While writing professionally was always the endgame, Mariel spent her first few years post-college publicizing beauty brands like Garnier, La Prairie and Maybelline New York. In 2006, when she uprooted from Manhattan and moved to Hong Kong in search of a fresh start, she decided it was time to take a crack at the editorial side of life.

Armed with one solitary clip, Mariel brazenly emailed the editor-in-chief of Prestige Hong Kong hoping to scout out potential opportunities - or frankly, just score a reply.  As luck would have it, the magazine needed writers and they were willing to take a chance on a new kid. One week after that initial email, she was off and running with her first assignment...and she hasn’t looked back since.

Seven years later, Mariel continues to work for Prestige Hong Kong - now from the US as a correspondent - and she has been honored with a variety of fascinating assignments like interviewing Janet Jackson and Adrien Brody for cover stories, reviewing New York City restaurants, chatting with designers like Tory Burch, Peter Som, Alexander Wang, and Chris Benz, and test-driving the latest spa treatments.

In addition to her duties at Prestige, Mariel also contributes to SELF, Redbook, Martha Stewart Living, Better Homes & Gardens, Prevention, Good Housekeeping and Hamptons, among many others; she also spearheaded the launch of MarthaStewart.com’s first beauty blog, How Lovely, as well as the site’s online beauty gallery.

In her spare time, she co-hosts a food blog - Feast on the Cheap - which recently celebrated its one-millionth visitor.