- Her body art may be temporary, but local henna artist, Nadiyah Mahmood, leaves a lasting impression with her unique mix of traditional and modern designs.

- Henna typically lasts about seven to 14 days on the skin.

My name is Nadiyah and I'm a professional henna artist.

I've been a henna artist with 15 years experience, but professionally about eight, nine years.

I'm a second generation Pakistani American.

Me and my sisters grew up getting henna done, and I just kind of took to that form of art.

When I was about, you know, like 13 or 14 years old, I was just going to the local mosque in Atlanta where I'm from and just adorning little kids and friends and family members and, you know, having fun with it.

Then I decided, you know what?

This is something I wanna take seriously, so I just dedicated little by little, my time to practicing.

It got better as I went on and here I am.

- [Client] Who's the fun part?

- Coloring.

The scientific name for henna is lawsonia inermis.

Lawson is the actual dye that is released from the plant.

I make the paste myself.

It's a 24 hour process to make the henna paste.

Henna typically lasts about seven to 14 days.

It's typically done on the hands and the arms, and then second to that, the feet and the legs.

More and more people are getting it done on various other locations of the body.

Henna itself has dated back thousands and thousands of years.

A historical figurehead that made it even more popular was Cleopatra of Egypt.

Each culture has their own specific style, how they, you know, adopted the form of art.

I would say Moroccans have like their fessia style, which is very detailed, more line work.

Arabic style, very dainty, floral chainy look.

East African, very bold, thick lines, so it varies from different cultures.

My style is very eclectic.

It's all over the place.

I would say though, I always end up going back towards like Indian Pakistani style 'cause that's what I'm comfortable with.

That's what I grew up with.

Like the paisleys, the florals, maybe a little bit of structure.

I am also known for adding various modern elements to my designs.

I've done a sleeve where it was all Harry Potter dedicated.

I also did an alien themed henna sleeve as well.

One of the most common things I like to do is bridal henna.

Back in the day, this is how they would show off their lineage, their heritage.

Culturally, it means significance to them to adorn themselves as feminine as possible.

I also sell some of my artwork as well like I paint henna artistry style canvases and so on.

When someone wants like to book with me, we will talk about locations and nine times out of 10, I'll suggest Felicitous.

- Can I get the teacher's pet?

- Yeah.

- Felicitous is this awesome coffee shop.

It feels like it's home right on 51st Street.

- My wife and I, we had always had this vision of what we wanted our coffee shop to be, and the number one thing was we wanted to be a place where people in the community could come together over art, over music, over making connections.

Nadiyah started out as a customer, just like most of our vendors.

- I first started going there just to study a little bit, and then I just started having clients meet me there.

- As soon as we learned a little bit about what she was about and her talents, we were all about having her come and set up a tent and attending our day markets.

I really like that one.

- The markets are a monthly get together type of thing where a bunch of vendors and artists showcase their artwork, their product.

- This is the kind of thing that we live for really, is just to try and support local artists, local artisans to make a living really out of their passion.

Coming into the coffee shops and having something as culturally rich as Nadiyah's henna, it just ticks every box.

We're able to connect people in the community to a new perspective.

Ultimately, what that does for us as a society is it brings us closer.

- Hi.

- What I love the most about being a henna artist is I get to look at my work, my finished product, and see how happy it makes my client.

That is probably the biggest gift, is just watching someone, you know, go from, "Hey, I need this," to, "Oh my gosh, I can't believe I got this done."

It's so vibrant.

It brings joy to people's hearts.

You don't have to necessarily be part of the culture or any culture that henna is dominant in.

You just have to, you know, just love the form of art, honestly.

(bright music) - [Narrator] For bookings and more, visit hennabynadinam.square.site or follow Nadiyah at nadi_nam.