Kitty Guo is Caught Red-Handed

The Strategist overlord on JoBro's Popcorn, Aloe Cocktails, and Jergens Skincare.

Welcome to Caught Red-Handed, an Uncultured interview series where high-brows and hipsters pull back the curtain on the prole, gauche, and low-brow guilty pleasures they’d normally cringe at copping to.

It’s May 8th and you’re frantically searching through Mothers’ Day gift guides as once again, you’ve waited until the last minute. Gifts for the culinary mom, gifts for the operatic mom, gifts for the mom who has it all. . .you land on a hyper-cushioned yoga mat perfect for your mom’s arthritic knee, splurge on the expedited shipping, and pat yourself on the back for saving the world from yourself once again.

If you’ve ever encountered this universal experience, you’ve likely been influenced by Kitty Guo, a staff writer at The Strategist, the premiere purveyor of gift guides, roundups, and celebrity favorites. Which makes Kitty like Meryl Streep in the Devil Wears Prada cerulean scene where she eviscerates Anne Hathaway with the chilling line, “you’re wearing a sweater that was selected for you by the people in this room, from a pile of stuff.”

Outside of her day job, Kitty also writes the incredibly popular

Worn In, Worn Out

newsletter, which is one of my fastest opens — like, I have to actually wait a minute after it pops up in my inbox so I don’t look like the person who’s viewing your Instagram story 37 seconds after you posted it. From crocheted Miffy earmuffs to luxury ice cubes, every issue feels like stumbling upon the perfect gem at a flea market. If you aren’t subscribed yet, what are you waiting for?!

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At The Strategist, part of your day-to-day includes talking to huge celebrities about their favorite products (AKA my dream job). Is there a celebrity brand out there that you personally find to be worth something beyond just their name and likeness? 

You’re probably expecting me to name some beauty brand, but — hot take — I personally do not believe there’s a single celebrity beauty brand that’s worth the hype.

I was, however, sent a mailer by Rob’s Backstage Popcorn, which is the Jonas Brothers’ popcorn brand, and I’m ngl, it was really good. I made my way through a bag of the Mumbai Nights flavor in like a day.  

Omg! The JoBros have entered the chat!

Like you mentioned, beauty is also a major part of your beat. Do you have a favorite drugstore product you can share?

I will always and forever rep Jergens Cherry Almond lotion!! I only buy body lotion from the drugstore because my skin is extremely dry and flaky and I have to moisturize after every shower, otherwise I’ll end up resembling an Illuminati lizard person. So there’s no point in buying $200 body lotion when it’ll be used up in like a week! 

One of my favorite parts of the holiday season is scrolling through the plethora of gift guides to find the most creative gifts that will stun my friends and family with my genius and generosity – probably many of which have been written by you and your colleagues.

When you’ve forgotten a birthday and need to snag something quick, or have a rogue cousin you barely know joining you for the holidays, what’s your go-to crowd pleaser present? 

I truly believe you cannot go wrong with fresh flowers. Doesn’t matter your recipient’s gender — in fact, a dude may be even more appreciative, because guys on Reddit are always talking about how much they want to receive surprise flowers. There’s not a person in this world who won’t be delighted by a nice arrangement, unless they’re allergic, in which case you can get them a bouquet sculpture instead (of which I’ve helpfully put together a handy roundup 😉).

We can’t talk about e-comm roundups without talking about sales. What’s something completely worthless that you recently justified buying because of a discount? 

Ok, here’s the thing: I hardly ever shop sales, because I am far too susceptible to a discount. So I don’t even let myself look at the sales page lest I start filling my cart with shit I don’t need.

However, you know what’s even better than getting something on sale? Picking up something from the street for free. I scored these pastel melamine plates from a box on the sidewalk, even though I already have plenty of perfectly good dishes, but they were just too cute to resist! 

So let’s say you’ve got those plates neatly packed in your backpack on your way to the first CP party of spring — what party snacks are you picking up from the bodega on the way?

Flaming Hot Cheetos and salt & vinegar chips! 

I feel like every month we see another think piece about the state of cocktail ordering in New York and what’s in and what’s out. Just the other day I saw a TikTok from Audrey Peters declaring that the Porn Star Martini is the next big thing – she even brought her own passion fruit liqueur to American Bar with her in case they didn’t have it on hand. In Kitty’s dream world, what would be the drink of the summer?  

I love aloe vera juice, but not the unsweetened kind that’s actually good for you, the kind that has like 5000 grams of sugar added to it. One time I bought like five bottles of aloe from different brands and did a blind taste test to determine which one was the best. Anyway, my dream summer drink would be aloe juice, a splash of gin, cucumber bitters, maybe an aloe leaf on top for garnish.    

That sounds gorgeous!

And while we’re on the TikTok topic, is there a TikTok-hyped product or aesthetic trend (remember when we were all dressing up as “coastal grandmothers”) that you’ll cop to being genuinely influenced by? 

Thank god I can honestly say that I have never in my life tried to dress like a coastal grandmother (I’m too young to wear Eileen Fisher!!)

I generally don’t follow TikTok aesthetics like “clean girl” or “whimsigoth” or whatever, but I do admit to being tempted by certain “TikTok-approved” products, especially beauty products.

I bought into the hype and tried this Revlon volcanic stone face roller that everyone (including Strat) was raving about, but the thing is I don’t even get particularly oily?? Now it’s just sitting untouched on my dresser, smh. 

Your popular newsletter

Worn In, Worn Out

focuses primarily on small businesses and niche brands. Your readers are used to seeing a beautiful curation of inspiring products like mosaic bar soaps and patchwork headbands, but can you share a recent unglamorous Etsy purchase you made?

I got some reusable produce bags, so I don’t have to feel guilty about using a whole plastic bag just to buy one (1) stalk of celery. They’re the same bags that I got my friend as a Christmas gift a few years ago, and she’s the type to put vacuums and walking shoes on her wish list, so that’s how I know they’re unglamorous.  

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