The mystery of the henna that did not demise....

Over 10 days ago ...I had a " henna meltdown"...that's when over 300 grms of powder made into paste, oiled, packed into handrolled cones and frozen gets left out on the kitchen counter and THAWS!!! Oh, I was soooo upset and not wanting to waste it sent out the call to friends to meet me and get free henna. So I did this about 3- 5 days running. Still had paste, tossed it in the refrig, figured it surely has demised by now but could be "practice paste". OK, now just today...thats 12-13 days after thaw..and started practicing on my fingers....whoa...it was staining bright orange in 10 minutes!!!
So can it be still good? This was Duhlan powder, dated 2013 , mixed with neroli EO. I have don a small area on my leg and will wait hours - but wow, what gives? Anyone else had this experience?

On another note, when I am applying henna it seems to come out spiraling and ends up wiggly. I wonder if its the way I roll my cone? I roll it loosely, then twist to tighten the end tip. Do you think this is creating a spiral shape of layers inside the cone and causing it to come out twisted?

Another question: about sifting my henna powder. I buy 100 gr boxes of Duhlan or Jamila and sift it through a knee hi. It takes FOREVER and seems to create wasted powder flying every where - even with tthe lid on tight and shaking the canister like crazy. Has anyone tried putting powder in a blender or food processer to pulverize it and make it finer so they dont have to sift?
I strain my henna paste too....
Thanks guys!

spiral usually happens because the henna is too stiff and you are having to push too hard and combined with a cone that is not cut straight for your line. I acually only sift through knee hight after mixing. You shouldn't bother sifting Jamila at all until after mixing....it really does not need it as the company has already sifted it to very fine almost baby powder consisitancy, I don't use dulhan so I can't tell you the coarseness on that one, so perhaps sift that one but just mix the Jamila. You will save yourself alot of heartache!! LOL

Have you considered using a wilton bag and tip for your henna?

Everybody learns with something and I've seen some decent henna applied with just about every tool you can think of, but for mess, ease of use and accuracy, the bag and tip doesn't do well for almost anyone.

NOW that being said, if that's what you learned on then there is no 'right' answer. What works for you is the best tool to use!

But most pros roll thier own cones for a very good reason. Economy, ease of use, accuracy, less waste, transporability, less occurance of repetitive stress injuries to the hand, less carpal tunnel and if you are desperate, you can actually wash a potato chip bag, cut it up and roll that for a perfectly usable cone!

LOL....Finally an excuse to eat potato chips!!!

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