The Products Elizabeth Grace Hand Uses to the Last Drop

Elizabeth Grace Hand became one of New York City’s most in-demand aestheticians by accident. While she had been beauty-obsessed from a young age (“I would steal my mom’s La Mer”) and grew up getting facials for her acne-prone skin, she began her career in fashion wholesale. She eventually switched to beauty wholesale at L’Oreal, selling products to dermatologists, plastic surgeons, and aestheticians. “I felt like I needed to know more about the skin, so I decided to go to aesthetician school while I was working at L’Oreal,” she says. “I didn’t think that I would actually be doing the treatments. But then I really loved doing them, so I got a job at Dr. Barbara Sturm’s after school and worked at a med spa on the weekends.”

Eventually, Hand began receiving personal clients in her one-bedroom apartment, leading to the inception of Ställe Studios. Now, Hand’s facial studio in Soho has four other estheticians who help her perform the studio’s signature treatments, including buccal massages, dermaplaning, and liquid microneedling. “Our bread and butter is this glowy, dewy, sculpted look,” she says. Above all, Hand hopes her space feels like an exclusive beauty haven.

As a true skin-care lover and connoisseur, Hand is always down to try a new treatment or product, adjusting to whatever is going on in her life. The biggest thing right now? Her first pregnancy — she’s expecting a baby boy this summer. “Obviously, I can’t use retinol, and I can’t use a lot of the devices,” she says. “It’s also my first kid — the second kid, I’ll probably be blasting myself with lasers and stuff. With the hormonal changes, my skin is just glowy and bouncy, and there are no breakouts.” Below, Hand details her pregnancy-friendly skin-care routine, her storied history with injectables, and the podcast she listens to when she wants to turn her brain off.

I typically wake up at the last possible moment. I’m not a morning person. On my good days — maybe 20 percent of the time — I’ll take Needed Prenatal Iron and baby aspirin to prevent blood clotting, because I’m a geriatric pregnant lady. Then I’ll sit under my sun lamp for ten minutes and listen to a 528-hertz playlist for calming and relaxing. When I do this, it makes my day so nice. And then I drink lemon water and have my overnight oats with nut milk, chia seeds, a frozen berry mix, and Activist manuka honey. I try to do a Pilates class before work. I love Boa Pilates.

I’ll do my skin-care routine while listening to podcasts. I love The Wellness Process, by Elizabeth Endres. And I love Giggly Squad, too. It depends on whether I want to use my brain or not. In the morning, I use the Bioeffect Facial Cleanser. It’s a gel that turns into a milk when you rub it in, and it’s good for every kind of skin. Then I’ll go in with an essence. I’ve been loving the Dr. Loretta Barrier Enhancing Milky Essence. It’s like Rhode for adults. And then I’ll go in with an anti-aging and hydrating serum that has things like growth factors and peptides. I’ll either do the Bioeffect 30 Day Treatment or the Eighth Day the Regenerative Serum. For antioxidant protection and brightening, I’ll go in with the Sachi Skin Triphala Pigmentation Corrector. For my moisturizer, if I want something lighter, I use the Bioeffect EGF Day Serum as a gel moisturizer. If I want something richer, I can use the Retrouvé Intensive Replenishing Facial Moisturizer. It’s like liquid gold. I also love the Ân-Balm Radiant Hydra-Balm, which is really calming. If I’m feeling red or inflamed, that’s what I’m reaching for. I’ll use the Bioeffect EGF Eye Serum, and then I’ll do the Auteur Definitive Neck and Décolleté Cream. It’s so good. If I want extra dew, I love the Poets Atelier Biome Active Face Oil. And then I’ll go in with sunscreen. If I’m doing sheer, I love the Auteur Definitive Sun Drops SPF 50. I also like the Odacité Sheer Sunscreen Mineral Drops SPF 50 if I want to do zinc — I love zinc for most skin. Something else I’ve rediscovered is the Chantecaille Ultra Sun Protection Broad Spectrum SPF45. For tinted, I like the Odacité SPF 50 Flex-Perfecting Mineral Drops Tinted Sunscreen in 1.5.

It’s similar to the morning, but I’ll use some micellar water to take everything off. I’ll use the Bioeffect Micellar Cleansing Water or the Sofie Pavitt Micellar Pads, which are so convenient. Then I’ll wash my face again with the Bioeffect Facial Cleanser. The trick is to put four or five pumps on dry skin and rub it in, and you’ll feel like it’s suctioning everything off. Then you add a little water to it and rise. I pat my face with the Clean Skin Club Clean Towels. They’re so soft and sanitary. My exfoliation routine has changed a bit since there are certain things you can’t use when you’re pregnant, and I haven’t needed to use salicylic acid and things like that because I’m not breaking out. But to get some of the dead skin cells off, I’ll mix my Auteur Enzyme Cleanser with my French Farmacie Elixir Exfoliant. I’ll also apply the Bioeffect eye serum in the evening, but I’ll also do the Retrouvé Revitalizing Eye Concentrate all over because it’s thick.
When I was in my first trimester and getting pimples, I used the Emma Lewisham Supernatural Blemish Serum. It’s this probiotic, and it’s also really safe for pregnancy. I also love the Activist Manuka Honey Mask. I’ll use that as a spot treatment — it’s anti-inflammatory and antibacterial, but it doesn’t dry you out. A lot of spot treatments leave you with dry patches. Neither of these does that, which is nice.

When I was in my first trimester and getting pimples, I used the Emma Lewisham Supernatural Blemish Serum. It’s this probiotic, and it’s also really safe for pregnancy. I also love the Activist Manuka Honey Mask. I’ll use that as a spot treatment — it’s anti-inflammatory and antibacterial, but it doesn’t dry you out. A lot of spot treatments leave you with dry patches. Neither of these does that, which is nice.

I can’t use a lot of them while I’m pregnant. With the Lyma Laser, if you’re young, you won’t notice much. I’ve noticed with my clients who are a bit older, it does make a difference in terms of tightening, brightening, and helping with jowling and wrinkles. No one should buy any other LED mask besides the Celluma Pro panel. It’s strong and has red, blue, and near-infrared lights. You can even use it on sore muscles, and you can use it on pets — I’ve had some clients just buy it for their pets. Even after one 15-minute session, I notice brightening, and it does really calm down redness and inflammation. I love the Medicube Age-R Booster Pro. It immediately plumps and de-puffs. I use all of the settings. I love the Beautology Cryo Toning tools because they’re shaped like a gua sha, so they get into the crevices of your face. I’m not regular with them, but if I feel particularly puffy, I use them. So I always have them in the freezer. And the PureLift Pro Plus is the best microcurrent. It also has EMS (electrical muscle stimulation). I did a gua sha with Retrouve. It’s stainless steel, so it’s sanitary and nonporous. Cecily Braden makes a good lymphatic brush, which I also love for de-puffing and sculpting the face. I like having different things on hand depending on what I need and how much energy I have.

I love Laser Genesis. It’s one of those things that everybody can benefit from, but I think it’s particularly good for people who are breakup-prone, prone to redness, or young and want a boost. The only downtime you have is a little bit of flushing for an hour or two. It makes the skin so plump and dewy, and I’ve heard rumors that Sofia Richie gets it every two weeks. I think once a month is totally fine.

I had Kylie Jenner’s lips when I was 22. I was sad over a boy, so I got Groupon lip filler because I had no money. I probably had every inch of my face filled, but I’ve gotten all of my face filler dissolved. It was free when I worked at the med spa, but I’ve never seen filler age well. So I don’t do it anymore, except in the lips. I love Botox and how shiny it makes the skin look.

I love massages and acupuncture. I have a masseuse who comes to me who does really deep tissue massages. I’m trying to do something once a week, whether it’s acupuncture or a massage or lymphatic drainage. When I wasn’t doing that, my body was hurting. I’ve also been trying to go on walks, do breathing exercises, or go to prenatal yoga classes — that has been really helpful. My body’s not really craving intense workouts. And I’ve been reading books. I love a memoir, but I’ve been trying to read more spiritual things too. Baths using the NatureofThings Restorative Floral Bath have also been a must.

In the morning, I’ll use a tinted moisturizer. When I want something light, I’ll do the Tower 28 tinted moisturizer in La Cienega, although it stains my clothes. Or the Chanel Le Beiges Water-Fresh Tint in medium light. And then if I want a little more coverage, which usually is at night or when I have breakouts, I like the Clé de Peau Radiant Cream Foundation in 01.