The Beauty of Arabic henna

Arabic Mehndi is very popular today especially for brides. The trend of detailed mehndi has gone for now, and Arabic mehndi is back after many many years, with its big circles and flowers on the palm of your hands and detailed fingers leading up to the top of your arms, which makes you look and feel different from the normal bride.
Umroa Jaan is the perfect example of Arabic mehndi, but have we ever thought about where mehndi was originated from? And what does it signify? Henna has a long history of use in eastern cultures, particularly in the sub continent, Arabia and North Africa, but why is Henna so popular today?
Some would say that it is simply a fashion trend inspired by celebrities such as Madonna, Liv Tyler, Demi Moore and Prince. Seeing Madonna with henna tattoos on her hands in her video for ‘Frozen' certainly gave henna more exposure to the media. It became a much talked about style of body decoration, and as a result interest in this traditional art form was ignited, spawning a great deal of promotion on television and in glossy magazines.
One cannot wholly attribute the popularity of henna to those celebrities alone. Henna is still used in eastern cultures and it was only probably a matter of time before these practices became more accessible in today's multicultural society.
Many popular designs of henna can be seen around the world in many different cultures. Though, one of the most popular types of henna is the Arabic henna design. As henna basically started in Arabic and Indian cultures, Arabic henna design is most probably one of the most extensively used henna body art in the Middle Eastern Countries of India, Egypt including Morocco and several other Places in the Middle East.
There are lots of reasons why these cultures make use of Arabic henna designs, but the most important reason consist of painting Arabic henna designs on their bodies because of ceremonial or religious practices. Also, in some types of the Arabic henna design, like in Egyptian societies, henna was painted on the feet and hands of a dead Pharaoh before the Pharaoh was actually mummified.
Today however, Arabic henna designs have been twisted and changed to fulfill the needs of our culture. Also the Arabic henna designs have been altered so that they no longer look like the flowing and original patterns that the Arabic cultures often patterned on themselves. Instead, Arabic designs now resemble face paintings or simple tattoos that one can get it easily anywhere from a carnival or a tattoo shop.

Salwar Kameez Fashion

Salwar kameez dates back to the 12th century since of Islamic or the Iranian era which was then followed by the Mughal empire in the region now called as India and Pakistan.

During those days, men and women both were used to wear salwar kameez as part of the traditional dress but over the years Salwar Kameez has found its popularity in India and Pakistan and the salwar kameez is still getting worn in the continent.

Salwar kameez is also known as salwar qameez and has evolved itself over the centuries in a mix of Indian and western wear.

Salwar Kameez is popular as its comfortable to wear in day to day casual wear and also in weddings, functions and ceremonies. Salwar Kameez is being made with various fabrics like Georgette salwar kameez, chiffon salwar kameez, net salwar kameez, satin salwar kameez, cotton salwar kameez, silk salwar kameez and other fabrics including the latest trend of fusion fabrics which is mix of the above and synthetic fabric.

The Salwar Kameez has transformed itself over many years into various styles, designs and cuts so even the name has seen lot of variation over the decades. While the Salwar Qameez originated during the Mughal Empire when Urdu was the commonly spoken language of the era. But over the years Hindi as Urdu became less common and Hindi language became the common language of the present era the original name came as salwar kameez.

Although In Pakistan where Urdu is still commonly used its still known as salwar qameez or shalwar, but in India and Punjab region of Pakistan its known as Salwar Kameez.