There are as many recipes for henna paste as there are people making henna. Each person has their own preferences and things such as season or geographic region may affect what a person chooses to add to their henna paste.

Step 1: Buy the henna
You can find henna at nearly any Indian or Middle Eastern grocery. You can also buy henna online in our henna store. Generally, buying online is better because the henna will be fresher. Unless you shop at the grocery store often, you can’t be sure how long the henna has been sitting on the shelf and stale henna won’t give a good stain. Also, many store owners are not familiar with their henna and cannot tell you what ingredients are in it and often, it will be labeled in another language. You don't want to end up with chemicals in your henna.

How can you know which brand is best? Experimentation is the best way to find out. Buy some and try it out. But to help you get started, the Henna Page has created Henna at 60x by putting henna samples under a microscope for evaluation.

Step 2: Sift the henna
Stretch a knee high panty hose over a bowl and pour in the henna a tablespoon or so at a time. Use a spoon to push it back and forth. The fine henna will sift through, leaving plant matter that may clog your tips. Most quality henna is already sifted at least once, but it never hurts to sift it yourself.

Step 3: Mix the Henna