What Are “Terps”?
If you’ve been browsing through our henna recipes or elsewhere on the web, you may have heard the term “terps” when talking about essential oils. So what are they?
Essential oils are pure, concentrated plant extracts. They’re made up of a variety of natural chemicals, one of them being monoterpene alcohols. They’re an important part of any good henna recipe because they enhance the darkness and longevity of henna stains. These monoterpene alcohols, or “terps” as henna artists call them, make the dye molecule in henna powder more available to bind to the keratin in your skin.
Certain essential oils contain a higher amount of terps, and so those are the oils that should be used in your recipe for best results.
You can make henna paste without terps, but the stains will be significantly lighter and won’t last as long.
The essential oils that are safest and most effective for your henna mixture are:
Lavender (Bulgarian or Hungarian are best, lavandula angustifolia)
Eucalyptus can be a good oil to use, but there are hundreds of varieties and only one is suitable for henna purposes.
We always recommend buying your essential oils, especially terps, from specialty henna suppliers like SARAHENNA. We’ve done the legwork in finding the right varieties that are not only high in terps, but are pure and fresh. These make all the difference in getting a great henna stain.
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