Olivia Lopez

I do a couple of things. I always joke that I’m a professional tourist, but I’m actually a writer and creative consultant. I mostly write about travel and design.

It started pretty early on. I’ve always had a massive curiosity to see the world. That sounds so cheesy, but there’s no other way to put it. When I was younger, I would flip through Condé Nast Traveler and Sunset, and I’d wish that I could be inside the pages. I don’t know if it’s because I was also an immigrant [from the Philippines], and we were pretty limited with where we could go, given that we were dealing with green cards and everything. Traveling abroad was such a far fantasy that being able to do it full-time as my career is beyond what I could ever have expected.

Travel has definitely given me the skill of adaptability in different social situations. I try to find a common ground in every new situation that I’m in.

Finding roots and trying to stay grounded when you’re gone for such long spurts. It can be hard to develop a routine.

It depends month by month, but usually two or three weeks out of the month. It’s a good month if I’m only gone one week. I actually feel super-ashamed saying that because of my carbon footprint.

When I’m at home in LA, I’m so green. I don’t own a car. I take public transportation everywhere. I shop for groceries locally, and I’ve completely trimmed down my meat consumption. The area I need to work on the most is airplanes. It’s tricky because my boyfriend lives in Paris, I live in Los Angeles, and I have family on three different continents. I currently don’t really have many options, but I do try to trim everything else that’s in my power. I’m planning to move to New York just so I can be in the center of my work activities. And then, the fashion industry is a huge polluter, so I’ve consumed way less clothing over the past few seasons.

Yes. I started incorporating a bit more Ayurvedic things to my beauty regimen to combat all of the stress. My obsession with oils and moisturizers has increased so much over the last few years. I also try to use adaptogens and vitamins as well as masks and creams to go along with my lifestyle. And I find that the creams don’t work unless I’m actually actively putting vitamins and nutrients back into my body as well. I can fake having slept 12 hours after a long flight as long as I’m doing all of the old-school stuff: drinking water with some lemon and maybe adding some adaptogens. I just went on a trip and brought my Moon Juice, and people thought I was nuts. But these things work!

I’m obsessed with Drunk Elephant. I use their hydrating serum and their eye cream. I am a huge fan of True Botanicals. Their ingredients are super-clean, but they’re also really active, so they work. Using their entire kit has been a huge game-changer for my skin. And I smear a bunch of retinol on my skin before bed. Do you ever use food masks?

I keep it very French. I air-dry everything—I don’t even own a blow-dryer. Right now in the summer, I put gel on my head and put it in a really tight, slick bun.

My friend has a beauty brand called Sunnies Face. Her blushes are super-compatible with my browner skin tone, and the lipstick is amazing. I love Chanel eyeshadow palettes. I use Armani Luminous Silk foundation and the pigments are incredible. They have my exact shade, which is so hard to find.