q&a: creator sharon wu (@sourandnasty) on beauty
"i am very aware of the fact that being an influencer is never guaranteed."
Welcome to an it’s steffi interview! Today I’m here with Sharon Wu, a makeup and beauty content creator on TikTok and Instagram.
Known online as sourandnasty, the makeup influencer who has gone viral for her out-of-the-box editorial looks, Sharon Wu has built a loyal audience for her creations like this Taylor Swift-inspired face or these intricate eyeliner designs. She’s been featured in Allure for starting a pixelated makeup trend, and continues to share her sharp-witted takes and honest advice about beauty products and hacks online.
The beauty industry, particularly with the growing role that social media plays in it, is something that continues to confound me. Some days I think very cynically about what composes my idea of beauty. Sometimes I think about it positively. If you’ve read Frances Cha’s If I Had Your Face, the central thesis of the book lies in this quote: “I would live your life so much better than you, if I had your face.” It’s what I think often about when I look around at the machine beauty has become online, butterflied by both an individuality and inclusivity movement as well as a tightly-managed single aspirational image. But my relationship towards it is wholly as a consumer, not someone who creates looks for others to feel beautiful in.
I’ve been friends with Sharon for years, but we haven’t lived in the same city for most of the time we’ve known each other. We’ve stayed friends because our relationship is punctuated by biannual trips she makes to where I am (her love language is gift giving, if that clears anything up). This past weekend, she came to visit, and I got to chat with her briefly about her thoughts as a makeup influencer on beauty.
How was your weekend?
Oh, you know, it was fun. Hanging out with friends, traversing around Brooklyn.
Were you regular?
No. I want to let the record to show that I am regular every other day. I’m very regular. But it's hard to be regular when I'm traveling. I didn’t want TSA to pull stool softeners out of my bag. Once, I went on spring break, and I bought Miralax with me. They pulled it out of my bag as security and grilled me about it. And that scarred me forever.
I wanted to talk to you about your platforms. Why did you want to start?
I always liked makeup, as you know. In high school I used to play with my sister’s makeup. It was very casual — I liked going to the drugstore and buying products. But in college, I interned in California for six months, and you know, sometimes you’d go back home at five p.m. and there’s nothing to do. I felt like I needed a hobby or something. The weather was always really nice though, so the lighting was always good. I bought $300 mirrorless camera on Amazon so I could experiment with the makeup a little more.
People can probably tell from your work, but you’re also just really good at drawing.
I was in art in high school and everything. But I think makeup was more accessible — it doesn’t require any extra materials, per se, and I don’t need to buy a canvas, I can just wipe it off of my face after. It is art, but it’s just a different format.
Your first viral look was this cheetah print eye look.
There's nothing wrong with like, your regular smoky eyes and stuff, but that was the first time where I was like oh, I did something different, and someone liked it. After, I just kept going with it. When I went back to school, a lot of my friends were encouraging me. By then, I had maybe like 3,000 or 4,000 followers, which isn't much in an influencer space, but to my friends it was a signal of like, other people are interested in what you’re doing.
When I got my first Fenty PR package, that’s when I thought, I don’t know, maybe someone believes in me. Then during COVID lockdown, it became something to fill my time. As I went on, there were more opportunities to diversify what I was doing.
Do you feel like there was a learning curve when painting your face versus on paper?
Yeah, I looked up a lot of specific products that artists on Instagram would use that aren’t really marketed towards your average consumer. Like, I use water-activated liners, but they’re not really marketed towards everyday use because they’re not meant for practical things. They come off with water, so they’re easier to use for people who are trying to do the kind of outrageous looks. You’re also not working on a flat white surface, so thinking about color on your undertones and what makes sense with color theory, and working with your facial features, is also different.
In high school, I feel like I tended to use makeup to cover things I felt insecure about. Whereas your makeup is not really about snatching your face or contouring your features, but this sort of outrageous idea translated to this format.
This is a debate that comes up every now and then. I definitely agree that to an extent, makeup was created in the first place to deal with insecurities. Like, no one’s really putting on concealer for themselves. But there’s also products for self expression. In college, I felt like I needed to wear makeup a lot. Even if it was like going to 7-11 I’d put on at least foundation, eyebrows, and mascara. As I got older, especially at the beginning of COVID, I had to get used to my bare face. Now makeup is one of those things where when I do wear it, I’ll go all out and do something fun.
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What elements comprise a beautiful look to you?
Obviously, I really like color. I've been really interested in contrast. When I was first learning how to compose a makeup look, sometimes I would do them and it would look similar to what other people were doing, or not how I wanted it to be. Thinking about artistic concepts and how it plays out in a look is what I think about, at least.
How do you define beauty?
That’s a good question. Well, beauty is different for everyone. I think for me, it’s something that’s eye-catching, that you think about for for a while. Like when you see a beautiful girl in a coffee shop and you think about her for a while. If people tell me that there’s certain looks they remember from me, I think that must be because it's beautiful to them. Or maybe it’s like, super ugly. It's so fugly I thought about it for three months.
Oh, interesting. Who do you think is the most beautiful person on earth?
Jeonghan from Seventeen.
The pimple patch eater?
I actually chose to repress that last night immediately after you showed it to me. It’s also the fact that the fan who edited it was adding background music and sound effects, and like, replayed the moment in slow motion.
You’re also not a full-time influencer. You’ve also told me you never felt the desire to devote it full time.
For me, I value stability. I am very aware of the fact that being an influencer is never guaranteed. Another thing is like when you're doing makeup, even if you’re doing creative makeup, I just kind of have to recognize that part of my success is because of how I look. I’m not trying to say like, “oh, I’m so hot.” But part of my success is tied to the fact that people do comment, “you’re so pretty.” I can’t expect to be 35 — not like 35 is even old, but it’s past the general age of influencers — and still expect to keep the same audience. I like being a woman in STEM. I enjoy having corporate pay for my benefits, health insurance.
How do you feel like your definition of beauty has changed since you started doing makeup?
When I was younger, I did have an idea of beauty that was very typical. I would consume K-pop and look to that standard of beauty, which is very uniform. I’m not saying that those people aren't beautiful, because they are, but being able follow and become internet friends with a lot of other makeup artists — they have completely different styles and they still own it. Being able to see a wider range of what beauty is and how other people define beauty changed my perspective a lot.
Which I think is interesting, because you’ve also defended the existence of the neutral palette, which can sometimes get backlash among people online for not including enough exciting colors.
The majority of people still do wear makeup for everyday purpose that we mentioned before, which is about fitting into society. Yeah, ideally, people wouldn’t feel the need to do that. I wish makeup would always be a thing that you choose to do, and not something you feel like you need to do. But while this system exists today, people are going to wear a neutral eye makeup for a date. People will draw on their eyebrows on for work. That’s fine. High fashion wants cool innovative ideas, but you also need someone to make regular pants.
Right, and these things can exist at once. You can feel beautiful with your eyebrows drawn in and recognize it’s conforming to a standard. Which is complicated.
And so it’s a big industry. One that has always been big, but is now big with different layers, with marketing tactics for things like skincare telling you your skin is bad, so you should spend money on a cleanser so you don’t spend money on covering your bad skin with makeup, or if you stan Ariana Grande you can buy her R.E.M. palette, or a gimmicky lipstick that changes colors on your lips seven times because why not, or an eye shimmer that completes your whole outfit and make you feel good.
We’re watched K-pop survival show Boys Planet together. Who’s your pick?
Matthew. I like how the Korean contestants yelled the foods they recognized from the global contestants’ countries, like “Thai food!” and “okonomiyaki!” and stuff. They’ll be like, “I want to be his friend, I’ll talk to him in Japanese,” and then someone else will be like, “they’re literally Chinese.”
Do you eat okonomiyaki?
I eat chips. In bed.
You’re going to actually tell all the readers that you eat in bed?
Yeah, when the crumbies fall out, it’s like you’re saving a little snack for later.
What other benefits does eating chips in bed provide?
Exfoliation. My dreams smell like salt and vinegar.
You can find Sharon on Instagram and TikTok @sourandnasty.