Perk up your Eid with mehedi

The holy festival of Eid-ul-Fitr is just around the corner. In our country, the festival is marked by solemnity and valour where people meet and greet their loved ones. 
 
Mehedi adds more significance to the essence of Eid celebrations. It has been used for ages and is considered to be a part of our culture and tradition. 

While mehedi designs make our hands look more attractive, it also helps our skin to be free from infection because of its antimicrobial efficacy.
 
While this year, we will be mostly catching up with friends and family via video calls, we can perk up our Eid at home with beautiful mehedi designs. 

A full hand of mehedi can be therapeutic amidst the crazy pandemic situation right now to take your mind off of things. 

Trends for 2021

Every year there are different trends regarding the designs of mehedi. As last year simpler designs made it to the trends. 

This year, a combination of simple and gorgeous designs is popular. 

According to Shahriar Rafsan, a prominent mehedi artist, this mixture of simple and gorgeous design is called Contemporary style. 
 
Arabic designs are also trendy this year. It does not cover the whole hand, rather consists of dispersed intricate patterns. You can apply Arabic-style mehedi designs with thick or thin flower patterns. 

Arabic mehedi designs are easy to apply and look very beautiful. What is unique about this design is, the outlining is highlighted. 

Many types of design are being done for Arabic style mehedi. You can look up on Pinterest to find out your preferred design and apply. 
 
Rafsan also added that traditional Indian mehedi designs are in fashion this season with thick floral and leafy patterns. Bold and intricate designs will also make a comeback this year.

Back hennas are getting back into the trend in 2021. Jewelry-shaped designs are seen to be painted with mehedi in the upper arm as well. Contemporary designs are used for these parts of the body. 

Different patterns of Mehedi

Among all the other patterns, mandala is very well known. It has been painted on hands for ages and looks beautiful on hands. Mandala is a symbol of spirituality. It can be as simple or as intricate as you like. 

This popular pattern is very easy to draw. The round-shaped design can be painted on the centre of the palms. You can adorn the fingers with simple designs along with. 

Other than that, there are different types of long and leafy patterns. These patterns usually go well in the fingers. You can fill up the fingers with leafy patterns along with the mandala in the palm.

Best designs for your hands

Not all designs will look good in all hands. Grandiose patterns tend to look better in leaner hands while clumpy hands will look good in simpler patterns. 

If you want to cover full hands with henna try using a combination of both thick and thin patterns, otherwise, it will end up making the hands look wider. Mandala patterns are perfect for slender hands.

Designs for kids

It often happens that the children in the house get very excited about applying mehedi too. 

To satiate their excitement, some designs can be painted on their hands as well. It is always better to use natural mehedi for kids. 

Try big flowers or simple mandala patterns for their small hands. You can also paint sun and moon designs for setting the mood for eid.  

Apply your mehedi right

For best results, apply mehedi at night. You will wake up with the deepest red colour. But if you intend to apply during daytime, make sure to not touch water for the next 24 hours. 

After applying tube mehedi let it dry and then apply lemon juice and sugar solution for deepened colour. 

In case of mehedi leaves, soak them in tea-infused water for three minutes and then grind them for a better colour. 

Other than that you can massage olive oil or mustard oil to your hands after removing the dry mehedi out. 

Make mehedi at home

If you want to avoid going out to buy tube mehedi, you can easily make your own with some mehedi leaves. A lot of us have mehedi trees at our rooftops or in the balcony. 

To make a tube mehedi on your own, first, dry out the leaves properly and churn them. 

Take three tablespoons of lemon juice along with one teaspoon of sugar to make one tube of mehedi. 

On the contrary, you can also make mehedi paste and filter it out with a strainer that has bigger holes. Then mix the paste with one teaspoon of sugar.