Wrapping/Sealing Problems

The best seal I've found is "Frozen Stiff" hair spray from Sally Beauty Supply.

If you put some dextrose in the henna mix, the paste won't crack off as it dries.  If you dry the paste and then do a couple rounds of Frozen Stiff .......... you won't need to wrap! 

I like to seal with hairspray too, but I sometimes use lemon sugar.  Either way, I let the henna dry then spray it. If I plan to sleep in it, I use TP. The spray stays tacky, so when it is dry or almost dry I pat TP one square at a time onto the area and it sticks onto the spray like a bandage.  Then I either wrap it with more tp or not, and cover it with either a sock or saran wrap.  The sweatier it gets, the better, as long as you have something to wick away the moisture and not let it get smudgy.  

With CCJ's suggestion you should be great with no wrap, but don't lay your face on your hand while you sleep or you may end up with a print on your cheek!

The tp stuck to the spray is also helpful when it comes time to remove the paste.  It all hardens like laster, and you just rip off the tp- most of the paste comes with it.

Sorry if this is a silly question, but what is TP???

Another suggestion that works really well, is once the henna is dry, use elmer's clear glue to seal it. lightly spread it over the design, just like we used ot smear it on our hands as kids. then when you are ready to take it off, the paste comes with the glue. I slept with mine on and didnt' get any henna in the bed.

When I wrap I always, always use cotton balls and reynolds press-n-seal. When the design is almost dry I apply the lemon juice/sugar, and then the cotton.  If you unwrap the cotton balls (I read somewhere though they have to be 100% cotton) and gently lay them over the design it keeps everything in place and soaks up the excess lemon juice and sweat. Then I wrap the press-n-seal around it. It sticks to itself and is WAY better than regular seran wrap because it doesn't come off and you don't need any tape or anything.  I found this to be easiest- it's clean and simple and has never messed up a design. Good luck!

I've used glue to seal with great success, but I am going to try something new this evening - wrapping the design with vetrap, which is a stretchy bandaging tape that sticks to itself.  I figure if it can stay secure on a moving horse, it should stay in place (and hold the henna in place) at night.  Plus, it comes in many different colors (pretty!) and it's fairly inexpensive.  I'll let you kow how it goes.