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Henna artists in the UAE gear up for Eid Al Fitr, reveal top designs
With Eid around the corner, some UAE henna artists reveal this year's hottest trends, designs and the challenges they face during uncertain times
- PUBLISHED: Wed 18 Mar 2026, 5:00 AM UPDATED: Wed 18 Mar 2026, 9:07 AM
For Dubai-based henna artist Asiya Raheem, the days leading up to Eid are some of the busiest of the year. Some days she starts at 7am and continues putting henna till Fajr time the following day. This year, even with the current uncertainty, she has a packed calendar of clients.
“The usual number of clients have dropped a little because I get a lot of people who travel from other GCC countries to visit their family here,” she said. “But the calendar is still packed with small pockets of time in between.”
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A henna artist who has been in business for over 12 years, Asiya said that she usually took bookings in three batches — one in the morning, one in the afternoon and then one post iftar. “I like to take group bookings because it saves me a lot of travel time,” she said. “In some houses, there are up to 20 people. Depending on the design they want, it could take anywhere up to eight hours.”
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She said that the most in-demand trends were Jagua henna and dome designs. “I don’t do jagua because it is a niche product and more expensive than normal henna,” she said. “I don’t have any clients that demand for it but I know that the trend has been very popular since last year. In terms of design, dome designs and Indian-influenced henna art is much more popular, especially among the younger generation. Many customers want a combination of Indian and Arabic designs.”
Jagua henna is a natural, plant-based, blue-colored temporary tattoo dye derived from the fruit of the Genipa americana tree. When mixed with regular henna, it leaves a blueish-black stain instead of the usual reddish-orange henna stain.
Minor changes
Celebrity henna artist Azra Khamissa, who last year sold over 1,000 henna cones, took to her page to post that this year, she will not be shipping her cones outside of the UAE. She attributed this decision to shipping prices “which have almost tripled” in the wake of the regional unrest and has caused delivery times to be uncertain. She added that her fresh natural henna cones expire within five days at room temperature and she couldn’t risk it with the deliveries taking longer.
Sharjah-based henna artist Tanaaz said that she has become more mindful in taking henna appointments this year due to the ongoing unrest. “Earlier, I used to travel all over the UAE but this year, I am preferring to take orders only from Sharjah,” she said. “With the authorities telling us to be careful during missile interceptions, I want to avoid unnecessary long drives. The UAE is doing such a great job in keeping us all safe, so it is our duty to obey rules.”
She said that in addition to Jagua, she has also seen an increase in demand for peel off stickers and henna stencils this year. “There are some local henna artists who create their own peel off stickers,” she said. “These are like temporary tattoos and don’t require women to sit with the design for long periods to get a stain. The stencils have been very popular for a while now because it is almost like a DIY henna.”
