I always had terrible hair all through high school, and it got better after I moved to NYC. I always figured it was the result of outgrowing this bad hair phase of my life, but I realized that it was probably just the dry climate in Los Angeles, where I lived at the time. A recent trip to LA confirmed that my slightly wavy, frizzy hair tends to look and feel much worse in dry LA, and much better in a more humid place like NYC. Since it doesn’t make sense to build your life around the way…

Everyone in my family has dry, sensitive skin (either eczema or psoriasis all around), so we always need a bottle of lotion in every room. Recently, my parents have gotten really into Cetaphil Moisturizing Lotion. Last time I visited them, this was the brand that was in every room of the house. Anyway, I was drawn to the minimalist packaging and the words “non-comedogenic” made me wonder if I could use it as a facial moisturizer. Lo and behold, I could—and I did. I even brought it…

My mom enjoys Korean dramas, Sudoku puzzles, and extracting blackheads. That’s right, those annoying little black dots that appear when your pores get clogged but stay open. When I was a teenager, I had acne on my back (“bacne”), so my mom used to beg me to let her squeeze out my blackheads. She was excited for me when I got into college, she was happy when I made her favorite scones, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen her more delighted than when I grudgingly agreed…