For thousands of years, Henna has been used as a natural dye for hair, nails, fingers, palms, and for skin and body art. It has also been noted in several historical studies that Henna has been used by the ancient Egyptians in their mummification process. Henna has been also cited in the Bible, and was mentioned as well several times by Prophet Mohammad (Peace Be Upon Him), for changing grey hair and for its pharmaceutical characteristics and benefits.
Natural Henna is full of phytochemical compounds such as Tannins, Phenols and other compounds of medical and therapeutic importance. As a result, it has inhibitory effects on bacterial and fungal growth, which demonstrates its value as a disinfectant for hair and skin besides its use for beauty and cosmetic purposes.
Lawsonia inermis L, commonly known as Henna, Mehndi, Camphire, and Alcana d’Orient, is a member of the family of the Lythraceae, a perennial deciduous tree with a productive life span of 10 years that can extend to 20 years. The Henna tree may reach up to 7 meters in height, but farmers do not let it grow more than 1 meter in height to maintain its desired quality and virginity of production, so they harvest it by cutting the Henna shrub from the trunk with ground level in every harvest season. Each shrub produces approximately 1 kg of dried Henna leaves per harvesting season.