I love henna / jagua tattoos, the temporary ones that last a few weeks. But short of going on holiday or visiting London (I'm in Southampton), I can't find them anywhere! There are so many designs I want to try, I don't think I'd ever want a permanent one though - and I'm terrified of needles! I LOVE having them painted on though.

I thought there'd be more of a demand for contemporary henna tattoos, but all I can find are people who do the traditional Asian mehndi styles. Does anyone have any advice as to where I might be able to find a directory of artists or something like that? Or if anyone knows of anywhere near Southampton (I've called all the big needle-tattoo studios, none of them are any help!) Just seems a bit odd they're so hard to find - maybe I've hit on a niche business!

[lapples]

I live in Edinburgh and I find it really hard to find them too....
Have you tried looking for alternative beauty clinics - like aromatherapy etc - they sometimes have a sideline in henna or something similar.
If not, you could just do what I did, and buy ready-made henna paste cones form Amazon and do them yourself works out cheaper.
If you're arty it's really good fun to try new designs and things. If like me, you are artistically challenged :P get a friend with a steady hand to do them for you.....
Hope this helps

[Irram]

Can i just say that mehndi and henna are the same thing!
Mehndi is the Indian word for henna.
Henna is the Arabic name of a bush of the botanical name, lawsonia inermis.
Mehndi is the art of applying henna to the skin in a design.
Henna is the plant that once dried out can be ground into a fine powder.
If you add water to the henna powder you get a paste.
The paste can be used to color the nails or hair red/orange or apply to the skin for a temporally tattoo.
If your not that arty and don't want to do it yourself, you could always pick a design which you want and then ask the people who do it if they would do that design. I've applied henna before on others I have this file of designs from which they can pick and if they have any requests then i'm always happy to oblige. You wouldn't understand how many times i've been asked to do the same tattoo that Cheryl Cole has on the side of her hand.
Hope that helps

[Joshef1]

As, you like henna tattoo, so you can itself make tattoo on your body. You can find ready-made henna paste in the market and if you are a artist then you can make your own design. Its easy and safe to use.

[fletchdd02]

I know somebody in Leeds that does it.

Although, that's a fair old trek from Southampton...

[OSharp]

Do it yourself its way more fun, especially if you have artsy friends

Where I lived in Woking there was a large population of Pakistanis and Bangladeshis. you could buy tubes of Henna for about £2 If i remember correctly from the corner shop.

If you can get it in surrey, you can get it anywhere.

just keep an eye on them though. its no fun someone drawing phallic symbols on you while you're not paying attention.

[hippygirl]

there are TONNES of mendi/henna cones ready for use on ebay of all places! i recently bought a single cone for like £1.75 and i was able to do a large scale pattern on the palm of my hand and all the way up one of my legs and i had TONNES left over and if you store it in the fridge you can use it for another few weeks, its amazing . if you first practice on a sheet of paper just to get used to the flow of which the henna comes out, then it is a piece of cake! super easy to use good luck

[inspiron1]

Ramadhan is coming up, so lots of Asian shops will stock up on the henna in time for Eid. You could buy a cone yourself and have some fun with drawing on your hand/arm.

[Lil Piranha]

Fair enough, I might see if I can find some stencils or something and experiment a bit