La Carmina was born and raised in Vancouver, Canada. Her parents are from Hong Kong. She attended Columbia University and graduated in three years. She wasaccepted into Yale Law School at age 20 and graduated with a JD.

At age 19, La Carmina submitted a book proposal to Parallax Press that resulted in herfirst published book, The Cosmos in a Carrot. The book fuses nutritional information and health advice with Buddhist notions of balance and moderation. She made the deal without an agent, but was later taken on by a New York literary agency.

In September 2007, she began her La Carmina blogabout Japanese and Gothic subcultures, Harajuku fashion and Visual Kei music.Her blog “has earned her a worldwide following of alternative-minded music lovers andfashionistas.”As a popular blogger on the subject of Jpop culture, she has been quoted in publicationssuch as Boing Boing and Women’s Wear Daily.

In 2009, Perigee (a division of Penguin Books) published La Carmina’s Cute Yummy Time, a cookbook based on Japanese "charaben" bento decoration where food is made to look like cute characters. She took all the photos and drew kawaii-style illustrations for the book. La Carmina’s promotional tour included book signings across the US and an appearance on The Today Show.

The Guardian named Cute Yummy Time as one of the oddest book titles of the year, and the Washington Post recommended it inGift Guide.

Mark Batty Publisher released Crazy, Wacky Theme Restaurants: Tokyo in 2009, ahardcover book with full color photos. In a review, The Vancouver Sun wrote, “Think of it less as a guidebook and more as aghost train ride where whimsical, madcap and absurd images of some 30 theme restaurantsmaterialize at every turn [...] Her tales flow effortlessly, with erudite explanations ofwhat she sees in Tokyo's many subcultures [...] Brace yourself for a kitsch fix.”

La Carmina is a journalist for CNNGo, where she contributes articles about Asia popculture She writes a monthly “Global Gothic”column for Lip Service Webzine.

La Carmina was Andrew Zimmern’s guide to theme restaurants in the Tokyo episode ofBizarre Foods, which aired on Travel Channel in 2010. Zimmern states that Carmina has “beauty, grace, intelligence and can speak with authority on many subjects.” “If you don’t subscribe tothis woman’s Facebook, blog, and Twitter feeds you are really missing out, kids.”

La Carmina’s work as a TV host includes CNN International and a Canal+ France documentary about Japanese subcultures alongside Antoine de Caunes. Japan broadcaster NHK filmed a 20 minute documentary about her work in blogging and cute cooking. She will be the Asia host for educational travel TV series, Project Explorer.

La Carmina started her own fashion company that produced “seasonless outerwear for modern Marie Antoinettes.”.