# Custom Normals 1: "Flat" Face

The simplest way to apply custom normals to a face is to flatten them, giving the face the appearance that it is a flat surface that is uniformly lit.

Select your head/face mesh and open the right-side panel (press **N**). Under the **Abnormal** tab, there is a **drop down selector** that should show a list of your mesh's vertex groups. Select the "Custom Normals" vertex group we created earlier.

Start Abnormal with the **"Start Normal Editor"** button. Every vertex should already be selected, and you'll see long pink lines in every direction representing the directions of the normals.

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Under **"Align to Axis"**, press the **-Y** button. This aligns the normals of the face to negative on the Y axis (forward) in just one click. The shading of your face should now appear completely flat. This already looks pretty good in most cases, but we can do more.

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