Henna Tattoo & a Month End...

Now, I can scratch one thing off my Bucket List.  This last Tuesday morning,  I had a henna tattoo applied by Malynda in my home.  I had given her a very rough drawing of sunflowers and a bicycle, and she drew this free hand and came up with an amazing piece of artwork on me.   It was rather amazing thinking of my body underneath and as a part of a piece of art.  I never considered my body to be a possibility of art; which was rather a new concept for me.  One that I may have to explore some more in the future,hmmm?

Let me preface this with a warning-- Not all hennas are created equal!!  ***BLACK HENNA WARNING!!***  If you come across a henna that stains your skin black immediately avoid it.  It probably contains a harmful chemical called PPD(para-phenylenediamine).  PPD is ILLEGAL to use on skin and can cause painful rashes, disfiguring scars, increased allergic reactions to safer black dyes (such as used to dye your clothes), to more serious conditions such as heart failure and life-long illness.

My upper left arm just after application of henna paste.

View of my back with henna paste still on.

The henna goes on with the consistency of black pudding.  Then, you leave it on your skin any where from 4 to 8 hours.  That allows your skin to absorb the coloring from the henna.  I had about 6 hours after Malynda left to sit and let my skin do nothing but absorb.  I was trying not to move or touch anything with those areas of my body.  Oh, did I mention it was my back, left shoulder, and upper left arm?  And I never realized how hard that is not to touch something with those parts of your body when you are trying not to. OMG!  I ended up leaning on my right side and slightly forward on my love seat as I watched a movie and then did some reading on my nook.  At shortly after 5pm, I changed into some cycling clothes and went to ride my Tuesday evening Emigration Canyon ride.  The henna paste was starting to crack and fall off.  I imagine I looked rather yucky during the ride, but the sweat was supposed to help set it in I was told.
 

Henna tattoo the morning after most of the paste was removed.

The henna tattoo on the second day.  It's gotten darker.

And an monthly update....
Weight- I've 9 lbs to go till my goal weight.
100 SLC Porches- I finish #73 & 74 the other night.  I'm right on track!  Check out the project on my other blog- Allgood Art.
Uncluttering my life- I still have a pile in the bedroom that's growing that I'll eventually send to the good will.

Stats for the month...

28 miles running

385 miles biking

3 hours 41 mintues on elliptical

and

read 5 books this month (up to 44 for the year!)