Meet Kristina Yin

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kristina Yin and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kristina, we’d love to hear what makes you happy.
In the past year, I would say I have been the happiest in my life! There were so many things I dreamed of and yearned for as a kid, and for the longest time they all felt so out of reach and impossible. I remember so many moments throughout my childhood and even throughout college where I felt like life was so meaningless and purposeless, and that there was nothing worth looking forward to in life. I didn’t have any close friendships, and I didn’t really have any passions in life. I felt so lost and like I was just passing the time all the time.

When I moved to LA though, it felt like a new start, since I got a job and finally had extra money to spend on whatever I wanted. I hadn’t cosplayed since college, which was 6 years prior, and decided to just try it again since I was going to Anime Expo for the first time. It actually made me so happy and I decided to get back into it, and retry my previous goal of being a professional cosplayer. After reentering the cosplay scene, my life completely changed – I made so many friends, had so many new experiences, and made so many amazing memories because of it. I’m still not a professional – super far from it in fact, but to me it’s okay because the journey to get there is so fun and I love it everyday. I wished so many times where I was younger to have friends to cosplay with and do groups with of animes I love, and it always felt so unrealistic, but now I have so many group cosplays done and planned for the future! Not only that, I have had so many experiences solely due to cosplay that I otherwise might not have, like travelling to sand dunes, national parks, and even seeing a once-in-a-lifetime lake in death valley – all because I went for a cosplay photoshoot!

I’m so happy to have a goal to pursue and work hard towards, and I’m so happy that I have amazing friends to enjoy my hobby with on the way.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
As a cosplayer, I am always striving to make amazing content of characters I love. There are so many animes and video games that have been huge in my life, and I love to make the characters come alive. I am so proud of some of the photo concepts I have worked on with photographers, as well as my own growth in cosplay. I have improved in makeup, wig making, posing, sewing, and prop making, and am only growing everyday!

I’m still working on making my hobby a professional pursuit, but I have already been reached out to recently for some cosplay jobs, which was a dream of mine! I hope that as I continue working hard, these opportunities will only increase.

I am proud of how many cosplays I decide to tackle – although it is an insane amount of work, time, and money to create multiple different outfits per month, there are so many characters that I love and want to bring to life, so it is worth it to me. Also, the more cosplays I make, the better and faster I get, and the more skills I develop! I have some cosplays in progress right now that I would have had no idea how to make just a year ago, and now feel confident I can create well!

It is a challenge to keep cosplay in balance with the rest of my life however – photoshoots, conventions, and costume creation all take up so much time, but I do also need to focus on my day job, my other pursuit in acting, and other aspects of my life. So it has definitely been a lesson in time management and responsibility!

I just want the world to know that if they love something, to just keep doing it. I cosplayed for the first time when I was 13, and then for the next 6 years had no success in any way and felt like I was getting nowhere. But I continued and now it has made my life amazing in so many ways, even though I haven’t yet achieved what I defined as “success’ back then!

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
There are so many places I love in LA!! I am mostly a cafe and dessert type of girl, so there are a lot of those on that list.

A sample itinerary off the top of my head:

Day 1)

– Breakfast at Memorylook or DAMO
– Shopping at Koreatown Plaza for skincare/cosmetics/cute things
– Lunch at BCD Tofu
– Rest at Wispa for the day
– Dinner at Chang Hwa Dang LA
– Dessert at Heuk Hwa Dang/Bumsan Organic Milkbar
– Any of the bars in ktown are pretty fun for a drink and maybe corn cheese!

Day 2)

-Breakfast at Cafe de lala
– Walk around/Shop Melrose Ave
– Melrose trading post (if sunday)
– Ice cream at Awan
– Eat in Beverly Hills at Nua/Funke

Day 3)
– Breakfast at Maru Coffee
– Walk around the Row Dtla
– Lunch at Marugame Monzo
– Walk around Little Tokyo/Shop/Play claw machines
– Eat at Bestia/Bavel/Girl and the Goat

Day 4)
– Brunch at Huckleberry Cafe
– Walk around the pier/spend the day on the beach with a picnic
– Shop on 3rd ave promenade
– Watch the sunset at Pacific Palasades
– Eat ice cream at McConnells
– Eat dinner at Cobi’s

Day 5)
– Go to the Grove, get % Arabica coffee
– Walk around the grove, shop
– Eat Lunch at Kazunori
– Go to Lacma
– Eat dinner at Met Him At A Bar (and get dessert there!!)

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I want to shoutout to everyone I have met in LA that has supported me, believed in me, and offered their friendship to me. Everyone who has been my friend for the past year or two has really made the biggest impact in my life and turned my life around in ways that they probably don’t even know!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/peachuu.cos

Twitter: https://x.com/peachuucos

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/peachuucos/

Other: Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@peachuu.cos 

Image Credits
Pic 1) @nevilk.jpg Pic 2) @vivabokeh.photo Pic 3) @toffer.kim Pic 4) @dgnphotography Pic 5) @toffer.kim Pic 6) @aceinthree