It took over 2 hours to create this intricate & thick henna design on Mia's pregnant belly & breasts. We started with an idea for a lotus flower blooming and the design went from there, over her breasts and shoulder, down her arm, all the way to her fingertip. The photos below show the dark color henna paste gets as it dries. The paste is removed before bed time and it leaves a natural stain that takes 2 to 3 days to fully develop in color.

  Mia returned with her family for peak color henna photos, and we began in the studio. I love how the orange silk brings out her orange in her hair... Her little boy was so sweet! What an adorable smile! 

  Here's some behind the scenes images (above) to show a little bit about how my husband Rob and I work together as photographers. We both love taking photos! I will often help to pose mama & child, Rob finds the scenery to shoot with and lights the photograph. It is such a joy to get to work with my husband, it means that we laugh a lot during these photo shoots. The 3 year old boy was running all over the yard, playfully chasing one of our "wild" bunnies... so cute. 

  I love their smiles is this photo - mother and son are just glowing. This is also a really great example of how henna stains different parts of the skin in different ways. The hands have the thickest skin, so they always stain the darkest. Henna is a natural dye that slowly sinks into your layers of skin, and the hands can simply absorb & hold more color. You can see how the natural henna tattoo gets lighter in color as it goes up her arm. Henna is a really special medium to work with, and I enjoy making my own henna paste will all natural ingredients: essential oil, lemon juice, sugar, and of course, powdered henna leaves.