What should I tip my henna artist?

People often ask me what they should tip their henna artist, and it usually feels a bit awkward to answer that question, as they are often basically asking me what I would like to be tipped… So I figure I will write up some guidelines here so that if anyone happens to do an internet search for such a question, they’ll get a reasonable answer 🙂

First off, a henna artist should be tipped as you would tip other service professionals. 20% is the norm for showing appreciation of great service, 15% is considered to be the baseline for good service, and 25% shows that you know the artist has gone above and beyond what was to be expected.

What if you are the one who is paying the artist an hourly rate to be at an event offering henna at no cost to guests?

In this case, the artist is a business owner who has set their own prices with no expectation of receiving a tip. Sometimes clients do still add anywhere from $100-400 to their $500-2500 all-event rate to show their appreciation to the artist. Some may send the artist home with food for themselves and/or their family, knowing the artist has been hard at work and unable to cook for themselves and their family while they’ve been out providing henna art services.

What about a situation where the henna artist is working specifically for tips?

If you see a tip jar out and haven’t paid anything upfront for your henna, the artist probably is doing the event specifically to make henna accessible to anyone who would like it. So you should tip whatever you feel that your henna was worth, keeping in mind that the absolute minimum most artists would charge for a very simple design (like one flower or a 1″x1″ peace sign) is about $12. An average hand design done at a festival is usually $35-50. Basically henna done solely for tips is a pay-what-you-can arrangement. Generous people who get something equivalent to a full hand design tend to tip about $20.

There are also many cases where the artist is being compensated by the establishment where they are doing henna in some small way, for example, enough gift certificates for a dinner for two at that restaurant. This compensation typically calls very far short of what the artist would normally charge for their services, and they are depending on the tips to make up the difference.

So in general… if you appreciate your henna artist, be sure to show that appreciation.