Unveiling the Art of Bridal Mendhi: Expert Tips, Trends, and Insights with Salma Jamil of Henna Allure

In this episode of Beyond Vows & Veils: The Luxury Wedding Experience Podcast, we welcome Salma Jamil, the owner of Henna Allure, who shares her incredible journey in the bridal Mehndi industry. Salma delves into the rich significance of bridal Mehndi in South Asian culture, emphasizing the importance of using high-quality, organic materials. She provides valuable advice for brides, including the necessity of doing a patch test before getting their Mehndi done to ensure a smooth experience.

Salma also highlights the importance of scheduling Mehndi sessions in a calm and peaceful setting, ideally a few days before the wedding, to fully enjoy the therapeutic benefits. She stresses the value of having a consultation with the Mehndi artist to discuss expectations and recommends brides wear comfortable clothing and arrange for comfortable seating during the session.

Furthermore, Salma offers practical insights on determining the number of artists needed for Mehndi at Sangeet events based on guest count and duration. Tune in to gain expert tips, current trends, and invaluable insights from one of the best in the industry.

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Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction & Salma's Journey
• 4:00 The Significance of Bridal Mehndi
• 8:21 Choosing the Right Mehndi Materials
• 9:33 Discussing Inspiration & Design
• 14:44 Preparing for Bridal Mehndi
• 20:28 Mehndi for Sangeet Events

Transcript

Brittany (00:00.764)
Alright everyone, welcome back to Beyond Vows and Veils. I'm super excited to have Salma Jamil here with the, who's the owner of Henna Allure, which is a very successful company in central Florida. So welcome Salma.

salma Jamil (00:15.294)
Thank you. Thank you. I'm so excited to be here. Thank you.

Brittany (00:18.812)
Absolutely. So Salma, you're going to tell us all things bridal Mehndi and we're going to walk away very educated. I have no doubt. But before we maybe dive into that, I'd love to, you know, most of the brides that are queuing in, like they kind of just don't know what they don't know. So I want to start from the beginning when it comes to Mehndi. So tell us a little bit about your journey, how you got here and just in general, like why you love what you do.

salma Jamil (00:50.686)
Of course, so I actually started this just as a hobby. I did not expect to grow this much and still growing, honestly. So I picked up a Mehndi cone just as a hobby, as a stress reliever. At that time, my job was giving me too much stress, I think. And this was kind of like,

therapeutic, like I would come home and just, you know, draw on paper, on my body, things like that. It wasn't, I didn't do this to start a career or build a career. Slowly, I did take it, like people started, you know, noticing my hands and, you know, I would do it for friends here and there, family, things like that. And I would just do it because I loved it. It was nothing.

Nothing more than that. I never thought of it to build into a career, basically. So once I did this for a few years, I realized that, hey, like, this could be the big thing. So I did some research and I did a few bridal expos. Okay, and.

boom, it was from there. And I think I met you in one of the Bridal Expos early on, very early on, yes. Yes, so I did that and social media, honestly. Social media took a different turn for me. I had a few top makeup artists like Patrick Starr or Kaylani.

Brittany (02:19.132)
Probably did. Yeah, the old bridal ex -girls.

salma Jamil (02:42.046)
I've done a few of their Henna sessions, Mehndi sessions, and they tagged me and it blew up. So since then I was like, hey, this is, yes, this is perfect. Let me try to do this. So I gave myself a few years to see if I can turn this into a career. And if not, then I would have gone back to what I was doing.

Brittany (02:50.62)
And always this all up.

Brittany (03:08.892)
I love that. Isn't that great how things pan out? I feel like when you're passionate about something, usually that's when it translates into a career. And obviously Salma, we love working with your team. I think we work with you probably the most out of any other like Mehndi company in central Florida for our bride here locally. And every time you do such a fantastic job.

salma Jamil (03:12.702)
Heheheheh

salma Jamil (03:27.166)
Yes. Yes.

salma Jamil (03:34.91)
Thank you, thank you. We love working with you guys.

Brittany (03:38.748)
So Salma, tell me a little bit about backing up to like the history of Mendi. Cause a lot of our South Asian brides who are listening obviously know, but talk to me about from your perspective, just the significance of, you know, bridal Mendi and traditions and maybe keeping that.

salma Jamil (04:00.754)
So, Bridal Mehndi is another way of beautifying the bride, right? In the Indian culture, the South Asian culture, I would say, the brides do go that extra mile to, you know, with the jewelry, with the clothes, with extra step in beauty. Okay? So then this is another way of beautifying the bride.

Brittany (04:25.02)
Mm -hmm.

salma Jamil (04:30.686)
Another research that I've done, it also says that it's calming for the bride. So I do make my own henna and I do put essential oils in there. So once when I'm doing the henna, it does calm the body, it lowers the body temperature and it relaxes you. So that is the time to just sit there, relax and enjoy these moments before the chaos, you know. So that's...

That's another way for the Mehndi I also hear all these stereotypes of like, the darker it is, the more the husband loves you or the more mother -in -law loves you. Yes, those are playful stereotypes, but if you think about it scientifically, it's actually the quality of the paste, the quality of the oils and...

the powder and how the henna artist makes the henna itself. Yes, we joke around and say that it's, you know, your mother -in -law loves you or your husband loves you the most, depending on the color.

Brittany (05:43.132)
Yeah, 100%. You know, I get a lot of questions, Salma and like, you know, always brides are like, well, what if they don't use organic product or, you know, is there a difference? Like, share with me a little bit about that, because I have had brides like, gosh, this was years ago, who I guess had a reaction to a different artist that she had worked with, and maybe it wasn't an organic material. So can you walk me through like, maybe the differences in like the actual kind of that's applied?

salma Jamil (05:57.694)
Of course.

salma Jamil (06:06.238)
Of course, of course.

Yes, so there is a big difference. There is a big difference and I urge brides to never use pre -made cones. Always find out what the artist puts in inside the henna, especially the oil. The oil will react to different oils will react to brides differently and a lot of brides are allergic to eucalyptus oil. So then I tend to put in lavender oil, something a little bit lighter or tea tree oil, things like that.

But the powder itself is from a leaf. It's a henna plant, it's from a leaf. You grind it up to a powder and then you mix essential oils. I mix lemon juice and sugar and water with my paste and that's the only thing. So always ask your artist, like hey, can I get what you put in there just to make sure that I'm not allergic to it? Or do a test drop, you know?

Take a little, you know, have the artist send you a cone or go there and just do a little sample and see how it reacts to your skin. I had brides that came in with scars where they've gotten it from other artists and it basically does a scar of the design.

Brittany (07:25.404)
gosh, no way, really? that's pretty intense. So, it is scary. So you make your own cones, regardless, always.

salma Jamil (07:29.086)
Yeah, it's so scary.

salma Jamil (07:35.07)
Yes.

salma Jamil (07:39.102)
do regardless and I make fresh batches every week for my brides and I do get fresh crops every three to four months. So it's not just fresh paste I get the fresh powder every three to four months as well and that guarantees you the best color.

Brittany (07:49.564)
Mm -hmm.

Brittany (07:53.596)
Mm -hmm.

Brittany (07:59.292)
Now, you know, back to just like them trying it out and things like that. Do you recommend brides get trials? I've had a lot of brides ask me like, do they offer Mehndi trials? And what is your response to that? Is that necessary? You know, is that if someone's trying to get an intricate design for the wedding day, is it smart to do that? Like what would be your take on that?

salma Jamil (08:21.182)
So, you know, if you if the bride has very sensitive skin, then yes, I would say definitely. If she has used Mehndi even the pre -made cones that you get from the store and she doesn't have any reaction to it, then it's not necessary. I would suggest if like if if they're very concerned about like getting a reaction to get a

like a test done or to have the artist like send over a cone.

Brittany (08:53.82)
Okay, okay, so.

Once the bride sort of decides the company or the Mehndi artist that she's going to work with, they've sort of worked out the details of, you know, organic or what the cones or if she is doing that or if that's a good fit. What are sort of the next steps that you like to ask, Salma? I know whenever we reach out to you, one of the first things you always ask is I'd like to see some inspiration concepts from the bride. So how does that support you in figuring out how long it's going to take? I mean,

salma Jamil (09:11.998)
Mm -hmm.

salma Jamil (09:19.582)
and spoon.

Brittany (09:26.382)
Is it just the intricacy of the design or how does that support you?

salma Jamil (09:33.502)
So I tend to ask for that so I can see the style that the bride is wanting. There's a couple of different styles in Bridal Mehndi I specialize in Indo, a bit more modern designs. There are many different designs. Now, designs that I'm uncomfortable with, that flows very easily can take

me less hours to do versus designs that I'm a little bit newer in or not fond of. With that being said, I also look at the amount of work, I also look at that spacing, and all those combined will have me determine the price that I'm going to quote the bride. Most of the time, I mean after

Brittany (10:10.076)
Mm.

salma Jamil (10:27.646)
about 14, 15 years, I can tell like, okay, this bride will take me four hours, this bride will take me five hours, and I'll price it based on that.

Brittany (10:35.836)
Got it. So with going back to just. Okay, and then going back to the different styles. So you mentioned there's kind of more like the Indo sort of modern, like what are the other styles that you see with brides? Is that the more traditional route that brides are leaning towards these days?

salma Jamil (10:38.046)
So that's the big reason why I ask.

salma Jamil (10:54.75)
These days, yes, they're going for minimal, a little bit more on the open space. Now, before traditional bridal was that very heavy, intricate work. And nowadays I feel like brides are kind of stepping away from that. With me, actually, when I first started, I kind of brought in the customizing, putting a little story inside the bridal henna,

Brittany (11:18.94)
All right.

salma Jamil (11:23.166)
and putting little elements in there that's special to the bride and groom, things like that. So I think that's what took me off of the, there was the difference between my henna and other henna artists when I first started. And bride tend to book me because of that. I was willing to do that extra storytelling in the Mehndi.

Brittany (11:38.492)
Mm -hmm.

Brittany (11:46.3)
I love that. And I know a lot of brides also will sort of determine like how far up I guess the arm that they want the design to go. Some brides are like, I only want it to like my forearm. Some are like, we want it past the elbow. So obviously that would determine the timeframe as well.

salma Jamil (11:48.318)
Yeah.

salma Jamil (11:59.038)
Mm -hmm.

-huh.

salma Jamil (12:05.982)
the time frame as well and that's basically why I ask these brides to send me. Now another reason is my full arm will not be her full arm so both of us should be on that same page. That's another reason why I ask for inspo pictures. Now I do not as an artist I do not copy other people's designs I try to take inspo so I always ask the brides to send me

four to five different designs and point out things that they love in that design and I will incorporate it in her Bridal Henna.

Brittany (12:41.02)
Okay. And...

You know, obviously when a when I guess one of the questions that I would have for you is, you know, a lot of times brides are talking to us about when they're going to hire their men the artist and you know, essentially those inspiration pictures just to share really for couples backing up for a minute for brides who are listening right now. If you are in the midst of hiring your men, the artist or you know, whoever's going to be supporting you having these inspiration concepts is also really imperative because I can speak for Salma's work.

salma Jamil (12:56.286)
Mm -hmm.

Brittany (13:13.582)
but I can't speak for somebody else's work and they can speak to hey this might be a little bit more intricate than I'm used to or you know maybe what they're able to customize because the last thing that you also want is to on the day of the event have this expectation of delivery and then it's not really in alignment with what that artist would feel comfortable also procuring and so it's interesting in the past I've had other artists that book a gig but they haven't asked for inspiration concepts in the beginning and so then there might be a

salma Jamil (13:35.134)
Mm -hmm.

salma Jamil (13:43.326)
Mm -hmm.

Brittany (13:43.486)
disconnect on the actual event day. So I actually love that you do start with inspiration.

salma Jamil (13:50.43)
Yes, yes. And that really helps me determine the amount of timing I need. Especially with you guys, I mean, like you're on top of it with planning, right? So the timing really, like if I'm an hour off, then that's a big chunk of a schedule. And a lot of brides will do bridal henna and then they'll schedule hair and makeup. So then that will kind of push things back.

Brittany (14:14.62)
Mm -hmm.

salma Jamil (14:17.662)
So I always try to determine how much timing I'm going to need for that bridal hunt.

Brittany (14:24.732)
Yeah, and when a bride is doing the mendie, one of the trends that I've seen is that because it is a lengthier process,

Brides were traditionally a couple of years ago, they were getting it done like almost the morning of the Sangeet and now they're sort of doing it like earlier in the week because there's so much that they have to do and they can't kind of like have, you know, their Mehndi drying either during the event or what have you. What's your take on that? Cause I know obviously there's like that kind of fun stereotype of it being dark, but like how far out is too far out or like what would be your opinion there?

salma Jamil (14:40.126)
-huh.

salma Jamil (14:52.766)
Yes.

salma Jamil (15:02.11)
So I'm so happy that you asked that. So this is a very important thing. I always want to speak with brides now. So we are artists, okay? And when we work under pressure or chaos, we cannot deliver the best work. So I always, always tell my brides that let's do your bridal henna on a calmer setting. You can have immediate family there, but...

in like a peaceful setting where not everybody's coming and talking to you and hugging you and moving you. That does distract us. And once we're in the zone, it's very hard to get back into the zone if you're distracted. So we cannot deliver the same quality work in chaos settings. So I had brides where I would end up because they wanted to do, have that whole feeling of doing it in the sangeet.

Brittany (15:44.668)
bright.

Brittany (15:50.684)
Mm -hmm.

salma Jamil (15:58.43)
and I had it and they regretted it. They couldn't move, they had to stand still, you know, it's like a five hour process. And for them to sit there and everybody's enjoying and they hated it. They were like, my God, this was worse. I should have listened to you. But I reach out to my brides and I always tell them that please, please do it in a calmer setting, do it with your immediate family. And, you know, a day or two,

Brittany (16:06.78)
Yeah.

salma Jamil (16:27.262)
or two before the sunkeet it's okay. The henna does take 48 hours for the color to develop. So you can have up to three days, maybe four days before the wedding to do the henna, to do the mandi and it's still be perfectly fine. The only thing we say to avoid heavy washing and pour water and salt water.

Brittany (16:50.076)
Okay, I actually love that because that's brilliant.

salma Jamil (16:51.686)
but the bride, yeah. I would always like.

Brittany (16:55.836)
Yeah, because...

Brittany (17:00.572)
No, go ahead, Salma, sorry.

salma Jamil (17:03.934)
I always recommend the bride. Now some brides listen, some brides don't. An option is to save a little spot, like a part of your hand or a part of your feet for the sangeet if the bride wants to do something at the sangeet and feel that whole traditional vibe.

Brittany (17:23.484)
Yeah, I love that.

Cause let's talk about obviously reality. Reality for bride is yeah, you're going to have major FOMO if on the day of your sangeet you're trying to get this five hour mehndi done or even that morning because hair and makeup alone takes two hours and then you're trying to do your bridal mehndi and then you have dry time in between. So I love that recommendation. I think that more brides have been trending towards getting it done a day or two before the sangeet and a calmer setting. Cause like you said in the beginning,

salma Jamil (17:33.63)
Mm -hmm.

salma Jamil (17:42.91)
Mm.

salma Jamil (17:54.174)
Mm -hmm.

Brittany (17:54.814)
Like the whole going back to the roots of Mehndi, you know, it is obviously a more like an enhanced beautification process, but it's supposed to be a calm experience. It's supposed to be therapeutic. It just kind of like puts you in like that state where you're just enjoying the experience versus just, okay, it's another item. I got to get checked off my list.

salma Jamil (18:06.974)
Mm -hmm.

salma Jamil (18:14.334)
Exactly.

salma Jamil (18:18.59)
Right, and I honestly, not this year, but the past few years after COVID, I've seen brides just trying to collide so many things together and just get everything done. And a lot of the brides are not enjoying all those services that they booked.

Brittany (18:37.596)
Yeah, absolutely. So just like if you're going to be booking your hair appointment, your nail appointment, whatever it is that you're doing, look at your Mehndi more as like a therapeutic process as a relaxation process more so than just like, let me cram this into wherever I see on my timeline that's going to fit.

salma Jamil (18:57.854)
Yes, yes, yes, yes. And keep it limited amount of people while you're doing it. Just have your immediate family.

Brittany (19:09.724)
Yeah.

Absolutely. I think an ideal schedule would be like if you're singeats on a Friday, maybe Thursday early afternoon, having your bridal suite, like your immediate family. Maybe they're also getting Mehndi done because they're going to be busy at the singeat. They're not going to be able to also be tied down so that they have that experience with you bridesmaids or just a couple of your besties. Enjoy that time. Maybe have like a little lunch and then you know, you're freed up. If you like the whole, you know, obviously our wedding

salma Jamil (19:16.318)
Mm -hmm.

Mm -hmm.

salma Jamil (19:23.55)
Yep.

salma Jamil (19:28.062)
Mm -hmm.

salma Jamil (19:33.502)
Yes, exactly.

salma Jamil (19:39.326)
Yes.

Brittany (19:40.254)
are all about, you know, the presentation when you get those photo videos of you, like you mentioned earlier, if you want to save like a portion of your hand because you want it to be videoed at your Sangeet function to act as if you got your Vendi done that day, sure, but the reality is you're gonna want to have some time.

salma Jamil (19:46.718)
Yes.

salma Jamil (19:53.086)
Mm -hmm.

salma Jamil (19:57.15)
Yes.

salma Jamil (20:01.534)
Yes, yes and that's okay. We can, you know, there's always artists in Sangeets. So we can, like we can offer that and have like a little portion of it there and you don't have to sit there. You can just have that portion dry up, you can mingle, you can do everything. You don't have to sit there and wait and you still have that, you know, that little portion that you had it in your video.

Brittany (20:28.06)
Yeah, absolutely. And, you know, speaking of Sangeets I know that pretty much like I would say still 90 % of the couples that we work with are going to want to have Mehndi artists at their Sangeet. It's a fun thing to still have for your guests, especially if you're doing a fusion wedding too. It's just like a really great cultural element to make sure that you're kind of adding in too. What do you say, Salma, sort of like the ratio of artists that you would recommend per guest count? Because we all know

salma Jamil (20:49.278)
yes.

Brittany (20:58.014)
that Mehndi is like a big attraction for these events, like how do we avoid lines? Like what is the best ratio to use would you say?

salma Jamil (21:04.542)
Yes.

salma Jamil (21:10.174)
So I would say if you have 100 guests, I will start off small, most sangeeds are a lot more, but if you have 100 guests, I would do 3 artists for 2 hours at least. That's 6 hours of work. Okay? Not every guest will get Hana done, but there might be guests that will get 2 sides done. There might be guests that will get 1 strip done. These are like 3 -4 minute strips. So...

It just all kind of depends on your crowd. But a typical, I would say, if you do 100 guests, I would do three artists for two hours. That will kind of avoid lines that will keep things moving, things like that. If you do most typical Indian weddings, about 250, 300 guests for sangis, right? I would increase the hours. You could still keep three artists. I would increase the hours.

Brittany (22:01.116)
Mm -hmm.

Brittany (22:08.668)
Right.

salma Jamil (22:08.702)
or you can do four artists and increase the hours as well. Sometimes when we go over that 300 limit, I would suggest five artists.

Brittany (22:17.948)
Sure.

And brides, I mean, if you're listening, Mehndi artists, and I kind of even equate that with hair makeup, it's a drop in the bucket in comparison to the grander scheme of the budget that you're spending. So don't sort of use this as that nickel and dime situation where you're like, can we get away with, yes, you could maybe get away with less, but the experience of your guests having Mehndi at your event, there's nothing worse than waiting in line. You're at a luxury event, you're enjoying yourself, and you don't want to,

salma Jamil (22:27.326)
Mm.

salma Jamil (22:31.55)
Yes. Yes.

salma Jamil (22:36.766)
Yes.

Brittany (22:48.686)
You want to be able to maybe you sit down with your girlfriend who's getting it it and you switch off with each other, but you're not going to want to stand in line for 20 minutes waiting to get your Mindy Mehndi

salma Jamil (22:51.806)
Of course.

salma Jamil (22:59.358)
No, no. And also I feel like brides kind of hire like, you know, experienced artists, but then they go off and hire someone separately for guests. And that may not be as experienced as my team or another team that's been doing this for a long time. And you know, timing is very important, right? They will take probably 10 minutes per guest or 12 minutes per guest. And then,

And then what, how many people can you finish within that time? So I know that brides do want to budget and things like that, but also look at that. Also look at that timing and experience of an artist. The more experience that we have, the faster and better work, the quality of work you will get.

Brittany (23:52.732)
Right. You know what? That's so that's so smart to bring up Salma because

Brides sometimes look at it like, the guests don't need as intricate of a design. Well, obviously they don't need to get like full bridal Mehndi done at your Cinque. But if you're having a four hour event, which most of the Cinqueeds are four hours, roughly, OK, about 45 minutes of that is maybe a program. So maybe there's going to be some dance performances. Maybe there's some speeches. Maybe there's stuff going on. So really, you've got about three hours of viable time that people are going to be able to make

salma Jamil (24:07.966)
right.

salma Jamil (24:12.51)
Yes. Yes.

Brittany (24:27.182)
and mingle and get Mehndi done. So I'm with you. You have to look at it sort of from a calculation standpoint of if I have this many people and I know at least this many are going to want Mehndi and I've got this much time to accomplish it. What does make the most sense? You know, Salman, your opinion when you're kind of scoping out providing Mehndi for guests, do you do like both hands? Do you one hand? Do you do back of the hand, front of the hand? Like what is the best method for that?

salma Jamil (24:31.262)
Mm -hmm.

salma Jamil (24:40.062)
Mm -hmm.

salma Jamil (24:44.158)
Right.

salma Jamil (24:57.47)
So for Sangeet, I always say the back of the hands, okay? Just because they'll have a drink in their hand, they'll eat, things like that. Traditionally, most Indian traditional women will get the inside of their hands, but I always say to do the back. It shows, you can eat, you can grab your drink, things like that. Mingle, it's not going to affect it, right?

It does take like in Sangeetha, it takes about half an hour to 45 minutes for the henna to dry. And like before that, if you touch it, it will mess up. So, you know, the design will get ruined. Most brides tell me to do two designs per guest. So either the two tops or the two inside of the hands. That's like if you average with our timing, that's about eight to 10 minutes per guest.

Brittany (25:28.444)
Okay.

Brittany (25:31.808)
Mm -hmm.

Brittany (25:42.204)
Mm.

Brittany (25:48.828)
Mm, it's a lot.

salma Jamil (25:51.23)
if you do two designs. Now, that's not all guests will get two designs. Some will just do one and some will do like very simple designs. So we kind of have to like, you know, average out.

Brittany (26:03.42)
Mm -hmm. Yeah, that totally makes sense. And it's so funny because honestly, Salma, in all these years working with you, I never really even thought about how long it would take the guests to have their Mehndi done. It was more like, what's the intricacy of the item? But it totally makes sense that you would look at it from that angle.

salma Jamil (26:06.494)
Yeah.

salma Jamil (26:17.79)
Mm -hmm.

salma Jamil (26:21.726)
again.

salma Jamil (26:25.438)
Mm -hmm. Mm -hmm. So I always try to, you know, see what their budget is, but then I also try to see like, okay, if you're having an event of this big, I would suggest you to, you know, in our emails, I always say, I would suggest you to have this mini artist. But most brides, like, you know, think about their budgets, but then the day of, especially with family, Mehndi, they always go over.

Brittany (26:26.524)
Yeah, that makes a lot of sense.

Brittany (26:52.284)
Yeah, it's like you'd rather to prepare.

salma Jamil (26:52.798)
They always go over and they underestimate how much.

Yeah, they always underestimate how much Mehndi they'll need, and especially the hourly aspect, right? They're like, yeah, you know, three hours, four hours, they'll be more than enough, but then there are the mothers or sisters that are getting full, almost bridal designs.

Brittany (27:16.668)
Mm -hmm.

Yeah, and I think it's important to.

salma Jamil (27:20.03)
So then it eats up the time pretty fast.

Brittany (27:23.068)
Yeah, absolutely. And I was going to say, I think it's important for brides to even maybe ask like their immediate families that are going to be joining them for that bridal mehndi. Like, hey, mom, what's your expectation with mehndi? Like, are you going to want something like really elaborate, like make sure we have enough time for you? Hey, sis, what are you going to want for mehndi? Because ultimately, you know, you don't want to feel like you spent, even though it may not be on your event day, you also maybe don't want to feel like you spent like 10 hours in mehndi. So like, you know, also talking about expectation levels.

salma Jamil (27:32.254)
Yes.

salma Jamil (27:36.35)
Yes!

salma Jamil (27:48.638)
Mm -hmm.

Brittany (27:53.022)
so that we can make sure that the right artist ratio is also hired. Salma, preparing for Mehndi, I know it's... Yeah, absolutely. I was gonna say preparing for Mehndi is something we get a question about a lot. Do you get your nails done before, after? How do you prepare for Mehndi? What's the best timeframe to do that?

salma Jamil (27:59.262)
Yes, that's very important.

salma Jamil (28:17.054)
Of course, the best way is to get your nails done before, get your waxing, shaving, all those things done before. So anything that exfoliates the skin, anything that puts a chemical on top of the skin will have effect in the Mehndi. So nails, waxing, shaving, any type of treatment, tanning, things like that have to be done before the Mehndi.

Brittany (28:46.748)
Okay, that makes sense, because I definitely did not. I thought that you got your nails done after you got your Mehndi applied, because I didn't know if it would like get on the nail.

salma Jamil (28:58.398)
No, no. So I'm very careful. My artists are very careful on like not going so close to the nail so it doesn't get ruined. So like, we don't, it does. And then, you know, there are little things that little tricks that you can do to avoid that as well. Putting some Vaseline on top of the nails will, you know, prevent it to slide to the nails and the nail beds and things like that.

Brittany (29:25.98)
Okay, no, that's really helpful. I appreciate that tip. So outside of that Salma, I know that we covered quite a bit in terms of the world of bridal mendie. I'm trying to think of all the obvious questions that brides would ask you. Is there anything in particular that you feel like would be supportive for brides to walk away from this episode knowing about mendie?

salma Jamil (29:31.518)
Yes.

salma Jamil (29:49.374)
So I would suggest brides to have a consultation to make sure you sit down and you talk to your artist before she arrives or he arrives. And kind of like lay out like what you expect from your bridal maindie. There's times where I go in there and, you know, like they're laid me out all these little things that they wanted. I had no clue of like, you know, like they just sent me a few and that's it. But then they...

They laid out all these little pieces that they want. And, you know, it kind of throws you off a little bit. Us as artists, we have to kind of have a mindset of like, okay, this is what we're going into and things like that. And then expect that from us, right? Another thing is I would suggest to wear comfortable clothes while you're getting your bridal mendi done. I had brides come in with like full langozons.

Brittany (30:33.692)
Mm -hmm.

salma Jamil (30:46.27)
and they're so uncomfortable. They hate the whole experience and I feel bad because they're complaining, they're grumpy, they're you know know like that. So wear something comfortable, relaxing and you can once the Mindy Mehndi dry you can always change and you know wear your fancy outfit then. Another thing is seating. Okay seating is so important.

I know brides want to take pictures with a backdrop and have the beautiful, you know, setting, but you will have back pain and it will like the first hour or two will be beautiful, but then you will hate it and you will regret doing this. So I always say have a chair, comfortable chair with back support, with a table and, and you know, we do the Bridal Mehndi and then you can step to your backdrop and take pictures.

So those are a few important things that they need to be aware of to have a smooth and a relaxing process. I always want to give my brides a relaxing event and enjoy their bridal mendi and then go on to that next step.

Brittany (31:58.748)
Yeah, I love that Salma, that's actually incredibly helpful. And even backing up to what you said about making sure that you communicate with your artists in advance.

all the details, the expectation levels, even also like what's mom gonna want? What's sister gonna want? What's all this? Because we go into that type of detail with hair and makeup. Are you gonna need extensions? Does that require some work up front? I mean, you have to be a participant in the process to get the result that you're looking for is what I'm hearing.

salma Jamil (32:11.134)
Mm -hmm.

salma Jamil (32:15.166)
Right.

salma Jamil (32:25.566)
Of course, of course. And you know, let's say I hire two artists only for family and you have 10, 12 people that's wanting full hands. These artists will end up getting tired too and they will not deliver quality of work after five, six hours of work. So, you know, I could have avoided that if I knew that then I would have brought in more artists, right? And then they would have

Brittany (33:01.692)
Mm -hmm.

I think that's really great for me to even know, because I feel like every time I do a podcast with a vendor and an expert in their field, we take away something to learn too. And it's almost like we get so hung up on asking questions about the bride, that it is important that we also prompt the brides to communicate outside of yourself, if the immediate family is joining you, like how many, like what's the expectation level, because you're right. I mean, ultimately you're not robots, you're humans, your hands are gonna eventually hurt, if even,

salma Jamil (33:19.55)
Yes, that's the perfect way of saying it.

salma Jamil (33:25.566)
Thank you. Thank you for hiling me.

salma Jamil (33:32.318)
I hope so. Thank you so much.

Brittany (33:32.574)
you know, doing these teeny tiny intricate details for hours. So those things are all important definitely to set everyone up for success.

Brittany (33:46.492)
sure. Salma, I feel like I could talk to you forever because I see you all the time, but I so appreciate your time, you know, going through all of this today. Thank you. Absolutely. Your insight and expertise are invaluable and I really feel like it'll be hopefully very supportive for brides.

Brittany (34:10.908)
Absolutely, thank you.