Henna By Elyse

Henna by Elyse provides bespoke henna artistry across Northwest Connecticut, the Hudson Valley in New York, western Massachusetts and beyond. 

Lawsonis inermis, commonly known as henna, is a plant, art form and ancient tradition. Henna has been used by cultures across India, northern Africa and the Middle East for thousands of years for medicinal purposes and body adornment. 

The ancient Egyptians dyed their hair with henna and buried their pharaohs with it. Jewish peoples throughout north Africa and the Middle East used henna in religious ceremonies. The Moors of Medieval Spain used henna for body art, and paintings from the time depict people and saints with hennaed hands. Medicinally, the molecule in henna that dyes the skin, lawsone, is a powerful anti-fungal and has been used to cure ringworm in livestock and treat Athlete's Foot.

Grown in hot, arid regions of the world, the leaves of the henna plant are harvested twice each year, then dried and ground into a very fine powder. This powder is mixed with water and essential oils to form a paste for use on hair and skin. We use the finest, natural body-art-quality henna powder from Rajasthan, India for our own hand mixed henna paste that we use on all clients. We never use black henna or henna with artificial dyes.