for a long time i've been thinking alot about doing harquus on myself (and others) just for the heck of it. i think harquus is beautiful and sexy in its own unique way. for the uninitiated, harquus is the word to describe traditional black facial ornamentation and markings commonly practiced by women in north africa and the middle east. it can refer to both tattooing and skin painting. for more info on harquus, go to harquus.com.

anyways, after some interesting discussions with the redherring, my henna partner-in-crime, i went out and purchased a bottle of (bloody expensive) waterproof liquid eyeliner (maybelline in black) and did an experiment. but first, i trawled harquus.com and the internet for some patterns. i then drew out about six patterns on paper, did up my eyes (for effects), used an eyeliner pencil to first draw out the pattern (as a guide and for symmetry), and finally drew using the liquid eyeliner. it was hard cos i had to work fast and could not afford mistakes. at the end of it, my heavily mascara-ed eyes were teary from unblinking concentration. i must say that i'm pretty pleased with the results! i think it's awfully beautiful and sexy, no? heh.

i guess if i were to walk down the street looking like that, men would flock to me like bees to honey. heh. damn, i feel beautiful and sexy.

*smirk*

now if i could find more "willing" victims to practise on, i wonder who'd volunteer.

*scratch chin thoughtfully*

i was born with eyebags and dark rings .... so??

the eyeliner glides on smoothly and dries up quickly, even on my super-oily skin. once dried, the colour stayed quite pristine and didn't smear or smudge (tho i would assume it will if you rub your forehead vigorously against a durian). removal is easy with any makeup remover. i hope i don't sound presumptuous when i say that harquus goes perfectly with a hijab. very arabic-que, no? oooohhh, i'm loving this! watch this space for more of it!

oh why harquus you ask? cos the patterns of harquus, tattooing, and henna often mirror each other, and were intended to enhance each other. am i not a hennamaniac? uh huh ...

pattern adapted from the works of catherine cartright-jones, harquus.com.