HENNA- How and why is the skin stained?

Across the globe, Henna is gaining popularity as a new form of Body Art even though it has been in use for several decades or perhaps centuries according to the recent archaeological reports. Henna is basically a flowering plant that produces a tannin burgundy dye molecule, Lawsone, in its leaves and petiole. This molecule has an affinity for bonding with proteins and thus has been widely used to dye skin, hair and finger and toe nails. Exactly how the Henna stains our skin is a big question and query of many interested applicants of Henna. As the human skin is also made of a special type of protein, Keratin, the Henna dye molecule is able of combining with it to leave a burgundy stain behind on the skin once the paste applied has been removed. What happens during the colouring procedure is a rather interesting theory made by our scientists who have carried out a lot of experiments to understand the science and relationship of our skin and Henna. Henna dye molecules, once applied on the skin, are small enough to penetrate through the skin cell layers. They do not spread out like the ink would on blotter paper, rather, they go straight down as ink would on corrugated cardboard. This is the main reason why the Henna patterns or designs stay clear and in place till the last day of exfoliation. The skin cells closest to the Henna paste will have the greatest dye saturation as compared to those beneath them. According to a factual study, the more dried out and more corneated your skin cells are, the deeper that layer, and greater the dye saturation, the darker the stain would be left over by the Henna paste. It slowly fades as the epidermal skin layer is replaced by a new layer of skin cells.