Story By Diana Vallette ~ Photos By Lana Tyler Photography
Jillyan Bevlaqua is the brow queen. Chances are if you spot someone walking around Southwest Louisiana with perfect, natural-looking brows they owe it to her artistry.
It all started at the mall’s Clinique counter. She was a makeup artist whose coworkers knew her for her brow work. “They’d send their clients to me. I’d do their brows and then send them back to get the rest of their makeup done,” she says. It was 2014, and filling in brows wasn’t common practice at the time.
Over and over, Bevlaqua heard from clients that they wished their eyebrows always looked the way they did after she filled them in. She was a well-supported makeup artist at the time with a hefty book of clientele. She was typically booked a year out.
Keeping in mind what she heard from her clients, Bevlaqua went to cosmetic tattoo school. Three days after she completed her classes, she was certified and had her very first client. The rest is history.
Microblading Vs. Nano Brow
What she does isn’t microblading. Microblading is a semi-permanent brow technique in which a handheld blade makes little incisions and pushes pigment into the skin.
At Bevlaqua’s Southern Vanity, she offers nano brow services. It’s a permanent makeup tattooing technique which uses an ultra-fine needle to create precise, natural-looking hair strokes.
What sets her work apart her fanaticism about avoiding oversaturation. She says that’s where other artists can sometimes go wrong.
“It starts off with cute little strokes, but when you stack them, and they expand, you can end up with solid, block brows,” Bevlaqua says. That’s because, says, your skin can only hold so much pigment.
With Bevlaqua’s nano brow technique, pigment is being added one pixel at a time. It’s a slower buildup that allows patterns and the layering of color.
For her, perfection is the bare minimum. She wants to make sure she’s doing what is right for her client, even if that means telling them she can’t do their brows. You see, the more previous work her clients have had done, the more Bevlaqua will be forced to compromise.
“I tell people ‘no’ more than I tell them ‘yes.’ Doing quality work is incredibly important to me and I would never compromise my integrity,” she says.
It’s not uncommon for her to send new clients with previous work to have laser done before she is willing to work on them. She wants to make sure her work isn’t compromised.
All In A Day’s Brows
What’s a typical day like for her? She’s up at 5 am and makes her bed every single morning. “It’s a small joy to get into a freshly made bed at the end of a long day,” she says. After the bed’s made and the coffee is ready, she applies her makeup while watching a Dr. Phil episode. Then it’s time to pick out which wig she’s going to wear for the day.
Over the past two years, due to extreme weight loss, relationship changes and life in general, she’s struggled with hair loss. “It got to the point where my hair wasn’t fun to fix. I got tired of dealing with it and fighting with it,” she says.
She’s open and honest about her struggles with hair loss and other subjects many would maybe keep close to the vest, because being honest is important to her. She’s an open book.
After she’s ready for the day, she drops off her 14-year-old daughter, Avery, at school and begins her workday. Social media is up first on the to-do list. By 8:50 am, the front door is unlocked and she’s ready for her first client.
Each day, Bevlaqua has eight touchups and two new clients booked. Those touchup appointments are typically quick and usually aren’t touchup appointments at all.
Generally speaking, most of her clients will need a refresher only every 18 months to two years. It’s a pet peeve of Bevlaqua’s that the industry makes people think they need to come back over and over. “Annual touchups are a lie. It’s the biggest scam out there in our industry,” she says. It’s what leads to the oversaturation she hates so much.
Paying (Or Not)
Cosmetic tattooing is one service Bevlaqua cautions people against price shopping for. “This is your face we’re talking about here. You don’t want to skimp on this,” she says. Bevlaqua charges $675 for new brow clients.
Unless, that is, she has a client who’s going to lose their hair as a result of chemo treatments. In that case, Bevlaqua won’t allow the client to pay anything at all. “There are so many ways that businesses profit from people going through chemo treatments. No one chooses cancer. I’m not going to charge those people anything. They’re suffering enough, and they’re going to have a ton of added costs because of their diagnosis. I’ll move mountains to get those people in.”
She also offers lip blushing, a tattooing procedure which adds color to the lips, for $580. “People might be surprised to hear that your perfect nude lip color typically matches your areola color,” says Bevlaqua.
How It Works
Bevlaqua finds most of her clients through referrals. The first, and perhaps for her the most important, step when meeting with a new client is a thorough conversation. Bevlaqua wants to know how you want your brows to function for you. She wants to know what your brow worries or fears are.
While Bevlaqua is doing that initial chat, she’s paying attention. She’s making a mental note of the way you dress, speak and carry yourself. She’s locked in on the tone of jewelry you’re wearing and whether you’re wearing any at all. It all plays a role, she says.
“It’s not like buying shoes. With the same level of care you devote to deciding what neighborhood you’re going to live in, you need to use that level of care to look into this,” she says. At minimum, there’s two weeks of prep needed before your appointment. Clients may need to modify their skincare and discontinue retinoids and other harsh products.
The golden ratio, which can help brow artists to achieve symmetrical, balanced brows, states where brows should start, what their highest point should be, and where they should end. But Bevlaqua views the ratio more as a suggestion than a commandment.
“Rules don’t always work for everyone, and where rules fail, preferences dictate my direction,” she says. “I would rather my clients love how they look. Being traditionally correct by societal standards isn’t as important.”
After she’s taken before photos and videos, she cleans her client’s skin and begins mapping. Every face is a tad asymmetrical so although she aims get brows as perfect as possible, the saying about them being sisters and not twins applies.
“And, I mean, even though they’re not twins, they need to be very close sisters,” she says, smiling. “They need to vacation together, shop together, that sort of thing. We’re talking bonded sisters.”
After the mapping, she hands her clients a mirror, but not before first warning them. “I tell every single client that the drawing they’re going to see is loud. I remind them that I’m using a black pencil and that the final result won’t be that color. ‘It won’t be this dark,’ I say. I remind them to look only at the shape,” she says.
And then, without question, each client immediately asks her if their eyebrows are going to be “that dark and that loud.” “It’s almost as if they forget everything I just said,” she says laughing.
Once the client gives their okay, she gets to work. Bevlaqua allots four hours for new brow clients, even though it usually doesn’t take that long. She wants to make sure she gives herself enough time so that her schedule isn’t ruined for the rest of the day. Most of her clients say it’s a two out of 10 on the pain scale.
The first pass, which is a structural one of small lines, is done without any numbing. If the client needs it, she’ll do a gel numbing before the second pass, which strengthens those lines, but because she’s moving so fast, many don’t. The third pass is an accent pass adding pieces and fluff. After that, she goes in with her contrast color, which gives a three-dimensional look, adding depth. “I’ll stand up and look at them from every angle once I’m content,” she says.
Clients are told to go home and avoid sweating, getting the brows wet and sun exposure for the first 14 days.
Continuing Education
In the makeup industry, things are always changing and evolving. It’s a fluid industry where trends play a role. Therefore, says Bevlaqua, it’s important that professionals in her field are constantly learning and avoid becoming complacent.
“I can’t stand complacency,” she says. “We should be modifying and adapting our skill level. We should be educating our clients, too. Education is the artist’s responsibility.”
Jillyan Bevlaqua is an artist. The brow queen is great at what she does, yes, but for her, it’s about more than just brows. “She really does have a beautiful gift and talent,” said one client. “But it’s the type of person she is that makes her special. She truly has a beautiful soul.”
You can find Southern Vanity at 2527 Common Street in Lake Charles. Within the building, you’ll also find aesthetician Christine Peveto and Soude Welds, a permanent jewelry company run by Annie Schindler. The ladies rent space and aren’t tied to Bevlaqua’s Southern Vanity business, but they refer clients back and forth.
For more information on Southern Vanity or to book, vagaro.com/southernvanitybyjillyan
Comments are closed.