ISSUE 43: Elise Hu
Discover more from THE YELLOW PAGES
ISSUE 43: Elise Hu
And her book "Flawless: Lessons in Looks and Culture from the K-Beauty Capital"
THE YELLOW PAGES is a weekly newsletter recommending Asian and AAPI films, music, writing, and other inspiration — all the artsy things I wished for growing up!
The second I saw the cover, I was immediately interested in reading Flawless by
. It felt like a mashup of my two main interests these days — Asians and makeup!Elise is a journalist, and she did such a thorough job guiding me through South Korean history, pop culture, and beauty. She’s also a terrifically entertaining writer (and narrator!) and so I finished the audiobook in less than one week.
Over at my lifestyle blog
I wrote a little more about Flawless and put together a list of K-Beauty products I love. But here at The Yellow Pages, I asked the author herself to curate her list of Asian/AAPI’s faves.
Follow Elise on Instagram, Twitter and Threads @elisewho and TikTok @whoelise and subscribe to her Substack
Name/Pronouns:
Elise Hu (She/Her/Hers).
Where are you?
On the west side of Los Angeles.
What do you do?
I’m a journalist, podcaster, author and I co-founded a podcast production company.
How do you identify?
I’m Chinese-Taiwanese-Ameri-Texan. My father’s side of the family is from China, my mom’s side of the family is Taiwan, I was born in St. Louis but grew up in Texas.
Do you identify as “Yellow?” “Brown?” Other?
Both yellow and brown! I feel like brown is a welcoming classification for all of us who aren’t white.
Anything coming up you’d like to promote?
My first (and maybe last) book, Flawless: Lessons in Looks and Culture from the K-Beauty Capital just came out this summer. It’s bracketed by my time in South Korea as NPR’s founding Seoul bureau chief, and it’s about how Korean culture (and beauty) got so big recently, and how much digital technology is changing all of us.
🎬 Movie: Park Chang Wook's The Handmaiden.
📚 Books: Anything by Mary H.K. Choi.
🍰 Bakery: Angel Maid on Centinela on LA's Westside, is a Japanese mom-and-pop that's been around for decades. They make the scrumptious, fluffy, not-too-sweet-desserts. Special props to their strawberry shortcake, tiramisu, and chocolate dobash cake.
🍖 Restaurant: Agassi Gopchang for Korean BBQ in LA's K-town.
🇹🇼 Meal: Savory Taiwanese breakfasts are my jam. My greatest joy is going on a run and then sneaking into a loud, crowded counter-only shop for a steamed bun 馒头 sandwiching a scallioney egg, or scarfing down a few greasy 蛋餅, egg crepes.
🥚 Snack: The crustless egg salad sandwiches in Japanese konbinis.
😂 Comedian: Sheng Wang 100x.
🧋 Drink: House milk teas with boba, half sweet, regular ice, with sea salt foam. Adding the sea salt foam is a real treat to turn these classic drinks up a notch and make them creamier.
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