HANDS ON

Issue 02 of 10 USA – DARE TO DREAM – is on newsstands March 25th. Pre-order your copy here. 

@10magazineusa

Beauty Editor CELIA ELLENBERG

HANDS ON

WITH AN IN-DEMAND MANUAL SCULPTING TECHNIQUE AND A PRETERNATURALLY SOOTHING DISPOSITION, THE FACIALIST CRYSTAL GREENE HAS ARRIVED- ON THE UPPER EAST SIDE

While growing up in Harlem, the New York City facialist Crystal Greene’s body was her creative outlet. “I danced a lot as a teenager, and I was always dancing around the house whenever I could—I just loved movement,” she says. When Greene decided to pursue her aesthetician’s license in 2014 following an early career in luxury retail, traces of the art form began permeating her work. “I became more confident in my hands, and a choreography started to develop,” she tells me during a recent treatment at her newly opened Upper East Side studio as she kneads the angles of my face, applying a repetitive With an in-demand manual sculpting technique and a preternaturally soothing disposition, the facialist Crystal Greene has arrived—on the Upper East Side. pressure that is intense and purposeful. “I like for the treatment to take on a rhythm of its own,” Greene adds. It certainly helps to have a dancer’s glutes to comfortably ascend the fourth-floor walk-up.

Located on a well-situated block of Madison Avenue, across from the Ralph Lauren mansion and down the street from The Row, the 450 sq ft treatment room with serene neutral tones has lured Greene’s growing clientele, who are more than willing to make the climb—even above 14th Street. “Her approach is not dependent on an overwhelming number of products or some machine that you have to go get done all the time to see results. That translates to something quite interesting,” says Kerrilynn Pamer, CEO and co-founder of Cap Beauty, who gave Greene her start straight out of beauty school. “Calming” is how Christy Turlington Burns recently described Greene’s general vibe, which informs her signature treatment: La Sculpture. A luxurious 60-minute routine, during which Greene uses only her nimble hand movements to rev up circulation, reduce puffiness, and release pent-up tension, the relaxation-inducing technique left me feeling rested and rejuvenated—skin salvation via the power of touch.

While Greene has no intention of abandoning her less-is-more philosophy, her uptown lease has introduced fresh opportunities for growth. A new buccal massage, which chisels the cheekbones and jawline via manual sculpting that is administered inside the mouth, and a customized microcurrent treatment for lifting, toning, and brightening reflect Greene’s interest in “off the beaten path” services, as she calls them. She’s also one of only two practitioners in New York to carry Dermaviduals, a clinical skincare line from Germany exclusively sold through aestheticians and doctor’s offices (its Vitamin C Liposome Concentrate and Süüssmoon Lotion N are game-changers). It’s no wonder the actor Laura Harrier took to Instagram last fall to declare that Greene’s new space is the home of the “absolute best facial in New York.” I can’t say I disagree.