Devika’s Palacio

I am so glad that I found Rachel. She came to do mendhi designs for my daughter’s birthday party and she made the party a huge success. From start to finish, Rachel was great with communication and was very professional. But the biggest treat was how beautiful her work was. Absolutely stunning work and done quickly (but not rushed) and with lots of sweetness and patience with a group of 10-​year old girls. We were all amazed by her talent and she was a pleasure to have at our gathering. Thank you. Rachel! We hope to enjoy your talents again soon!!!

This is long– so please bear with me. Rachel came highly recommended from a family friend of ours. Though she was over 50% pricier than other mendhi artists, we decided to go with her, as Rachel confidently insisted she would do 20 hands an hour for guests. I did think that was a bit far fetched, but the contract SHE gave us stated 20 hands an hour. Rachel was generous and gave us a slightly discounted price and didn’t charge traveling fee.
The day of the mendhi (my sister, the bride had henna from someone else), Rachel came early and setup. She even started 30 min early and told us it was complimentary! When we talked to her previously, we told her we only wanted 4 designs as an option for guests to speed up the process, however the boards she had, had about 8 I believe– it’s ok, no big deal. She was to stay until 7 and did so.
Rachel was nice and I was happy she had no issues being firm with guests about doing 1 hand. Towards the end of the allotted time, I decided to count how many hands were done in the 2.5 hours she was there. Guess what, only 30… now I did the math: 20 hands per hour, 2.5 hours, should equal 50 right? She came 30 min early and even if she did 40, I would be kinda ok with it. Well I then decided to ask her about it, and instantly she became defensive. I mean, my contract didn’t say 20 hands guaranteed… YOUR contract said it. She then started saying she’s not a machine and etc,. I get that, but you didn’t meet your contract. If you stayed longer, you would’ve charged me. Then I asked what we could do to help the situation, and she had no thoughts. While I was discussing with my parents what to do, she goes up to the bride to complain about me «confronting» her. Why the F would you bother the bride. I swear I wasn’t being an a**hole. I don’t even like confronting people, but I was being overcharged a lot for work not performed and I asked about it. She did leave 3 «keeps» at my house and she felt that was enough compensation-​LOL.
But nope, story doesn’t end here. Rachel emailed my sister the following morning to complain about me & the situation once again. Seriously!!! Why would you email the bride the day before her wedding to complain when YOU didn’t meet your contract.

Rachel was an amazing addition to my baby shower and my guests loved her work. She did extensive work on my hands and feet the night before. I would highly recommend her to anyone in the area looking for quality mendhi. She has a great energy, and came through for me in a pinch.

I’m sad to write this review because I was so looking forward to her mehndi.
Rachel was the mehndi artist at my good friend’s mehndi party. She’s getting married Saturday. The bride explained that Rachel charges by the hour versus by the hand as most other people do so I could feel free to have both my hands painted.
I approached Rachel while everyone else was at dinner because I knew there wouldn’t be a line. Rachel did the back of one hand and when I requested the front of the second hand, she refused. She said she had to make sure everyone else at least had one hand one.
My girlfriend then came who doesn’t like to put on mehndi. After an hr, I approached Rachel again and said I want to get my second hand one, it looks like all the ladies have had their hands done, my girlfriend doesn’t want it done so I’m taking her spot. Rachel refused me again.
The third time I approached her, she said she ran out of mehndi paste. I’ve never been to a mehndi party where the mehndi lady thought it was her place to manage the guests. This party was quite small and applying mehndi is a quick process so she could have very easily accommodated me but for some reason decided to put menhdi on non-​desi men’s hands first, before applying my second hand. Now, anyone can put on mehndi but the reason I’m specifically saying this is because menhdi means a lot to a desi woman, more so than a man who is not in the culture (mehndi is traditionally for ladies) so for her to pick and chose who she would apply mehndi on was unprofessional and left me extremely disappointed. So much so that I complained to the bride and the maid of honor (who are both my close friends).
Her technique is good but there are lots of people with excellent technique and great mehndi that comes out dark and smells great so you want someone who can make your guests feel welcome and encourage them to have a good time rather than turn them away. I would hire someone else.

Rachel is the real deal! I highly recommend her henna and body art skills. She is extremely professional and friendly! She did my belly for me when I was pregnant, and has since come to teach workshops with the students in my classroom. She is full of talent and education! The best in the Bay for sure!

A friend wanted to get Henna done for her birthday and I’m so happy that we found Rachel! She was so awesome to meet and she did a really great job on all three of the henna tattoo she did for us. Mine has held up for the last week really well. I kind of want to get another one done just to hang with her again.

Rachel did her amazing henna artwork at our Ladies Night of Indulgence event and the compliments on her work were huge!!!
At the end of the night I was able to sit down with her and receive a henna tattoo and the design was beautiful. I was amazed at how detailed it was in such a short amount of time.
Her work should be shared throughout the community!!!

Rachel did henna tattoos on my two young daughters and me at the 2010 Art and Soul Festival in Downtown Oakland.
We found great kid designs for $ 5 each which my daughters adored and are still gazing dreamily at as I type. Rachel Anne did a wonderful design of three flowers on my hand, index finger and wrist of three flowers and some vines for $ 10.
She explained in detail to my daughters what henna was, why one would get a henna tattoo and how to take care of it. She was very sweet to my daughters who felt very grown up and pretty to have such exquisite designs done on their hands. Rachel Anne was very quick but her designs did not suffer for the quickness with which she put them on.
I think having another henna tat done for each of my daughters and even one for me as a special treat for birthdays is definitely in order.
Rachel is another reason to Shop Oakland!

Best henna jobs in the bay!

Rachel did henna body art at a Unilocal event. I liked how delicate and pretty her work was. She was also friendly.