How to Care for Your Body Art

FOLLOW THE GUIDELINES BELOW FOR THE BEST RESULTS

HENNA

LEAVE YOUR PASTE ON for 6-18 hours. The longer the paste stays on the better! Once the henna paste turns from a wet green paste to a dry cracked mud, your henna is dry now and you can move freely throughout the day.
SCRAPE THE PASTE OFF using your hand, a debit card or the dull side of a butter knife and reveal your fresh orange stain!
AVOID WATER for 36-48 hours to get the darkest stain possible, the essential oils will stay on the skin longer and your stain will get darker. If not, the stain will be severely reduced in color and days of wear. The orange color will oxidize into a reddish brown over the course of 48 hours. The henna stain will be its darkest color the second day after paste removal, so be sure to coordinate your henna appointment with important event dates.

TIPS AND TRICKS TO MAKE YOUR HENNA LAST LONGER

Put a food grade oil on your design anytime before getting the design wet. Olive Oil would be great! However, applying petroleum based products to your design like Vaseline or Baby Oil is not recommended as it accelerates the exfoliation process.
Avoid heavy exfoliation while enjoying your henna design. This will ensure that your stain lasts even longer. It's okay to rub soap over your design, but avoid any loofas or sponges.
Many people sleep with their henna on overnight, however, leaving it on overnight is not recommended for those with night sweats or those who are hot sleepers. Sweating will cause the henna to run and smear. When sleeping with henna on, always cover your design in a cotton or cotton like substance to protect your sheets and other body parts from staining. An old tube sock, tight long sleeved shirt or paper towel with tape to secure will do.

BE EXTREMELY CAREFUL while its drying, if it smears, unfortunately there is no fixing it and the end result will have a smeared look. If you do smear it, wash off the smeared area as quickly as possible. You will still get a stain, it just wont get as dark or last as long. As it is drying, it will go from being thick and gelatinous to flat and dry within 30-60 minutes. Drying times vary.
WASH IT OFF with warm water and soap, you want to be sure to remove all of the jagua gel. It will be pale grey at first and slowly change colors to blackish-blue.
COVER THE AREA while you sleep the first night with long sleeves, pants or a sock over the hand depending on where you got your body art. Jagua has the ability to "stamp" other parts of the body with the design the first night so please be careful. If you fall asleep on your hand design without covering the skin, you will wake up with bluish black stains on your face. There is no way to remove this stain, you will just have to wait until it fades away. PLEASE COVER YOUR DESIGN.

To keep the jagua as long as possible, put an oil on your design before entering any body of water for any extended period. Coconut, vegetable or olive oil work the best but any edible, thick oil will do.
Avoid heavy exfoliation while enjoying your jagua design. This will ensure that your stain lasts even longer. It's okay to rub soap over your design, but avoid any loofas or sponges.