New York Fashion Week is one of the most star-studded, glamorous weeks of the year, but the runway moments are just the finale of months of preparation. Models and A-listers spend weeks leading up to NYFW perfecting their skin, hair, nails and bodies to ensure they’re ready for a whirlwind week of haute couture.
If you’ve ever seen a NYFW model up close, you know how incredible their skin is, and behind that model skin is a team of experts creating curated regimens to ensure maximum skin health. One such master of model skin is Elizabeth Hand, founder and esthetician at Stalle Studios—a bespoke facial studio in SoHo and the Hamptons. Hand has a large roster of model clients, so NYFW skin prep is one of her specialties. Ahead, Hand dishes the details on “model skin” and how the weeks and months leading up to the big event look for her A-list clients.
Fashion Week Skin Prep: Inside a Facialist’s Routine for Models
“Leading up to Fashion Month, we’re absolutely jam-packed with models, VIPs, influencers and editors who will be attending and participating in the shows,” Hand begins. “While I don’t name names, it’s such an honor to help industry leaders feel and look their best ahead of their biggest month of the year.”
For events as big as fashion week and fashion month, skin prep starts well in advance, Hand says. “I recommend that all models get into a regular routine at least three months before the shows,” she says. “I typically see my clients once a month and every two weeks in the final two months leading up to their fashion week shows. When I start working with my clients, we talk in-depth about their concerns and goals and come up with a treatment plan—both at home and in studio. It typically includes a series of facials in the studio that include enzymes, extractions, microneedling, LED and microcurrent, and an at-home routine that includes a BioEffect Growth Factor Serum ($175), Retrouvé Facial Moisturizer ($200) and LYMA Laser ($2,695).”
Pre-Fashion Week In-Studio Treatments: The Week of the Show
Leading up to Hand’s client’s big shows, gentle toning and sculpting facial treatments are a priority, ensuring a lifted look without irritation. “I love to do my Sculptural Facial within one week of the shows,” she says. “This 90-minute treatment includes deep facial sculpting and microcurrent for a sculpt that will last.”
Show Day Skin Prep: Creating ‘Model Skin’
“Day of skin is dewy, smooth, glowy, depuffed and lifted,” Hand explains. “It should be the perfect canvas for makeup. The best way to achieve this look the day of my model’s shows is with a manual massage, ideally with Cecily Braden Lymphatic Face Brush ($130), followed by a hydrating serum like Dr. Loretta’s Intense Replenishing Serum ($75), a rich moisturizer like Retrouvé’s Intensive Replenishing Moisturizer, LYMA Laser, then Beautology Cryo Toning Tools ($148). Face tools aren’t only effective but also a good way to de-stress at the end of the long show days and build into a routine. Whether it’s ice rolling in front of the TV to wind down or using the LYMA before you go to sleep, intentional beauty pauses will only help with pre-show stress!”
Pre-NYFW Skin Prep: What Not to Do
When achieving something as perfect as model skin, what not to do is just as important as what you should be doing. According to Hand, when prepping clients for fashion shows, she recommends avoiding “anything they haven’t done before, especially more intensive treatments like peels, lasers and microneedling. At a minimum, they should start any treatments at least three months before the shows and don’t introduce anything new—both tools and products—starting eight weeks before the show. I’m very into the ‘trial show facial.’ We’ve all heard about trial wedding makeup, but the facial before the big event is just as important. I will give the ‘trial pre-show facial’ a few months before the shows; that way, the client can know how their skin responds and how long the glow lasted so we can book our last facial with the correct timing to the shows so they are at peak glow.”
