Henna is a dye made from the henna tree, which can be used for applying intricately-patterned body skin tattoo that is temporary.
These two friendly Malay girls at the Ramadan Night Bazaar were generous enough to offer their beautifully hennaed hands to model for the photo – while waiting for the freshly applied henna to dry. Photo taken with a Nikon D600 with AF-S NIKKOR 24-120mm f/4G ED VR lens. Photo credit: John Tan.
Many cultures use henna to decorate their body and arms, as well as dye their hair and nails.
Nearer home, they are used by Indians and Malays.
“Muslim men may use henna as a dye for hair and most particularly their beards. This is considered a sunnah, a commendable tradition of the Prophet Muhammad. Furthermore, a hadith (narration of the Prophet) holds that he encouraged Muslim women to dye their nails with henna to demonstrate femininity and distinguish their hands from the hands of men; thus some Muslim women in the Middle East apply henna to their finger and toenails as well as their hands.” – extracted from Wikipedia for the entry on Henna.
Tags: bazaar, cosmetic, henna, Islam, makeup, markets, Muslims, night, photography, photos, potd, Ramadan