Ask Me Anything: We're Talking About Getting People to Leave After Their Henna Session, Stinky Feet, and Straining Henna
Ask Me Anything!
You’ve got questions, I’ve got answers!
In today’s Ask Me Anything!, we’re tackling the following questions submitted from hennapreneurs like you:
[00:00] When serving people in my home, how can I best communicate that the appointment is over when the designs are complete?
[03:22] Have you ever had a client with smelly feet wanting foot designs?
[05:32] How do you strain your henna?
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+ Read the transcript here
Chelsea: So there are cues that you can give your clients. So, in my business I have my home studio and occasionally I'll meet people here. I try not to, I try to meet them outside in a different place. But if they come here, um, then normally I'm doing, like, boudoir pieces or something that requires them to have to stay to dry. The caveat being, if they've booked for something like that and then they've experienced being able to stay and hang out and dry a little bit, then it's a little- it can be like, "Hmm, do I stay when it's just the time that you're getting your hands or foot done?" And the answer is no.
So the cue that I have for my clients, especially those who are getting their feet done, is that I have sticky sandals, sticky sandals. So the biggest thing is, like, they come and they get their feet done. They're like- they don't- they want to wait for it to dry because they're thinking, like, "I'm going to have to walk out of here. I don't want to mess it up," whatever. I use a sticky sandals. So, they're almost like the ones that you get when you go to get your nails done, but this one does not have the thing that goes in between your toes. It literally just sticks.
So once we've finished their work, then I say, "Okay! Well, it looks really great! Let me take the pictures." 'Picture' is a cue [camera noises]. "It's great! Wonderful. Okay." Then, um, if they don't start to, like, get ready to go, you know how- you know, then at that point I'll also offer, um, and I will, I'll let them know like, "Okay, I've got sticky sandals that will help so that on your way out you don't have to worry about putting your shoes on." And I'll pull out the sticky sandal. It has a paper backing on it. So I put her foot right on it and I, like, measure around so it's not super big, or whatever. And I cut off the extra and then I say, "Okay" and I'll peel off the top and then I lay the sticky sandals down because in order to put them on, you have to stand up.
So I put the sticky sandals down, let them stand up. Uh, I'll have them - because they're always, all- every time. I've never had someone actually trust me with the sticky sandals. Never! Like, they always have to experience it once first before they believe that it works - so I'll have them put the sticker on or the sticky sandal on. And then I'll say, "Okay, um, why don't you give it a couple you know, ,give it a couple steps to make sure they're on really nicely." And I already know that are, but it's just for them. It's a mind game, you know? So they'll take a couple of steps, which takes them a couple of steps away from the chair that they were in, right? Perfect.
So then what I do is - you guys see that I have pillows? I have a pillow on that chair - so then the next thing is, perfect, now there are a couple steps away from that chair. So what I do, I fluff the pillow. "All right, well it was, you know, this was so great to see you. I'm s-" And I'll fluff the pillow and kind of straighten up the work area so that it doesn't look like a work area anymore. I'll grab the aftercare card and give them after- "Here's the aftercare card, just in case you've forgotten, you know, and let you know- Of course, if you have any questions afterwards, feel free. Here's my number on here. You can call me, text me, email me, and I'll get ahold of you." Give that to them and then that's it. We're done. Like, so there's multiple cues that let them know, like, it is time for you to leave.
I had, um, this was when I first started doing henna. I was maybe a year in, something like that, and I did a giveaway. And, um, the girl who was selected, the girl who won, it was, uh- they won a session for either two hands or two feet. And so she decided that she wanted to get two feet done. But when she came to my home and she took her shoes off, uh, yeah. It was really bad. Like, when I say that it was really bad, like, I'm still- I'm hesitating because, like, I'm having flashbacks. I've got PTSD from how these feet smelled. Like, I have never felt - and I've worked many a festivals, right? And festival feet can be sketch - I have never experienced feet like this. And she'd just came from, like, her house. Like, this was the worst. I don't even know. Um, and it was so bad that I was like, there's no way that I'm going to be able to work on this woman's feet. Like, I won't be- like, it was hard for me to- it was literally physically hard for me to breathe.
So I just- I had to ask her, I had to ask her to wash her feet. I had to ask her to wash her feet. And what I ended up doing, um, to not be offensive is, uh, I just said, "Hey, listen, um, you know, I wanna make sure that the skin that we're working on is nice and clean. Um, it doesn't have, like, any creams, oils, sweat on them, um, that might inhibit your stain. So I'm just gonna ask to make sure that you cleanse your feet in the bathroom. You can wash your feet, uh, really nicely and then come back out. Um, and we'll start to work." And that's how I got around it. And I remember her, like, stepping out of the room and me, like, gasping for air. It was so, so bad. Um, but that's how I dealt with it. And thank God I haven't dealt with that ever again. Like, that was a one and done type thing. Um, I'm pretty okay with feet, like, I don't have a thing about feet. I can deal, I can deal. but that experience, that experience changed my life forever. So that's how I dealt with that.
Uh, typically I don't strain my henna, but, um, when I do - I feel like the Dos Equis guy, "I don't always strain my henna but when I do..." - um, so I don't always strain my henna but when I do I have, um, let me see... Okay, so what I do is, the carrot bag- I try to make sure that as much of the carrot bag as I can, I bring down around the edge. Okay, so we've got our carrot bag on our thing, right? And then let's say that this is our, um, our stocking, yeah? So I would put the stocking- like, I'll put the stocking in and then I'll also hold it over the edge. Now I don't know, uh, this one- when you're dealing with, like, a stocking, I'll put it as close to the top as possible. So it's different, right?
This one also is like, I want as much of this down as possible. And the stocking on top I also want it to be with, like, the foot- like, the end of it as close to the top as possible because I'm going to try to squeeze- I'm going to try to put as much paste in there as possible because once you like- once it's- it sucks to try to redo it and redo it and redo it. Once I've got like all my henna inside - look, this is like. You guys! I swear you guys always have me doing, like, impromptu demos. Oh my God. The last time, this got me in trouble because you had me drawing arches that looked crazy - anyway, so once I have my henna, like, inside, right? Then I'll pull the stocking to the top and I'll twist the stocking as tight as I can twist it all the way around, like right at the top of the henna. I want it to almost be oozing out because I've tightened it so tight right at the top. So once the stocking is closed, then I'll open up my carrot bag and lift it up above as well, all right?
So then having the carrot bag at the top, the carrot bag will be taller than the stocking is, yeah? So I'll pinch - because I've already twisted that stocking around really tight - I'll pinch the carrot bag around that piece as well and then that's where I'll pull the stocking out. So I want it to be so, like, so - I just feel like every time you guys catch me like this, I always- I ended up sounding crazy. I just- I'm like, the words that are coming out of my mouth, I'm like, I know that somebody one day is going to, like, chop my videos and I'm going to become a meme saying, like, "This is super tight" and then it's going to be embarrassing for me and my husband will die - so anyways, so now I know that it's super tight what I'll do is then pull the stocking out as far and as hard as I can - Oh my God - as far and as high as I can so that, um, the henna will stay inside. The trick though, the trick though is that, um, sometimes when you're, when you're, uh, when you're doing this one the- okay, so the thing is with, um- because you've tightened this stocking so tight and then you've also wrapped the carrot bag around it, it will keep the henna from coming out.
But once you get down to the bottom, that's where the henna that's not so friendly is, right? The henna that's, like, a little bit more gritty or whatever. So what I'll do is just kind of, like, massage the carrot bag, still keeping it tight at the top, but I'll do this number and kind of massage it just to get those gritty pieces kind of moving around. And normally it's my biggest challenge when I do strain, but like, I rarely strain. Honestly, I rarely strain. I mix my paste by hand so, um, by the time I get to the point where I'm like, "Oh, this is, like, it's nice and smooth." I'm not worried about, uhm, like, I've manually worked out all of the clumps. Um, but yeah, that's how I do it.
[inaudible] Yeah, the- if it's not sifted then you're going to have t- you'll have to strain it. But that's how I do it. And the part that like, it gets down at the bottom, that's all grainy, um, I just don't worry about as much. I'll massage it and pull it, massage it and pull it until I'm massaging it and nothing else is coming out.