The Henna Chick
Raven started her henna journey in 2001 when she saw woman from India at Best Buy. The woman was coming from her wedding and likely shopping with gift cards they received. Raven followed her around the store looking at the art work on the woman’s hands and feet, she was completely in love with this form of art but had no idea what it was called and for some reason, did not ask the woman. Raven went home and Googled every way she could think of to find out what this woman had on her body and finally came
across Henna Art. She promptly got on eBay and ordered her first henna cone. She laughs, because now she knows that was a big no-no. She received her cone in the mail and within 3 minutes she declared,“There is no way that art came out of this stuff!” Her research, which began before you could go on Facebook and ask questions, then expanded to finding the Henna Tribe where she discovered that if you buy proper henna it works great.
Henna Chick opened for business in 2006 and focuses on local festivals to provide legitimate henna art to people seeking the form of body art. Henna Chick is also available for small parties like girl’s nights, slumber parties, Halloween, fundraisers, children & teen events and bridal parties. Henna Chick is located in Tulsa, but they also travel to other states for festivals, like the Frisco Festival in Arkansas, The Prairie Grove Clothes Line Fair , Scot Fest in Tulsa, Apple Festival in Lincoln Arkansas, Mount Vernon’s Apple Butter Making Days, Sun Fest in Bartlesville, Blue Dome & Arts for All in Lawton, just to name a few.
Most people think that Henna Art came from India but it has been used in Africa, Asia, Germany, and middle eastern cultures and by native tribes since henna was discovered. Even Cleopatra used henna to color her hair. Henna is used for body decoration for ceremony, daily beautification, for dying leather and cloth, fingernails and has been used as hair dye for centuries.
Raven Michelle, Henna Chick, has a successful and growing business that she credits too her legitimate products and great staff members Luna, Henna Chick, and Nicole, the gate keeper, for organizing customers when they are working during events. Together the women have applied beautiful henna and face paint to thousands of people over the years.
Most people don’t realize that they should ask questions when they are at fairs and festivals or having any sort of body art applied. Henna Chick carries insurance and pays taxes on the income from her company because they are true artists. Other non-legitimate adulterated henna appliers that are seen at fairs and festivals will not have insurance and most of the time cannot be covered by insurance because their products have risk, which leads to “good luck finding them if something goes wrong.”
What is legitimate henna and how do you know?
Raven, Henna Chick, warns that you should never use commercially pre-made henna for any reason or let it be used on your body. The International Henna Artists Association has done independent testing on many over the counter “henna “products only to find toxic ingredients. Some Henna cones are not regulated in the countries where they are produced, so the labels can say anything. Toxic, over the counter, henna cones can have ammonia, kerosene, lead and even camel urine in them. Real henna is a plant and the leaves are made into a fine powder and then the artist will use water, sugar, lemon juice, apple juice and/or Lavender oil to create the mixture for application. True henna must be refrigerated because it will spoil. For a year, Raven used her kitchen chemistry skills to create a henna product that doesn’t melt in Oklahoma humidity. Granulated Sugar pulls moisture from the air so it doesn’t work in Oklahoma humidity. Her Henna paste is made with apple juice and molasses as part of her quest to find the perfect remedy for humid weather. She sent the recipe out to other henna artists and after three months of testing the mixture was deemed a success.
The art of face painting and henna art is something Henna Chick is passionate about and it has led her and others in her profession to inform festival coordinators and attendees of the difference between the products they use and the types of products “Henna Tattoo Artists and
Free Face Painters” use on a regular basis. Although the warnings are made, she is sometimes looked at as trying to corner the market or get rid of competition. In her opinion, it is simply not right to allow consumers, some small children, to be scared for weeks and months of their lives or even permanently. Although she has tried to get people educated on the risks of using bad products there is still not a festival that goes by that she doesn’t have consumers walking up to her booth complaining of itching, pain or burning from work they received at another booth. When people know Henna Chick is coming to an event, the lines start some times an hour before the event opens, so she is not worried about competition, she really is trying to save consumers a lot of time and money by getting “Free or Cheap” work done that will cost them later.
How do you know legitimate henna as a consumer?
No reputable Henna Artist has the words “Henna Tattoo” in their signage. Those handmade face paint and henna tattoo signs are usually one of many red flags. Cones should be hand made by the artists. Blue or Black “Henna” can create a permanent keloid scar (raised scars). Other red flags are those store-bought or “Henna” cones purchased online; Labeling will be printed on the cone directly, usually with a woman on them with foreign writing. India is the worst perpetrators of adulterated henna, some 70 percent is black hair dye, which can shut down your organs if you are allergic. Dyes slips through customs or they can have adulterated fake henna products. Again, real henna should always be used cold. “Free” in the body art industry is really bad.
What sets Henna Chick apart for face paints? How does a consumer know what they are looking for in legitimate artists?
“FREE Face Painting Tents” are not FREE because more times than not they are using really cheap $7 face paint kits they picked up at a craft store. Dermatitis, rashes, welts, sun sensitivity and chemical burns can happen with these cheap adulterated products. If a color of face paint costs the artist $15 per color, that’s a good way to know it’s a reputable face paint artist.
If your Henna Artist and Face Painting artist carry insurance, you know the insurance company has taken notice of the type of products they use or the artists wouldn’t be able to purchase insurance. Ask to see the insurance coverage of the artist instead of ending up in an ER with burns.
In closing, true Henna is also an anti-microbial & anti-fungal, hooves of animals can be coated with henna to help the hooves heal. Ringworm and athletes foot are also resolved when coated with henna paste for a couple of days.
Henna is also used for hair, but again if you are using a store-bought product with a lot of ingredients they are not true henna and you will not achieve the same hair repair and color with those products. Henna Chick will sell you henna to create a product for coloring and rejuvenating your hair. A packet will typically cost about $3-6 dollars depending on the length of hair and the henna is applied as a paste and wrapped for hours to achieve the true henna experience.
A calendar of events can be found on HennaChick.com websites or you can contact her directly by text or calling.
