KUWAIT, Sept 9 (KUNA) -- Kuwaiti women were, and still are, known for dying their hair, hand and fingernails with henna as a ritual at weddings or for celebrating Eid.
"Henna in the past had a special 'flavor' to it due to the fact that make-up materials were rather 'primitive' back then," Kuwaiti Historian Adel Al-Abdulmughni told KUNA.
Women and girls would also apply henna on their palms and bottom of their feet, with its distinctive brownish-red color, Al-Abdulmughni noted.
Henna is a flowering plant, as the name is misused for other skin and hair dyes, such as black henna or neutral henna, which do not derive from the plant.
Another Eid festivity that henna was part of in the past was dying backs of donkeys with it, so that children can ride them and have a good time, as the view of henna-dyed and bells-ornamented donkeys was one of the most cheerful for children back then, Al-Abdulmughni said.
According to Agricultural Engineer Ghanem Al-Sanad, henna is a tall shrub or small tree, 2.6 meters high. It is glabrous, multi-branched with spine tipped branchlets and leaves opposite and broadly lanceolate.
He added that henna plant is native to tropical and subtropical regions of Africa, southern Asia, and northern Australasia in semi-arid zones.
"Henna's lawsone is what gives it that dark color and it goes darker as long as the henna trees get older," he noted, adding that the henna with red flowers is the one currently cultivated in Kuwait.
Lawsone is a burgundy organic compound that has an affinity for bonding with protein and is primarily concentrated in the leaves.
Henna flowers have been used to create perfume since ancient times, and henna perfume is experiencing a resurgence, as the plant itself was listed as a medicinal herb in old texts. - Kuna