The Henna Project

Before tattoos got big, there was henna. Now the beauty of this traditional ink is, unlike you butterfly tramp stamp, which you thought was a good idea at the time, henna is temporary. You get to adorn your skin with whatever you like and it will wash off eventually. Also, it is rather pretty.

Now, being grown adults who are not tourists in Sharm El-Sheikh, we don’t particularly feel the need to get actual henna on our bodies, but given their gorgeous designs, what if you could just get henna on various objects? That's exactly what The Henna Project does. The brand, just launched in July by sisters Nadine and Nora Dafrawy, creates gifts with personalised henna-like patterns on them. So all the beauty of the intricate swirly patterns, but on your stuff instead of on you.

They create their own original pieces, complete with the henna designs, or you can give them your own things for them to work their henna magic on. And the results are super-pretty, entirely handmade pieces, with a distinctly Arabian feel. We've got our eye on that wicked iPhone cover…

"I had a trip to Morocco during my summer break and was just inspired by everything around me," the brand's founder, Nadine Dafrawy tells us of the brand's inception. "You know, the Moroccan tiles, cups with designs… and I also noticed women in the street would offer henna services. So I came up with the idea of incorporating both together."

Now, the brand will take any item you desire and embellish it with swirling henna patterns, from trays to mugs to notebooks, essentially pretty-fying plain pieces and giving them a unique and personalized spin. "I was also always told I come up with super personal and sentimental gift ideas, and thought of incorporating that too," Dafrawy adds.

The brand is now bi-national, also operating out of Boston. "We wanted to bring in the oriental to the western," Dafrawy explains. We love that their spin on henna is long lasting, but not on your skin, which is the perfect combination really. And every piece is personal and unique. However, they do also offer actual henna, like, on humans, if you're interested, but we figure that's more of a special occasion/foreigner thing at this point. In the meantime, you can get pretty patterns, your name, whatever, hand-drawn on whatever you like!

You can check out their Facebook page here or follow them on Instagram @thehennaproject.