Henna Import Woes

**shelomit** · January 25th, 2021, 05:48 PM

The same issue is probably affecting folks differently in different regions, but here's my experience, for the record:

I went to "the big city" for a doctor's visit last week, and on my way out also stopped by the desi shop where I typically buy henna. They ordinarily stock several varieties each of Reshma, Nupur, and Jamila brands. This time, there was very little available: half a dozen boxes of colored Reshma, three bags of the "nine herbs"-type Nupur (all of which I wound up buying), and no Jamila at all.

I wound up having a conversation with the shopkeeper as I was checking out. She reported that she usually places orders for henna in late summer, after the new crop has started coming in. This year her importer told her that nothing was in stock and to try again after a few months. Therefore, she submitted another series of orders in late fall. At that point, there was a small amount of Reshma stock available, but still nothing from Jamila or Nupur. Now (another few months on) her order from Reshma still hasn't come in. Her impression was that part of the difficulty was disruptions to agricultural labor, and the other part due to overall slow international commerce during the pandemic.

**shelomit** · April 7th, 2021, 02:30 PM

I just did the same doctor's visit + desi shop visit combination on Monday. Henna is starting to be available again here! Most stuff is still backordered, but the shopkeeper reports that she got in a fresh shipment of the 2020 harvest Nupur in mid-February. This is, for the record, the 100% henna Nupur, not the "nine herbs" one.