What’s In Your Cart?: E.l.f. Beauty’s Chief Brand Officer Laurie Lam on her obsession with black sesame, hotel experiences and NYC-friendly heels

For Lam, shopping often starts with the story behind a brand. “I love giving and buying brands that I know [are] either minority-owned or female-founded,” she said. “That means a lot to me.”

Lately, that has translated into a cart filled with distinctive food finds that check those boxes. Her latest impulse purchase was a black sesame crunchy butter spread from Rooted Fare, a female-founded, Asian-owned brand she discovered online. “I’ve used that crunchy butter spread in French toast pockets, in my morning latte. It’s really nutty and savory,” Lam said. She liked it enough to stock up. “I bought, like, four.”

The product also struck a more personal chord. “It evokes a sense of nostalgia for a brand that’s rooted in heritage in Hong Kong,” Lam said. The product even inspired her to bake black sesame cookies over the holidays, she added.

Favorite finds

“Some of the biggest things I have in my shopping cart right now are things and experiences that I can actually share with others,” Lam said. Examples include hotel and travel experiences where three generations of her family can all have a good time together under one roof.

That mindset was reinforced during a recent Thanksgiving stay at 1 Hotel, where a small, unexpected detail stood out: in-shower hourglasses that help users track and limit the duration of their showers. “It taught my girls about water conservation and sustainability,” she said. “And I also got to hack the bedtime routine.”

Another recent favorite is Primary, a clothing brand known for its gender-neutral basics for children. 

“They started with this concept of, ‘Why is pink for girls and blue only for boys?’” Lam said. “They broke the norms of gender conformity.”

Go-to gifts

When it comes to gifting, Lam tries to keep things personal.

“I always like to give people things that come from a place of, ‘I know what they love, and I want to share the gift of what they love to do,’” she said.

This year, that meant cookware from Our Place, which she gifted to her cousins, who love cooking. “It’s non-toxic cookware, and I love colorful cookware that helps bring your meals to life,” she said.

Lam was also on the receiving end of a thoughtfully chosen kitchen gift this holiday season. Her husband surprised her with a Smeg kettle from a recent collaboration with French designer Ines de la Fressange, a tastemaker Lam has long admired. “I became obsessed with her after a book that I had received, which was called ‘Parisian Chic,’” she said. Lam first discovered de la Fressange while living in Paris 15 years ago.

The gift wasn’t a total surprise. “I wasn’t supposed to know, but because we share a credit card, I saw he got me, like, the last Smeg kettle,” Lam said.

Spending strategy

Jewelry is one category Lam is willing to splurge on. “I think of it as an investment,” she said. “It’s not just for me, it’s for them, too,” she added, referring to her daughters.

But there’s one category she avoids overspending on: stilettos. “If there is even an eighth of an inch in the sidewalk, I am the one who gets my shoe stuck in that wedge,” she joked. “It’s called survival of the New York City streets.”

As a result, Lam’s style has changed over the years. “If you look at my pattern of shopping,” she said, “I’ve moved from kitten heels over to more block heels.”