Traditionally, shaping a client's eyebrows—whether it be by waxing, threading, microblading, or otherwise—is done while the client is laying down. This is primarily for the comfort of both the client and the esthetician alike, but also so the practitioner can get a better view of the client's face. But, just like the body relaxes when laying down, the same goes for the muscles in the face. When a client lays down on their back to get their eyebrows shaped, their muscles relax and this can alter the way the brows sit on the face, leading to an uneven arch for your client's facial shape.
This is why Malynda Vigliotti, owner of Boom Boom Brow Bar in New York City's Greenwich Village, swears by shaping her client's brows while they're sitting up. “I’m an avid believer of shaping brows while sitting up," Vigliotti says. "It allows you to shape symmetrical arches and better judge where brows should begin and end in relation to the other features on the face, which helps to make them proportionate. Features get distorted when laying down, making it harder to create a shape that will ultimately look good when standing up.”
According to Vigliotti, when clients lie down gravity takes to the facial muscles and can distort facial features. By shaping your client's brows while they sit up, you can easily assess the eyebrows in their natural state—the way others see them and they way they look when viewed in a mirror.
This article originally appeared on our sister site, AmericanSpa.com