Is this a total joke?

IMHO. I have seen it costs an arm and a leg for a what? a "cone" of henna?? omg like that is such a ripoff. I have bought 2 kilos henna for like 4 dollars before!

You are not paying for the Henna..
You are paying for the artist
and the artistry
and the hours of practicing.

It is the same for face paint.

It is the same for Make Up.

ah

And there are different grades of henna and if it is not fresh, then you get no stain. If it is not BAQ henna, no stain. If it is bad or stale oil, no stain or worse - rashes from things that people can put in bad cones in order to try to boost color like turpentine!!
Usually cheap henna will not give you good results as henna must be fresh and kept in a cool place. Henna exposed to heat and light goes stale and weakens very quickly!

It can be confusing! Henna for hair is cheap, is still the same plant so alot of beginners are like "wtf??". But like produce, an ugly apple with bruises and is over ripe may not make good eating, but is still an apple and bakes a lovely pie! Same deal. Old cruddy henna with twigs and sand in it will still make your hair a lovely red, and may even still stain your hands a bit, but will work almost not at all for body art.

ON a complete side note....premade store cones = ick! Stinky, tons of preservatives, sometimes false ingredient list and can contain some pretty scary toxins including PPD!

Thank you so much for your response, Kim.
I only responded from my gut, as Henna is an art that I will gladly pay for. I know next to nothing about applying Henna, except that I like it.

I responded from the point of view that I have from potential clients saying out loud, "That Face Painter charges too much." Notice that they say it loud enough for me and my clients in line and in my chair can hear. Occasionally, I get that same parent asking me to wipe off the "Free" face paint they got on their child. I hand the parent some of my wipes and I do not say anything about "You get what you pay for".
I think it, though.

xoxox

Wow very informative thanks so much!!!

@Lisa - Just like when you learned paintin' I'm thinking if you really love it you could 'go there' with some time, patience and good product! OR..you could just sit back and enjoy it!! LOL But your points were right there and very much the same idea!

@Vicky - No problem!! Henna is a fantastic and fun artform and can be as light or as serious as you want it to be. From Spongebob to playing your part in making a brides one big life time event spectacular, henna can be pretty awesome, but there is definately alot that goes into it either way! Anything I can do to help!! :-D

Thank you so much, Kim, for your vote of confidence regarding henna!
I think I want to keep paying Henna artists to perform their artistry upon me. If we ALL did Henna, there would be nobody left to pay for the Art.
A few years ago, I was in an Art Show with my oil portraits. There was a henna artist at the Art in the Park show. Her designs were pretty good. On the last day, I had my husband man my booth while I walked around. I watched the henna artist for over an hour. She was fascinating. When I sat down, I asked what SHE would like to do. She closed up the book that she offered to clients and asked me to place my foot in the pillow in her lap. She illustrated and decorated my leg with what appeared to be gorgeous flower designs swirling from my big toe all the way up to just behind my knee. From far away, it was a dragon! She asked for $20. I gave her $50. I have never seen anything like that before. She said that she wated to do something special for me because she had seen my artwork. I still feel flattered.

Lisa, amazing story. Paying it forward. so awesome hon. How can we pay it forward?

Such an awesome story and compliment Lisa!