Use a good quality finely milled henna powder such as Jamila Powder as it will come out of the cone much more smoothly and you wont have to keep stopping to "unblock" the nib - who hates that?! Make sure it is from a recent crop!! Each new crop comes out during the summer, so if you were to buy one right now, it would be a 2012 crop.
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A heaped tablespoon of powder is enough for approximately 1 medium-large cone or 2 smaller cones.
Method
Stage 1
- Add 1 tablespoon of henna powder and enough fresh lemon juice (not water) to make a firm mashed potato consistency. The paste must be very thick, smooth with no dry bits. Seal with cling film for 6 hours in room temperature (perhaps near an oven/cooker).
- Make sure there are no air bubbles and that the clingfilm is resting on top of the paste.
Stage 2
- Add essential oils such as Eucalyptus B.P oil or Gajaput oil. (For every heaped tablespoon of henna powder you need 1 teaspoon of oil).
- Top up the mixture with fresh lemon juice to get the right consistency. The consistency you should be aiming for is a 1-2-3 drop consistency similar to toothpaste consistency. Confused? Get a teaspoon full of the mixture and then drop it into the mixture bowl - it should fall on the third count (after 3 seconds). Don't count tooo fast nor too s l o w!
- Rest for 6 hours to allow the lemon juice to break the chemicals down. Don't put cling film on top of the henna (you may put it over the bowl though).
- This is probably best done the day before you need to apply the henna or if you are at work, do stage 1 overnight and then stage 2 in the morning.
- Fill your cone with 2 tea spoons of henna.
- Seal nib with sellotape to stop henna from pouring out and remove after you have sealed the top if your are going to use it then.
- Fold at top sides in a diamond shape then make small folds at the top and work down. Seal with sellotape.
