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The t hree Al-Haddad sisters are no strangers to henna, the dye commonly used for skin decorations, but then again neither is their mother, who acted as the earliest canvas for Samira, Warda and Huda.

Two years ago, the three siblings opened their henna tattoo shop, The Henna Sisters, out of their parents’ house in Rawa Belong, West Jakarta.

Occasionally, the sisters open a booth in malls like Plaza Semanggi and Citos, or at bazaars in the Kemang area. What started as a hobby for the three sisters over time matured into a flourishing business.

These days the Henna Sisters stay busy with a steady stream of both in-house customers and wedding requests.

But making the leap to skin isn’t an overnight affair. Huda, the youngest of the sisters at just 19, honed her skills over hundreds of hours and thousands of sheets of paper.

“When I was a kid, I would draw on my own hand with a pen because I wasn’t used to drawing with henna,” Huda said.

For centuries henna has been used to mark special occasions, like weddings, throughout Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Today, the skin-stain art has become a popular alternative for people here in Indonesia who don’t want to get a tattoo for religious reasons or simply because they aren’t exactly looking to have anything permanent on their bodies.

“A lot of our customers are Muslims who can’t get their body permanently tattooed,” said Warda, 22.

Although henna is all-natural, some customers still question whether they can pray once they’ve had henna drawn on their skin.

The Koran does not permit permanent tattoos because the ink covers the skin, preventing the water used in the pre-prayer ablutions from fully cleansing the skin.

Henna, a natural dye made from the leaves of the henna plant, does not cover the pores, therefore enabling the skin to absorb water.

The three sisters, born in Jakarta to an Indonesian father and Singaporean mother, both of whom are of Arab descent, all live in Rawa Belong. The three also have family in Saudi Arabia and Yemen.

But it’s not all paste and wedding parties for the sisters, whose next business venture has to do with their love for the culinary arts.

The sisters plan to open a cafe in Samira’s garage, just a few blocks away from their parents’ house.

“The three of us like to draw and we’re also fond of cooking,” Warda said.

The Henna Sisters design most of the patterns themselves. They work in simple and flowery patterns that play heavily on curvy lines.

Depending on the size and sitting time, prices for the henna tattoos vary from Rp 35,000 ($4) to Rp 100,000 ($11). The wedding packages, which can be customized to meet the needs and requests of customers, usually cost about Rp 600,000.

The Henna Sisters’ portfolio of previous clients is an array of henna splashed on hands, strewn across backs and even weaved between toes.

The ladies mix the henna powder with water until it is a toothpaste-like consistency and then place it in a cone with a hole, similar to something used by a professional cake decorator.

Huda can finish a small pattern in less than five minutes, and it takes Warda less than 10 minutes to finish an intricate hand design.

Having the henna done is the easy part, it’s sitting completely still for anywhere from 15 minutes to half an hour while the paste dries that is tricky.

Samira, Warda and Huda all work in either black or reddish brown henna paste, but according to the sisters, the color of the final stain depends on the blood circulation of the customer.

When the henna is first applied to the dry skin there is a slight chilly sensation, followed by an itch that is said to feel like a Band-Aid on the skin.

The sisters, who use henna brought to Jakarta from Singapore by relatives, work quickly, with steady hands.

After the paste dries, one of the sisters will escort you to the sink to wash away the paste and reveal the henna stain.

A yellowish stream finds its way down the drain as the henna tattoo is patted dry to reveal a complicated pattern of elaborate, snaking lines woven in and out of one another.

As for what to do when the novelty wears off, it’s simple.

“If you want to erase it quickly, just scrub it with lotion and wash it often,” Huda said.