..Ash Kumar

Havind made a name for himself and is somewhat a pioneer in the mehndi world, Ash Kumar has taken the beauty world to the next level.. Here he chats with me about men wearing henna, Madonna and what it takes to get him to be at your wedding.

Your name appears in the Guinness Book of World Records as the fastest Henna Artist. How do you get into the Guinness Book for your art?

When I was studying at university, it wasn't planned to do this, my degree was actually in forensics and my skill didn't stretch further than doodling on the sides of the paper, I didn't have an art degree or any kind of former education in fine art. My speed was there from day 1 and I was always quite fast at doing henna etc. One day I was on breakfast TV and one person noticed my speed and accuracy and informed me that there is a world record, which I wasn't aware of and asked me if I would be interested in trying to conquer it myself and I took the opportunity but only as a hobby as it wasn't too serious for me at the time, but after I broke the world record, things became a lot more serious and it became a 24 hour thing with the pressure from the media who were very interested in a) my gender and b) my age and obviously, the fact that I was the fastest. So that happened with an invitation from Guinness world records.

What were your criteria? What did you have to do; did you have to cover a certain area in a certain time?
It was henna armbands in an hour and my first record was 96 armbands in one hour and then three years later I broke my own record with 196 armbands in one hour. So there were a lot of criteria, they don't obviously just hand over a world record. There were over 100 rules and guidelines which I had to meet which were very important. One of these being "there are no shapes, letters or numbers allowed" and that you couldn't repeat any design, if you did then the repeated and the original would be disqualified. Guinness world records had their own provisional judges sent down from the head offices who all had PhD's in art and design to invigilate every single design that I do. Each design was photographed, the list goes on.

How does it feel to have gone down in history?
I feel proud because henna has gone onto a different frontier for me, obviously it is not just a Guinness world record my work is also is in the British museum and the V and A museum. Making history with my art is the kind of thing that I can turn to my kids one day and have them say "my father made history". I feel that I have set a pedestal for my children now. I feel very proud that I have achieved something that I wasn't deliberately aiming to do.

You have been making a name for yourself for quite sometime now, is this where you envisioned yourself to be?

Not at all, I actually saw myself in a lab somewhere helping crime scenes or maybe helping detectives departments or something along the lines of opening up bodies or making sure that things are running well or how to diagnose what has gone wrong with the human body. But here I am surrounded by flamboyant industry with the glamour industry intertwined in Hollywood and Bollywood! So nothing that I would be doing and I'm thoroughly enjoying it and wouldn't change it for the world

Tell us about how you got started.

Basically by doodling! Family and friends would then say "wow that's good, why don't you try it with a mendhi cone?" and people throwing their hands forward and saying "can you do something for us please?"

Is it true that you have started teaching the art of henna to people who are interested?

Yes, because I've never had formal training myself, so for me it's a bit daunting when I started teaching because I had no idea what formal training was like! So what would I hand over to my students? So I had to go back to basics and dissect my work for it to be a lot easier for somebody else to understand. SO every step, every dot, line that I did I had to double think and day "right you are doing it but can you explain it?" and that's where the training started and today 5 years down the line we have the leading henna academy and people come across the world my customers come from Holland, Switzerland, Dubai, South Africa because of the reputation that our vicinity upholds. Having an "Ash Kumar" certificate on your wall in the Asian beauty community is the equivalent of having "Nicky Clarke" brand.

How does one enroll in your classes?

It's really simple. Just go onto the website, there is, however, a waiting list to get into the 1 on 1 personal teaching program but you can enrol online at www.ashkumar.com. 

You have managed to break into Bollywood in a huge way, tell us about how the break came about and how you are handling that successful part of your career?

Basically, word of mouth is the biggest form of marketing and I was basically recommended into Bollywood purely through Hollywood as my first client was Julia Roberts and doing that in Hollywood paved the way for me to get into Bollywood, in which henna, obviously plays a bigger part. In Bollywood the standard has to be higher and the way to handle it is to pay more attention to the speed and the quality of the work being produced. So in Bollywood it is not so much the speed that I am recognized of it is the quality that I produce.

Of course you have also worked with Madonna and Cameron Diaz, what did you do on them?

Cameron Diaz was for a private project, not for anything else. She wanted an armband, a wrist bracelet and an anklet and for Madonna it was the palm of her hand and for the back of her hand. 

How did you react when someone told you Madonna was on the phone requesting your services?

To be honest, the first thing that I thought, being a businessman was that it would be great PR having a fashion icon like Madonna for a client. Then it hit me that "hang on, this is Madonna!" Naturally, I was a bit apprehensive at first but when I did do it was the whole production crew, not jut Madonna, there was a whole crew behind her and everyone was very professional and this was my first real taste of how professional and how organized the industry should be.

Who would have thought that a henna artist would have managed to get this far, do you feel that a lot of people who are passionate about their dreams can be a success irrespective of their choice of career path?

Yes. Of course they can, but to be honest, my only advice to people is if you have a dream, make sure that you follow it through with the right mentors and the right educators around you, especially in the beauty industry or any art form or if you want to be the biggest nerd in IT, go ahead and do it but make sure that you have the right people to guide you. Thankfully I have the right people surrounding me, my mentors, for example and family, who are there to give me the correct advice and help me move forward and give me the positive energy that I need. So I think that's very important definitely.

What is your motto?

I've got many mottos but what I would say is listen and learn with your mentors, and secondly I say always make your own decision, never be influenced. Thirdly, always have a positive attitude and there is no room for negativity also, if you are going to do something, see it through.

Is henna becoming a fashion statement?

I think so, yes I know one thing that I can't deny and that is that I am definitely now a leader and an icon in my industry. I'm definitely not following any trends. I am actually setting the trends which, believe it or not, is a huge pressuring responsibility and I get floods of emails with people saying "we love your work" or students come into our academy saying "I'm a big fan of your work etc" but its very important to understand that yes, we have all the well-wishers behind us and compliments but I've got be very serious about what I do still. So yes, I do have a huge responsibility but I still have lots left that I want to achieve. My technique has now become its own trademark.

Are we going to see more grooms wearing henna – like Abhishek for his wedding? Would you suggest that grooms go for that?

I think so, there are some areas it is part of the culture-not religion- to practise henna on men for their wedding and this is based on the philosophy that if the bride should have the henna used as a therapeutic deice on her, then the groom should be too. Personally, I'm doing henna for groom's aswell as brides and not as extravagant and as flamboyant as brides would but definitely keeping a good luck charm on them or even tattoos for their honeymoon.

Can you wear henna tastefully at other events? Can you give us hints and ideas?

The Ash Kumar products are now in Selfridges, Debenhams, Harrods and Harvey Nicks and the reason why we are at the department stores is because Ash Kumar products are now used not specifically for weddings. They are even used as stocking fillers for Christmas, hen nights, birthdays and Diwali. So people are now wearing henna for fashion statements.

Is Ash Kumar available to do brides in Kenya?

Of course, I've done quite a few actually, I was there last year and there were a few weddings and, depending how well in advance bride's book, we do travel out there. In Nairobi, my family have connections there, and the outside wall was built by my grandfather. My mother grew up there because she was born in Kenya,

How would a bride-to-be get in touch with you?                                                                   

By the website, would have to be done a minimum of six months before the wedding

Any tips for brides when they are searching for a henna artist (may be a top 5)

The best tips I would suggest to a bride looking for a henna artist would be a) make sure that they are using quality products (e.g., the ash Kumar products) and b) make sure that I consultation is done so that you can specify how intricate you want your mendhi to be. The third tip I would say, would be to tell your artist what to do and ask their advice and not to forget that there is a professional sitting in front of you! Another important one is to advise your artist of the look you are going for and tell them exactly what you are wearing.

Thank you.