My culture was a significant thing in my childhood. I learned and experienced everything from my family. That includes Henna. Henna is a dye made from a plant. Its a form of art and tradition that has been around for thousands of years. It is applied during celebrations such as holidays, marriage ceremonies, mostly done on the brides but anyone can be a part of the experience. It's used by a tube and some people apply it with a blend of the paste right away but these days, people can do all types of designs. The color  lasts for 1-3 weeks and the color turns dark or a light red. The paste has to stay on your skin for hours in order to get the color to be darker. My family used to put some kind of oil on the skin with the paste on then sleep on it. They believe that the color gets darker with the oil. The tradition began in the middle east, Asia and north Africa in the ancient times. It spread across Asia, Middle Eastern and North Africa. I remember when my aunt used to rip out the leaves from henna tree and mix it into a paste then apply. My grandma actually used it use henna paste on her hair since it's a natural form of hair dye. The  first time I got henna done was at my aunt's wedding. Some facts about henna art that some ancient Egyptians used  henna as an ointment to protect their skin from the sun. In fact, Henna plant remains alive up to 2 years.  Today people from all over the world have adopted to this ancient form of art. This is probably one of my favorite things about my culture because Henna is such an intricate form of art, it's fun to do and it's beautiful. 

– Ramisa Anjum

Relationship:  Im/migrant who arrived as a child Im/migrant who arrived as a child