"Staining the nails, skin and hair with henna is the favorite way of enhancing beauty amongst women in the Middle East. It is used as both a hair treatment as well as a dye to make decorative designs on the skin.

Arabians crush dried berries from this plant to obtain a red powder.

All the following recipes have common elements and tips, though some are more detailed. Common elements include:

1) Picking a good quality/the right kind of henna,

(2) Using something to help "set" the henna mixture like lemon juice, and some include ingredients that help darken or strengthen the henna stains (make them last longer), like black tea, etc.