Lowe was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada to a Chinese father and a Scottish mother. At a young age, Crystal and her family moved to Hong Kong where she lived for a few years. As a result, she is now fluent in Cantonese. Because of her natural beauty, Crystal then entered such modeling competitions including "Miss Teen Oriental". She has been a sunshine calendar girl, has done various magazine covers and has been in various swimsuit competitions. She embraced acting at a very young age, but her mother worried that the intense competitive atmosphere of auditions was bad for her, so she was not allowed to act until the age of 15 when Crystal finally got her mother's blessing to become an actress.

She is often referred to in movies as Chrystal Lowe and Crystal Lo. Lowe is good friends with actresses Katharine Isabelle and Mary Elizabeth Winstead. They were also roommates. She moved to LA with Final Destination 3 co-star and best friend Chelan Simmons.

Lowe started out modeling. She was awarded Miss Teen Oriental, an award that dismayed some of her fellow competitors as she was only half Asian. At the age of 15, Crystal started acting seriously, landing a guest star role in an episode of Stargate. Her first big break was a sequel to Children of the Corn. She then started to have small roles in such films as Get Carter, and Insomnia. She also modeled for the video game Need For Speed: Underground and Fight Night 2004. She was cast as Lily, a peace loving hippie, in an episode of Masters Of Horror. Shortly thereafter, she was chosen to read for the part of Ashlyn Halperin in Final Destination 3. Having amused the directors with her acting skills, she won the role, and worked alongside Mary Elizabeth Winstead, and Chelan Simmons, two of her best friends. She then accepted cameo roles in Scary Movie 4, and Snakes On a Plane. Around this time she also was a spokesperson for Sylvester Stallone's health product "Instone", Wheel Company "Konig", and Coors Light.

She was called by Glen Morgan whom she worked with in Final Destination 3, to read for a part in the remake to Black Christmas. She was interested in Lauren, A character in the movie she found a more complex, appealing character. After finishing Black Christmas, she quickly went on to do Wrong Turn 2: Dead End, thus not being available for re-shoots. In Wrong Turn 2: Dead End, she plays Elena, a very competitive woman of the group who only wants to win the contest.