Henna Lip Stain

[Nightshade]

So I had a bit of fun with this before, but my henna was old and had been frozen and thawed a million times, and I wanted another go at staining my lips with henna just for kicks.

I mixed up some Rajastani henna, terped it with lavender and tea tree eo, and let it sit for dye release. Then I loaded it into a little applicator bottle I have and went to town:

Before:
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-blkzOC38jzg/U0LAHT16EPI/AAAAAAAAG2o/47qJq16RsEk/s400/Gloss-before.jpg




During (I actually loved how this looked!):
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-7s5Hh7kT6w8/U0LAH0lnbKI/AAAAAAAAG2w/9Ni99QQF__w/s400/Gloss-During-2.jpg


After awhile I could see it staining:
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-xmpQN6pXpwk/U0LAHA9LmMI/AAAAAAAAG2k/Kfr_PemOssE/s400/Gloss-During.jpg


Finished (indoor lighting):
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-5XL_vwkB6Vo/U0LAGg9lTEI/AAAAAAAAG2Y/NaYwMqTCzQY/s400/Gloss-After-2.jpg

Outdoor lighting:
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-acH8QEetobc/U0LAGrFj1VI/AAAAAAAAG2U/4hMRx7obufk/s400/Gloss-After.jpg


It's already faded a bit. I left it on for about two hours, and don't expect it to last more than two days. The skin on lips is so thin and renews itself really quickly. So this was mostly for fun, but I could see doing this as a waterproof lipgloss if I was going to a waterpark or something :lol:

[Shatam1]

I do this every time I henna:) but it never lasts more than a day:(

[AmyBeth]

That looks like fun! I wish it would last a little longer.

[nakima]

great color! it looks so natural:hifive:

[Hairitic]

I love it! :o

[Ingrid]

Great result! Love the colour.

[TheHowlingWolf]

While it was on your lips, could you taste it? Did it taste bad? Thanks for doing this experiment! I'll have to try it! Oh, & also, did you find it dried out your lips or no? I'm trying to find a good lipstain that doesn't dry out my lips!

[Lucky_Lucy]

Whoa, looks great XD

I'm also curious if you found it drying(for me, there are only a few things that aren't drying for my face/lips).

[Libbylou]

Henna King offers henna lip stains that I have been curious about. Anyone try those?

[browneyedsusan]

What a neat idea!
Looks good too. :)

[Lilelfen1]

Oh, how awesome!!! I wonder if we could find a way to get the dye to release in the oil/keep it stable and active. Hmmmmm

[Nightshade]

It was a little drying right after I took it off, but a little lip balm and it was fine :)

I haven't tried the lip stains from Henna King, but I'd be curious how well they worked.

Next time I might try sealing it, maybe with saran wrap and then catching a nap for a bit. A longer soak without it drying out would make it stain much better.

[truepeacenik]

^^ exactly. Treat it like mehindi tattoo, more than hair dye.
Maybe with the lemon sugar coating.

i'd also start with exfoliation of the lips, to get the best canvas. Either the toothbrush method or a sugar scrub.

I'm also very curious about the commercial lip stain.
I use Burt's bees tints, but something that really stayed all day and hopefully into morning would be wonderful.

[truepeacenik]

Update: I used a similar method to nightshade, and it was a day's worth of color. (Done Wednesday afternoon for thanksgiving Thursday)
My mud was forest green. And honestly, I like the look of that better. And I don't wear makeup in general with any regularity.
I mixed mud with strong black tea and lemon juice, terped with tea tree. Totally forgot the plastic or lemon sugar coating.
Tasted horrible at first. Got used to it.

[Wallabear]

Neat stuff, Nightshade!

[Nightshade]

Doing round two of this today :) I'll have pictures tomorrow ^_^

[Nightshade]

I gave this another go this weekend. I had some henna sitting in the fridge (this is an absurdly normal occurrence in our house), and noticed that there was that reddish watery stuff on top.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-LARBO9FOjGc/VHyGMMWHe0I/AAAAAAAAKjY/LzCfb9SbUqU/s720/Lip-Stain-1.jpg

Rather than doing just mud, I tried painting on just the stain-filled water:

Which actually worked surprisingly well!

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-JLvR0w-yTNs/VHyGKYiBo4I/AAAAAAAAKjQ/BHsOkbjhZ6I/s450/Lip-Stain-2.jpg

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-DYEZWbabZ8w/VHyGHbtg87I/AAAAAAAAKjI/x6ypA-rcQ9I/s720/Lip-Stain-3.jpg

And then I kept doing more and it got muddy. Sealed it with some chapstick, which was a little overkill. (And I'm also fashionably doing my eyebrows here!)

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-rw1YRntIcjc/VHyGGl-d3tI/AAAAAAAAKjE/sWo3N2u7aRo/s720/Lip-Stain-4.jpg

It still faded, but with using just the reddish water I had an instant stain that I could have put a sealing gloss over and worn right away, rather than waiting for awhile with mud on my lips.

[DreamSheep]

That is such a cool and good idea :) May give this a go sometime!

[maborosi]

This is so cool, Nightshade. Ever since I saw your blog post about it, I've been curious to give this a try.

Also, you are beyond adorable. :D

[Islandgrrl]

I never thought about using the henna water. I'll be giving that a try as soon as I mix up another batch of henna tonight!

[Nightshade]

That is such a cool and good idea :) May give this a go sometime!

Let us know how it goes if you do!


This is so cool, Nightshade. Ever since I saw your blog post about it, I've been curious to give this a try.

Also, you are beyond adorable. :D

Aww, thanks :D Even with green eyebrows :lol:



I never thought about using the henna water. I'll be giving that a try as soon as I mix up another batch of henna tonight!

I think that the henna-water, letting it dry, and tossing something like Burt's Bees over it would work best. The henna water itself is very matte and kinda drying. I'm excited to see how it works for you. :)

[McFearless]

You're so pretty Nightshade!

I smear left over henna all of my face. It clears up any skin issues I have like pimples or inflammation.

[Quasiquixotic]

oh that is fearless! I love it!

[Neecola]

I might have to try this; thanks Nightshade!

[Nightshade]

You're so welcome! Let me know how it goes!

[AlexDig]

I keep forgetting to try this but I'm so stoked to try it out! It looks amazing.

[Upside Down]

How stable is henna pigment? I wonder if mixing that water with a lip balm would work for a tinted gloss.

Really pretty results, only it is a shame it lasts only a day or so :(

[Rowanoake]

what a clever use! how did you keep it from cracking and falling off while it was staining?

[Nightshade]

How stable is henna pigment? I wonder if mixing that water with a lip balm would work for a tinted gloss.

Really pretty results, only it is a shame it lasts only a day or so :(

Sadly henna dye breaks down over the course of a day or two, so I'm pretty sure it wouldn't last.

[Auburngirl]

Cool! I never thought to use it on the lips! That looks amazing! I wonder if it helps your nails, too. Do you know if it can strengthen the nail plate? I have very soft and thin nails, prone to breakage and I was thinking maybe I can use henna on them just like you use it to condition hair, since it contains proteins, and if I could use it underneath my nail polish.
That would be great, my nails are suffering worse than my hair right now and I could use a new trick.

[truepeacenik]

Pierre Uses henna on his nails. Maybe pm him?

[Anje]

I think it strengthens my nails a little, though I haven't done it in so long that I only have one toe that's a smidge orange and my fingers have been grown out for months. However, more important for my nail health was realizing that polish was totally destroying my nails. Once I grew out all the previously-polished nail, they were a lot better.

I look good in orange and henna nails isn't really that different from the color nailpolish I typically choose, if I leave it on overnight. Getting it right tends to involve a lot of walking around with weird yellowed nails though, so I'm not sure I recommend hennaing them to people who are going to be self-conscious about such things.

[Auburngirl]

Anje, for me it's exactly the opposite: nail polish - especially a good strengthening base coat seems to strengthen my natural nails. I left my nails uncovered for a while and they went very soft and broke. They don't seem to grow back strong enough to last. :( But I have good periods and bad, in summer usually they are stronger, it seems. Spring is already here, and it's getting hotter, so I think soon they'll be better. There are also a lot of strengthening products, oils and such, but those can be costly. That's why I was considering staining them with henna, kind of like you'd apply one of those special treatments, then do your manicure as usual. And no, I don't mind yellowish/orange nails, if I can cover them with a nail polish. No one could know my little secret. ;)

[Fericera]

How pretty! I don't want to henna my hair though, so if I got some for this it would probably go to waste, sadly.

[Upside Down]

Sadly henna dye breaks down over the course of a day or two, so I'm pretty sure it wouldn't last.

And yet, deadly permanent on hair. Sigh.

[Nightshade]

And yet, deadly permanent on hair. Sigh.

Right? If that stain on my lips was half as permanent (or even just lasted as long as it did on my hands) I'd be THRILLED. The color is so natural and pretty :)

[Ava Ruu]

Is this safe? I was under the impression that henna could cause cancer if ingested (but have not read anything of henna for ages so I could be mistaken). It looks very pretty.

[Upside Down]

Right? If that stain on my lips was half as permanent (or even just lasted as long as it did on my hands) I'd be THRILLED. The color is so natural and pretty :)

Yup, the look is the definition of effortless. Looks like no makeup is used but adds color!


Is this safe? I was under the impression that henna could cause cancer if ingested (but have not read anything of henna for ages so I could be mistaken). It looks very pretty.

Why would you ingest henna?

Did I just go through the SCCS opinion on henna? Maybe... Baah.
May be mutagenic if ingested indeed, so don't eat it. :lol:

[Nemain]

Don't give me ideas, don't give me ideas... I have some leftover henna, but my lips are naturally quite dark pink, so I will just accept the fact that it would probably end up looking as if I ate chocolate all day, and admire how beautiful it turned out for you!

[Nightshade]

Hahha I need to touch up my eyebrows :) Maybe I'll give this another go tonight.

[Ava Ruu]

Why would you ingest henna? Did I just go through the SCCS opinion on henna? Maybe... Baah. May be mutagenic if ingested indeed, so don't eat it. :lol: I could not put anything on my lips without ending up ingesting (at least a small portion of) it, hence the question. Maybe others are capable of that?

[Nightshade]

I could not put anything on my lips without ending up ingesting (at least a small portion of) it, hence the question. Maybe others are capable of that?

I've never read anything about henna causing cancer if you ingest it, and I'm pretty up on both henna and the toxicology of plants in general. :)

[MINAKO]

How Cool! I wish that would work with my complexion, but im almost sure it doesnt, as my top lip is also darker than my bottom lip. So most of the time i wear a dark cherry, or true red tint. Would it be possible to tweak it this way?

BTW, i thinks. its almost safer to eat lip produts than certain foods these days, so no worries about that, lol.

[hennalonghair]

I've never read anything about henna causing cancer if you ingest it, and I'm pretty up on both henna and the toxicology of plants in general. :)

:applause
For sure:thumbsup:
I love the staining lips idea.

[DKSABS]

I gave this another go this weekend. I had some henna sitting in the fridge (this is an absurdly normal occurrence in our house), and noticed that there was that reddish watery stuff on top.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-LARBO9FOjGc/VHyGMMWHe0I/AAAAAAAAKjY/LzCfb9SbUqU/s720/Lip-Stain-1.jpg

Rather than doing just mud, I tried painting on just the stain-filled water:

Which actually worked surprisingly well!

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-JLvR0w-yTNs/VHyGKYiBo4I/AAAAAAAAKjQ/BHsOkbjhZ6I/s450/Lip-Stain-2.jpg

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-DYEZWbabZ8w/VHyGHbtg87I/AAAAAAAAKjI/x6ypA-rcQ9I/s720/Lip-Stain-3.jpg

And then I kept doing more and it got muddy. Sealed it with some chapstick, which was a little overkill. (And I'm also fashionably doing my eyebrows here!)

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-rw1YRntIcjc/VHyGGl-d3tI/AAAAAAAAKjE/sWo3N2u7aRo/s720/Lip-Stain-4.jpg

It still faded, but with using just the reddish water I had an instant stain that I could have put a sealing gloss over and worn right away, rather than waiting for awhile with mud on my lips.

How neat! I didn't know you could henna eyebrows or lips. I have a lot of grey in my eyebrows and have recently been paying the ladies at the nail salon to dye my eyebrows brown when they wax my eyebrows. I've had it done twice and was kind of worried about their dye being toxic chemicals. How long do you leave the mud on your eyebrows and lips?

[Nightshade]

For my eyebrows it was about two hours or so. Lips, it varied but I aimed for two hours, too. Just harder to keep it from not drying out.

[Auburngirl]

It does fade in two days, but lipstick needs to be retouched all he time, and you can forget about eating with it on - Yuck! (except or the waterproof one, which I can't stand the feel of). Not to say about kissing. I don't think henna transfers onto anything, and, as long as it's still not faded, at least for one day you don't have to retouch it, right?

[Nightshade]

Correct :) Once you wipe the mud off, it doesn't come off on anything!