Whenever I travel, I love getting a glimpse of local life by visiting a neighborhood grocery store or pharmacy. Everything looks exotic—even regular things like crackers, bar soap, and cough drops. The other day, I realized that I’m living in a city that hosts tons of brick-and-mortar shopping destinations that should interest locals and tourists alike. In fact, SoHo has become a hotbed for many online-first companies like Casper, Warby Parker, Everlane, and Cuyana—all of these companies…

When I visited the DECIEM store in NYC a few months ago, I asked the store associate to color-match me for The Ordinary Serum Foundation, and she selected 2.0YG. That shade was out of stock, so I ordered it online a few weeks later. Here are my impressions of this product (spoiler alert: this post is categorized under “disappointing products”).

A few weeks ago, I bought this lovely, friendly-looking face mask at a local Japanese supermarket, pretty much on a whim. At the time, I assumed that it was a Japanese brand, but I found out later that it was actually a Taiwanese brand: My Beauty Diary (我的美麗日記). What can I say? Japanese and Chinese written characters look very similar, particularly if you’re not paying close attention.