Newlove, 41, is the henna tattoo artist at Healing Hands, a Largo shop owned by her friend Kathi Wahls that offers massage therapy, myofacial therapy, facial toning, colonic hydrotherapy, crystal healing and other metaphysical services.

For three years, Newlove has painted henna, also known as mehendi, designs on clients who prefer temporary body art instead of permanent, sometimes painful, inking.

She mixes bright green, ground-up henna from a henna plant that grows in Arabia, Iran, the East Indies and North Africa with coffee or tea and a drop of sandalwood oil to form a substance with the consistency of toothpaste. She brushes a portion of the body where the client wants the tattoo with eucalyptus.

"It provides an antibacterial surface and preserves the design," Newlove said.

Once the prep work is completed, she goes to work creating armlet and anklet designs, navel and even face tattoos among others.

The henna hardens on the skin like mud and leaves a stain that lasts from one to four weeks. Designs on the hands and feet last longer than those on other parts of the body, Newlove said. As an added bonus, she said, henna "cools the body."

Newlove said she's received some exotic design requests over the years.

"A woman eight months pregnant wanted her belly hennaed with peacocks because they are pretty," she said.

But, she said, "most people want designs on their hands and feet and around their ankles."

Prices range from $10 for a simple design, to $50 for larger, more intricate tattoos.

Clients pick designs out of a book. The most popular requests? A star burst with a heart in the center, a jumping dolphin and the butterfly.

"I do it all by hand, no stencil," Newlove said.

It takes her 15 to 30 minutes to complete a design.

Mehendi is an art form that dates back thousands of years in the Egyptian and Indian cultures. In India, brides have their hands adorned with henna tattoos before their wedding days.

But Newlove and Wahls said they noticed that the art form became popular in the United States after Madonna's Frozen video in 1998, in which the singer was covered with henna tattoos.

"People are getting more freaky every day," said Wahls. "It's another form of self-expression."

If you go

You can get a henna tattoo by appointment only at Healing Hands, 12041 66th St. N, Suite B, Largo. The tattoos last for about three weeks and cost between $10 and $50 depending on the design. For information, call (727) 538-8969.

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