Crusted In Cart Juice

Add to Cart with Kulap Vilaysack & SuChin Pak

Kulap Vilaysack and SuChin Pak dive into their current shopping habits, with Su sharing her strategy of curating an 'open cart' list to curb impulse buys while Kulap recounts a

Key takeaways

• SuChin Pak uses an 'open cart' list strategy to delay purchases until seasonal sales, effectively managing impulse buying while maintaining a dopamine-driven shopping routine
• Kulap Vilaysack attended the BTS SoFi Stadium concert, describing the ARMY community's generosity and reflecting on the aging K-pop idol phenomenon and parasocial dynamics

Main topics

• Strategic shopping habits and consumer psychology
• K-pop fandom culture and idol industry realities

Notable quotes

"I'm a pasta spoon that you use to fish out five boiled eggs."

Conclusion

Listeners gain practical consumer strategies for mindful shopping while enjoying a deep dive into

Transcript preview

Speaker 2 (0:00) How many of you know as soon as you open your closet, you know exactly what you're reaching for? What works, what looks good, and you don't have to play that guessing game. If you've been listening here long enough, then we know you are getting dressed that easy-peasy thanks to Quince. Elevated classics with premium materials. I'm talking Mongolian cashmere, organic cotton, European linen, all at prices that make sense. As the weather finally turns cozier, you know I'm layering on my $50 quince cashmere sweaters. Yes, plural. One on, one around the waist, and when it gets a little chilly, wrap like a scarf. But we're a 360, 24-7 quince kind of family here. So I'm talking cutlery, rugs, furniture, insane bedding. They have it all. Find the fall pieces you'll reach for most at Quince. Download the Quince app for app-exclusive offers or go to quince.com. Get free shipping on your order and 365-day returns, now available in Canada and the UK too. And when Quince asks where you heard about them, let them know it was at Descartes. It's the best way to support our show. Speaker 1 (1:20) Welcome to another episode of Add to Cart. I'm your auntie, Kuku Vilaysak. Speaker 2 (1:24) And I'm your other auntie, Sujin Park. Speaker 1 (1:27) I mean, we have so much to talk about, Sujin. I think we gotta dive into our carts. Let's Speaker 2 (1:32) do it. Speaker 1 (1:33) Okay, so yours is, it's one of your classics, okay? It's your open carts list. Correct. Speaker 2 (1:42) And if you've been following this journey in... the year of Our Lord 2026, I, it's not that I'm on a no-buy. It's that I'm on a... It's just not giving me the same, you know what I mean, buzz in my tea. Speaker 1 (2:02) I mean, it's not no buy because that's not real. No, it's not no buy because that's not Speaker 2 (2:06) true. We are living in Speaker 1 (2:08) capitalism. We are not off the grid, okay? But it's of a different color. What I would say is that the mesh is a different size. You know, the colander that I got in France. isn't maybe the one that I'm using right now. You're speaking of the pasta spoon from Joseph? Heard of it? Yes. Everyone Speaker 2 (2:31) has. Speaker 1 (2:33) A global brand, if you will. Speaker 2 (2:37) Well, it's the fantasy of bespoke French Target brand still lives strong in my mind, but the pasta spoon wasn't one of them. Okay, sue me. Still use it every single day, multiple times a day. It's Speaker 1 (2:52) a great buy. It's a great buy. Speaker 2 (2:54) Great buy. In fact, let's just throw it back to Epp One. Speaker 1 (2:59) Yeah. Speaker 2 (3:00) Is Epp One the one where I brought you the toilet bowl cleaner, the UV toilet bowl cleaner? Speaker 1 (3:07) I was thinking. It's around there. There was things to help your wrist. There was things to help your pelvic floor. There was that goose thing, the goose neck thing. That's what I thought, but that might not have been up one. Speaker 2 (3:21) Also deep cut. Deep, deep, deep, Speaker 1 (3:24) deep. Speaker 2 (3:24) But for those carters who are crusted and cart juiced, you know exactly what I'm talking about. Speaker 1 (3:32) Much like that. Toilet bowl cleaner with the UV light. Speaker 2 (3:39) Very early on, could be up one, I discovered a toilet brush cleaner that then the holder was a UV light so it would disinfect. I mean, revolutionizing the game. However, shortly after we obsessed over it, you bought multiples, I bought multiples, the company disappeared. Off Speaker 1 (3:59) the face of the earth. Speaker 2 (4:00) Not even like, hey, we're having short-assassin, just disappeared. That's right. Like the line is dead. What a mystery. Speaker 1 (4:07) Which Speaker 2 (4:07) then, you know, the conversation is, was it real? It Speaker 1 (4:11) doesn't matter. Speaker 2 (4:12) It's gone. Well, I'm telling Speaker 1 (4:13) you that I held on to those so like as long as I could before I was like, it's time to toss these. Oh, of course. I Speaker 2 (4:22) seriously, we seriously brainstormed and I seriously brainstormed during deep. dark times of COVID, producing, reproducing this toilet bowl cleaner, which disappeared. And I was like, this is so necessary, so important that should I, you know, produce these on my own? Now, the pasta spoon is plastic. Speaker 1 (4:50) Yeah. I have done no Googling, so this may already exist. But in my Speaker 2 (4:54) mind, I would love the exact same shape. Exact same pasta spoon. Nothing changes, but I just want it in stainless steel. Do Speaker 1 (5:04) you know what I Speaker 2 (5:04) mean? Yeah. This is my wish to the Yosefs, to the other, you know, kind of like more higher end, you know, kitchen product lines. Okay. You know, the Bodums, you know, all these kinds of, you know, they're design forward. They're really cognizant that people want it to be beautiful and functional. Do not make things in this year, in this time in plastic anymore. Like, I will pay double. Who will Speaker 1 (5:35) stand up? Who of you, who amongst you corporations will stand up and take this? I mean, what's double? $50? Yeah. Speaker 2 (5:44) For a spoon that I use multiple times every single day and every time I dip it in boiling water because it is a pasta spoon, I think, microplastics. PFA is, PFA is. And I've tried other. I've tried slotted spoons. I've tried like colanders with a handle. It doesn't give you Speaker 1 (6:04) what you need. No, and I keep going back. You won't play with like go to Asian markets and like the pho colanders, the smaller ones. It's just not the same. You want it to be spoon shaped. Speaker 2 (6:17) It's not even spoon shaped. It's a triangle shape. I don't know why that works. You like the wedge. Speaker 1 (6:22) The wedge. It's the wedge. The wedge. Because it doesn't take up a lot of space, but it's deep, so you can fit Speaker 2 (6:30) five hard-boiled eggs in there, Speaker 1 (6:32) which I do almost every day. So this is a challenge put out by Suchin Pak. It's not. Nobody cares, but you Speaker 2 (6:39) care. I care. And that's all that matters. I care. This is an audience of one, one-on-one-on-one-on-one for many years. It's just an infinite one. Speaker 1 (6:49) We're here with Suchin Pak, one-on-one-on-one-on-one. Speaker 2 (6:55) We're with Kulap Vlaiza. Speaker 1 (7:01) Look, we complain, but we are offering also solutions. The solutions that we can... execute. But it's not just complaints into the void. Speaker 2 (7:11) No. And there are those that, our audience is powerful. We've got high C-level. We've got influencers listening. You know, just think about it. Put it in your, put it in your agenda. Yeah. Okay. Anyway, I digress. Dive back into that open cart. Okay, so open cart. So different way of shopping. Number one, I'm like deep in my thrift era. Number two, it's got to be in person. Unfortunately, I live in a town where nothing is sold in person that I want to buy. And so that must mean I shop only internationally. Speaker 1 (7:51) What an interesting way to... Because in my mind, I'm like, oh, okay, so then we're just traveling a little bit more in the Central Coast. But she says nay, because she's not going to be Speaker 2 (8:06) wearing Speaker 1 (8:06) Western wear. Speaker 2 (8:07) Nay. Nay, I do not want a, you know, century city. Nay, I do not want an old town Pasadena. I want Tokyo. I want Seoul, Korea. Okay, but that Speaker 1 (8:21) has nothing to do with you living in Santa Barbara. Speaker 2 (8:25) Mexico! Speaker 2 (8:29) Hola! Speaker 1 (8:30) That's what I want. You're Speaker 2 (8:32) right. It has almost nothing to do with Santa Barbara. And yet that is the size of my sieve. My sieve. Speaker 1 (8:42) That's the size. That's Speaker 2 (8:44) the particular colander size. And Speaker 1 (8:46) bring it back, your pasta spoon. Speaker 1 (8:50) Yeah. Bring it back. I'm a particular shape. You're a particular shape. Speaker 2 (8:55) I'm a particular shape. Speaker 1 (8:56) You are a pasta spoon that you use to fish out five boiled eggs. Speaker 1 (9:07) And that is Suchin Park on 101, 101, 101, 101. We hope you've enjoyed your morning drive. How about a little Richard Marks? Wait, give me a second. Oh, my God. Speaker 2 (9:22) No, I keep thinking. I'm just trying to think of a Richard Mark song. And all I could think of is a kiss from a rose on a grape. That is Seal. Speaker 1 (9:33) For Speaker 2 (9:33) me, Seal and Richard Mark, they're adjacent. Puzzle pieces that finish each other. At Speaker 1 (9:42) their Speaker 2 (9:42) height, Speaker 1 (9:42) their hairstyles could not be more different. Speaker 2 (9:47) Skin tones opposite. Speaker 1 (9:52) Yet, rhythmically, sonically. Smooth, easy listening, goes down. Speaker 2 (9:56) One-on-one-on-one-on-one-on Speaker 1 (9:57) -one-on-one-on-one-on-one. Speaker 2 (9:58) Okay, so given all of that, I have so many open cards. Okay, so not only do I have open cards, but Ku, I have... And I've been doing this for a while, but, you know, the motive always changes, even though the list may look the same. When I see something I really want to buy online, I put it on this list and I forget about it. And I'm like, so I've given myself some arbitrary like, okay, maybe it's like, okay, these are the holiday gifts for myself that I will buy. Speaker 1 (10:32) You know, Speaker 2 (10:33) so in November. Or whenever the sales happen, I will revisit that list and whatever is on sale there, I'm going to buy it off. Speaker 1 (10:41) Yeah. I like the strategy a lot. It makes sense to me. It Speaker 2 (10:45) stops the impulse buying, which I'm not necessarily prone to. But like it just for me, I need a different game. Like the buying and the returning. It ain't giving me the same juice. It's not Speaker 1 (10:58) your first rodeo. Okay. No. And so these are strategies for living. Speaker 2 (11:06) Dopamine, dopamine, dopamine, dopamine, dopamine. I'm hitting that bar. You know what I mean? And the treats, they just, they're not sweet. Yeah. Speaker 1 (11:15) You Speaker 2 (11:15) know, I need a different maze. And so that's the maze I set up for myself. So I took a few things off of that to just show you par example. Oh, I Speaker 1 (11:24) love this. I love this. Speaker 2 (11:26) I texted you this. I think it was the morning after. I have been. Getting hard hit with this Instagram ad. And did you ask me, did I see it after 10 p.m.? I always do. I don't think this ad runs before 10 p.m. Yes, Speaker 1 (11:44) and if you see anything to completion, even if you don't like it, they'd be serving you. Speaker 2 (11:49) Oh, not only that, I keep saving it. I have this probably saved in my... Speaker 2 (11:55) I have a buy this list and I probably have five of these reels saved. Speaker 1 (12:02) So saved like that means you've put yourself honey and it is a bear. Okay. Speaker 2 (12:07) And, you know, they must have like, you know, different, obviously different reels. They're trying to sell it to you in different ways. And I keep forgetting. I'm like, wow, this is cool. I save it. I'm like, God damn it. It's the same thing. that I saw before. But now he's in a different setting. He's not in a country pastoral setting. Now he's in the kitchen. And my brain menopause is like, doesn't remember. So anyway, I saved this. This is what's also interesting Speaker 1 (12:32) because she's describing this product. And this product, she sent me a link to it. It is a young man. Who is speaking of a product for his mother. And that's also interesting to me. Because it's not the mother speaking to you, camera, face to camera, right? Like, it is this young man in a Patagonia fest. Speaker 2 (12:58) Correct. All correct. He has an open on his face. Let me just say that right off the bat. Don't know one thing about this man. And the fact, the story. The yarn that he's spinning is that it's for his mother who was having trouble sleeping. I am that mother. He is my child. And Speaker 1 (13:17) he is Kai. And he is Kai. And so there's something in there where I trust this guy. To love your mother so much. So much. Speaker 2 (13:27) And Speaker 1 (13:28) the mother, this is the yarn, Speaker 2 (13:30) okay? Have not done one bit of research on this. The mother is the CFO of the company. Wow. She's filling orders in the back because she believes in this thing so much. This woman who has not slept in 10 years is now sleeping like a bebe. She's proud of her son. He's got an open, honest face. I say that again. It's very important because, I mean, these are scams. Like, what scams are you going to fall for? I tend to fall if there's like an Asian female face on it. I tend to watch that reel a lot. Sure. If it's an open, honest face, that's the second category. Everything else is blurry. I'm swipe up, swipe up, swipe up. So... AI, I know you're listening to this. So this is the product. It's called Rejuvia Spray. Okay. And what is it? It is a sublingual spray that promises sleep within 15 minutes. Okay. Now, sublingual is important because the ingredients don't have to go through your digestive system. So like if you're taking some sort of sleeping pill or something like that, it has to travel through your digestion. And then how much of that is being absorbed? You will, you'll never know. So like the science, capital S, I was intrigued. Okay. So the sublingual goes straight into your bloodstream. It's like close to 90%. is more absorbed, you know, that way. The ingredients are really straightforward, right? I looked at that. Two milligrams of melatonin, which is higher than I would like, but it's also lower than what I normally take on a desperate night. Speaker 1 (15:12) And I recall you being fine with German, French, just going into pharmacies. And I know you're not taking the correct doses because you can't read the language. So it's funny for you to grind down here. But yes, continue. Speaker 2 (15:29) like I said, when it comes to scams, this is why I get so pissed when I'm scammed. Because I'm like, I read the fine print. I Speaker 1 (15:38) know. Speaker 2 (15:39) And this shit ain't working. And Speaker 1 (15:40) also I want to point out the things that also get you is anything that, if the title has rejuvenation in