Travels through Henna-land

Merhaba!

It is another day! Another excitement was waiting to emerge. And so it has. While gallivanting through the international grocery store I happened upon the Middle Eastern haircare section. There, perched upon the shelf, was henna for hair. It was not uncommon for women throughout history in Turkish areas to dye their hair this way. Women in all cultures have extensively pursued modifications of the body throughout the ages. Look at the evolution of face painting, body painting, hair painting...
So, being a red-head already, I found it an interesting challenge to attempt to dye my hair with henna. For 99cents I easily acquired the materials, and all I had left to do was convince my mother to help me.
The instructions are easy. Mix powder with water and make a past. Lather paste all over the hair. Let sit for at least an hour. Then rinse. My mother looked up techniques on the Internet, and it was advised to mix with lemon juice, or something similarly acidic, but my job would be HIGHLY displeased if I came in with orange hair, so we mixed it with just water to minimize this risk. It was a horrid, pea soup green color. It looked disgusting, but smelled like henna. Henna is a different smell, but not unpleasant. It has an earthy smell to it, as well as the tell-tale herbal scent.
Next came the lathering step. Armed with a pair of gloves and a hairbrush, my mom set about to the task. It was cold. It was goopy. It was touching me. Those were my thoughts. I began looking like a cartoon character, I'd go so far as to say a Kewpie Doll with my green hair that stuck straight out in any direction you put it in. We then wrapped it up in plastic and let it sit.
About an hour and a half later it was time to wash it out. What a process... You have to rinse until the water is clear. It was like washing mud out of my hair. It was caked in, thick, and GREEN. I'm surprised the tub isn't tinged now. Flakes of henna got everywhere, and it took two rinses of shampoo and one with conditioner before the water ran clear. And even while blowdrying and brushing it out, there was still henna flakes, but they'll brush out.
It came out better than it could have. If I do it again I'll probably leave it in longer, and start with the bulk of my hair rather than the front. The hair by my forehead is much lighter than the hair in the back. It darkens nicely, and it's not obnoxious, but it it noticeable.  I looked like a lion while blowdrying it.
I feel it was a successful venture though. It would have not come out near as well without my moms help, so I send out a HUGE thank you to her. Who knows how it will come out next time. You can add different herbs and stuff to change the coloring, so we shall see.
Below are the photos taken throughout this process.

The Henna Goop

Pre-henna

All Wrapped up

Eww... Green!

I'm a Lion!

Ta-dah!

Until next time my wonderful readers...

Elveda ~ Sadik Basar

Sadik's Travels: Entry 2

MERHABA!

It is another day in this wondrous life, and so it is another day of somewhat fruitful exploration. Today I have actually proceeded to add 3 items to my list. I may decide to combine two of them, because I kind of feel it is cheating to make them separate entities, yet they have differing means of coming about. I will propose my thoughts, and I ask that you grace me with your opinions on how I should list them.

The first thing is an entity onto itself. I was researching period clothing, and it inadvertently turned into an adornment search as well. (I blame a serious condition of the psyche and a personal fault bestowed upon me by the blessed Flying Spaghetti Monster [FSM] caused by a severe lack of appropriate Ramen-dan observance as a child that disallows my brain to contemplate single items for any great length of time in a serious fashion. ) ((Some in this overly scientific,particular, and categorical world would call it ADHD, yet my dear FSM sees it as a humorous plight to subject parents and children to when they fail to tithe to the briney sea of ye olde pirate mateys... I mean ancestors)) In my "oh shiny" explorations, I stumbled upon an 11th/12th century, geometrical, silver, and Seljuq Turk ring. Size 6 (thats me)... Never have I been wrought with such an admiration for Bling Bling!! I feel as if my first Gazel should be about this wondrous find! Maybe it will be. At least then I would have started upon my second A&S-50 undertaking, which I will be slow to admit that I have been postponing creating a blog for due to overwhelming writers block... NOOOO.
Seljuq Ring

My second item is an AWESOME website that has actual historically backed facts about women's and men's clothing from early Turkish periods. It describes the different items worn in different situations, as well as cloth and color types. It's pretty fascinating! There are even a few numbers for museums and textile people in Turkey and Istanbul. Maybe I can figure out overseas dialing and call the museum. Wouldn't that be amazing!!?!?
Turkish Culture {Clothing}

My third Item is the same concept as the clothing website, but it is a modern online store that sells traditional middle eastern clothing, mostly tailored for the Islamic population. It is exciting to see the progression of style that has not really altered the shape, only the colors, and the fit alittle. I am using the photos of the tunics and abayas and other items to try and create my own pattern. This should be interesting and make for a great blog post considering I've never even sewn anything from a pattern, let alone make one. My quilt I've done was a basic 4 square pattern. Haha. I love this site because I am using my "Turkish heritage" as a fuel for my want to study the Islamic faith. I've looked at the QUARAN, and I've talked to my Islamic friends, but I've never really delved deep. This website has a lot of resources, so I'm really excited to cruise about and see what all they have for a red-headed Heathen Turk such as myself.
Hilal Plaza: American Islamic Shopping Site

So, should I count the two clothing finds as one, since they both deal with my garb, or should I leave them as separate accounts? The Hilal Plaza website also allows me to study more about the Islamic faith, so I'm leaning more towards saying I have added 3 things to my list for the challenge. 1) learned about Period accessories 2) learned more about clothing style and creation 3) found another resource for the faith "my people" have embraced since Saltuk Bugra Khan accepted Islam as his faith, the first Turkish Monarch to do so.

All in all I feel today has been a productive day... I am enamored {no other word acceptable} with my new found "Turkish Blood". It is a culture, and a people, at one moment so quaint in their customs so old, and never changing, yet in the next, it is this very act of survival of their way of life that makes them wondrous in the way a beautiful old oak is wondrous. So old, yet so strong and beautiful. I am so glad that I have taken this on and foresee a plethora of excitement and enjoyment in my future. Wish me luck!

Until Next Time...

ELVEDA ~ Sadik Basar