Patience is Prayer
This pattern is based on art and men's henna patterns from Persia in the 13th  century. 

The Arabic on the hand is "Patience is Prayer"

Sometimes figuring out difficulties, challenges, answers, is as complex as sorting out a knot.  This holds for achieving success in henna as well as in life. Sometimes we pray for success, sometimes we just have to be patient.   This henna is by some standards quite imperfect, but its imperfections point to answers to why some henna attempts success and some fail.  When working with terpenes and masks, there is a complex interaction of oxygen, heat, henna, terpenes, skin and perspiration.  In this henna, not all factors were in perfect balance.

I mixed Irani henna with lemon juice and left it overnight. To 3 oz of henna paste,  I added 1/10 oz Tea Tree essential oil, 5 drops each of cardamom, and clove bud oil the next morning.  I let that sit 24 hours at 75F.  I applied the henna to James, and  let it dry.  I sealed it with New Skin, then sealed that with facial mask, blew dry that, and powdered it with baby powder. 

James went to an excellent party that night, and imbibed generously, as well as attempting in several ways to keep his hand especially warm.  Overachieving, he perspired under the seal, and this created some hazing in the stain results.  The uneven application of the masks allowed the henna to darken in some places, and not in others.  Where the seal was thin and air penetrated easily, the stain maxed to black.  Where the seal was thick, and no air reached the henna, stain was impaired to brick.   This unevenness created a mottled stain.  This photograph was taken 36 hours after henna paste removal. The results are imperfect by some standards, but interesting, and perhaps instructive! 
  

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