Henna puts a bit of color into women's lives

Henna puts a bit of color into women's lives

By Dewi Kurniawati

JAKARTA (JP): Don't be surprised when you take a peek at some
women's nails here to find they are daubed with unusual colors --
orange, deep browns, black -- or an intricate design covers their
hands.

It may not be the latest range of zany nail polish, but
traditional pacar muslim or Inai, a reddish brown dye obtained
from leaves of the henna plant and traditionally used in wedding
ceremonies.

Syifa Al Jufri, who specializes in henna coloring of the hair
and nails, said the practice came from women having their hands
and bodies painting in the Middle East, Pakistan and India as a
pre-marriage ritual. In the waves of migration from those lands
to Indonesia (Al Jufri is herself of Arab descent), the practice
spread.

Today it is part of the marriage tradition for Acehnese of
North Sumatra and the Minang of West Sumatra.

For the wedding preparation, henna painting on the hands,
which takes up to three days for applications, is usually
followed by luluran, a traditional body massage and scrub.

"It takes three days to get the best result in applying henna,
the aim is for the color to look perfect and remain longer", said
Al Jufri. Henna can stay for up to six months on the nails, about
two months as a tattoo on hands and up to three months for hair
dye."

From June to July, when many people choose to have their
weddings because it is considered an auspicious time of the year,
Al Jufri is fully booked.

"My family still practices the custom up until now," said Cut
Nyak Inseun Faradena, a 22-year-old whose family is from Aceh but
now lives in Jakarta.

"Three nights before the wedding, there's a night called malam
boh gaca, when the bride is groomed by her relatives with henna
on her nails, and they also paint some attractive designs on her
hands and feet."

The Arab, Indian and Pakistani communities here have been a
base for the spread in popularity of using henna, but in recent
years there has also been the strong influence of Indian TV soap
operas, in which the art of henna hand designs is called mehendi.

The fad for henna decoration has caught on both among public
figures, such as TV talk show host Hughes, and people who want to
be trendy.

"It's an expression of happiness in life," said Purnima, a
mehendi designer from Jakarta who is currently part of an Indian
cultural promotion at a department store in Plaza Senayan.

"Certain passages in life such as weddings and births are
symbolized by expressive designs like flowers and birds with
henna painting."

Designers like Purnima take 15 minutes to do their magic --
but the result lasts for three weeks.

It costs about Rp 350,000 to have the hand design done, which
will include a design exclusive for the wedding, by Al Jufri.

She said henna is considered halal (conforming to Islamic
teachings) compared to nail polish because it does not clog the
pores, an important concern in the ritual washing before prayers
five times a day.

"I got the henna specially from Saudi Arabia, because it is
original and the best," said Al Jufri.

She said women who came to her were not only brides-to be, but
housewives and other women who like their nails and hair dyed
with henna.

"I apply henna on my hair because it covers the gray
perfectly, and when the light strikes, it gives you a beautiful
exotic glow," said Latifah Baswedan, a 47-year-old housewife who
lives in Bintaro, South Jakarta.

She formulates her own mix of the henna dye with tea
concentrate and lemon in order to get the best result.

"Since I became a haj pilgrim, I have to be extra careful
using beauty products, and henna is considered halal because it
doesn't clog your pores, so I can pray," said Latifah who gets
her henna directly from Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

Muslim scholar Ihsan Tanjung said use of henna probably was an
Arabic cultural tradition and not explicitly condoned or outlawed
by Islam.

"Makeup and beauty cosmetics for women in Islam are allowed as
long as they use it for their husbands or family's view only, not
for others, because that would mean they committed tabaruj,
giving something they are not supposed to, and that's against the
teachings in Islam. So it depends on the purpose and how they use
it."

For career woman Munaya Sungkar, 27, it's all about the look.

"It just looks beautiful, yet it is natural. Even my younger
sister who is a teenager uses it for her hair, and it's not much
different from the hair colors you can get at the hairdresser."

Varieties

Henna is easily found in Tanah Abang traditional market,
selling from only Rp 3,000 (the Pakistani variety) to Rp 10,000
(from Saudi Arabia).

"We get various consumers of henna today, from Indonesians,
Arabs, Indians and even some Chinese," said Chaedar, who has been
in the business of selling halal cosmetics for five years.

"Suppliers usually bring the products after they come back
from their home country, like the henna which I get from Indians,
and the ingredients for pacar muslim I get from the people who
just got back from their pilgrimage."

Chaedar said many women claimed they preferred using henna
because they did not suffer allergic reactions or irritation with
the products.

"When they use henna to cover their gray hair, after two or
three months they usually comes back to get some more, they say
it's more natural for the hair," said Chaedar.

But is henna medically safe?

"So far, I haven't found any cases of irritation whatsoever
from the application of henna products," said Dr. Edwin Djuanda
from the Jakarta Skin Center. "It's understandable that people
take henna as an alternative to their (allergy) problems, due to
the prevalence of products capable of killing the skin pigment if
they have a high chemical content."

Dr. Nadya Yusharyahya, a dermatologist and the founder of
Jakarta Skin Center, has used henna on her hair since 1976.

"I have had gray hair since I was young, so I decided to used
henna because it's natural and until today, personally, I never
had problems with my skin, such as irritation. Also, as a
practitioner, I haven't had have any patient complain about
henna."

Nadya said there was always the possibility that some people
might have allergic reactions, so they should first apply some of
the henna mixture behind their ear first and wait several hours.

She has found one difficulty, however.

"My only problem is that it's too much of a hassle to use
henna (at home), so i started going to a beauty salon to get some
help."