Update December 20, 2023: von Holdt closed the Uptown location of Dimensional Beauty and opened at 1828 Jefferson St. NE in Northeast Minneapolis.

Ashley von Holdt wasn’t planning on opening her own brow bar when her nephew scouted the Uptown location for her business, Dimensional Beauty, in January. In fact, she wasn’t planning on being an esthetician at all.

The business owner and mother of three worked as a nursing assistant before following her artistic side to Aveda, where she thought she’d pursue cosmetology. As a kid in Brooklyn Park von Holdt loved to do her friends’ hair, so cosmetology seemed like the natural choice. She learned the difference between a cosmetologist and an esthetician at an Aveda open house, and decided that being an esthetician was right for her. A cosmetologist learns a wider range of hair and nail techniques while an esthetician focuses in depth on the skin.

“I just always had that calling to be creative,” von Holdt said. “Being an esthetician, I feel like it suits my personality a little more than being a cosmetologist because I’m kind of like a more chill, calm vibe.”

As an esthetician, she could employ a “spa-like feel” to relax the client while performing services like eyebrow waxing, threading, tinting and more. In addition to the soft pink walls and the soothing decor, von Holdt uses scents and chill music to create a calming environment. Her speaking voice is steady and relaxing.

“There’s not a lot of professions where you’re actually able to touch people, and so just to have that touch with people, you know, you can affect their energy,” von Holdt said.  “It’s good to incorporate these things when you’re getting a potentially painful service.”

Brows are von Holdt’s specialty, though she also works on eyelashes and other facial hair. She worked at the Northeast location of Brow Chic before opening Dimensional Beauty in January.

“I love brows and I feel like they shape people’s faces so much and it’s such an important thing,” von Holdt said.

Leaving Brow Chic to open Dimensional Beauty at the beginning of the year appealed to von Holdt because she had to take a lot of time off from work for possible COVID-19 exposure in the middle of the Omicron wave. Additionally, opening her own business meant that von Holdt could make all her own decisions regarding clients and her own schedule.

“I just found that I wanted a little bit more freedom with my time, how long I’m spending with the client. I wanted more freedom in the products that I’m using, more freedom with the space that I’m putting myself in,” she said.

Some of her services do indeed take time– like a lash extension in which von Holdt separates each individual eyelash and adds either a synthetic hair or a fan of hairs. Eyebrow threading, which von Holdt recommends over waxing because it’s more gentle on the skin, entails twisting a thread around each eyebrow hair and pulling it out of the follicle.

A full list of von Holdt’s services is available on the Dimensional Beauty website. Most of the services are semi-permanent, meaning they will last for several weeks before they’ll need to be redone. Clients can make appointments online (no walk-ins) for specific services, and von Holdt will collaborate with the client to come up with a shape or style to fit their face. Von Holdt aims for clients to leave their appointments feeling beautiful.

“I chose the name Dimensional Beauty because I feel like there’s so many dimensions to what someone thinks is beautiful,” she said. “The goal is to give women a place to reset, a place to relax, let go of whatever’s going on in your life and just leave feeling good about yourself.”

Dimensional Beauty is located at 2920 Bryant Avenue and is open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays and from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturdays. View von Holdt’s list of services and make appointments online on the Dimensional Beauty website.