Moshoodat Sanni

Moshoodat Sanni is a licensed Aesthetician, a Make-Up Artist and Creative Director based in NYC. Known for her unconventional ideas and free spirit, Moshoodat’s interest in makeup artistry began long before her career launched. From an early age she discovered her passion for helping and beautifying others.

Moshoodat Sanni

Photography by Islandboiphotography
Makeup/Creative Direction/Concept by Moshoodat

Her love for innovation and creativity led her to major in advertising and design in college. It was during this time, that she gained clarity and inspiration to further explore her talents and develop her brand. Prior to her coming into her own, Moshoodat has worked for a few prestigious global beauty brands. Her background and experience creates a unique style that characterizes her artistic talent.

Through the course of her journey, she has had the opportunity to collaborate with top New York City Modelling agencies such as Wilhelmina, Major Models and APM. She has graced the pages of W24, Zen Magazine, Bleu Magazine, The Source Magazine, Black fashion magazine, Zumi, Bellanajia, The Modern Afro and worked on set with TV Networks like VH1, OWN and Oxygen. Most recently, Sanni’s eponymous series “Moshoodat” featured in this interview gained worldwide recognition and led her to be featured on Buzzfeed, Essence, GlamourUK and BET.

The endless creativity and freedom found in makeup artistry gives Moshoodat the opportunity to grow as she plans to continue honing her craft, adding to her client base and setting her sights on inspiring women around the world.

Moshoodat has also had her fair share of struggle and pain and the journey to get to where she is now has not been an easy one. We discuss some of the challenges she faced and had to deal with, the healing process, the inspiration and message behind the phenomenal project series that came from a place of healing.

So amazing to have you on board this issue. It is definitely a great honour and pleasure. Thank you for taking the time to accommodate me especially with your very busy schedule.

Can you tell me a bit about yourself? Breaking down all the barriers, who is Moshoodat? I’m a girl from Brooklyn who likes flowers and glittery things lol

What does your name ‘Moshoodat’ mean? In a nutshell my name basically means someone who has the best of both worlds; Material power and spiritual power, which at first I didn’t think really applied to me. But I think I’m at a point where my name is starting to manifest its purpose in my life.

What did you do prior to beauty and makeup and how would you say that has pushed and motivated you to be who you are within the industry? I’ve actually always been in the beauty realm. I used to braid hair when I was in high school and I was an art major when I was in college! I dropped out of college to pursue my makeup career at 17 turning 18 (I finished high school early as my parents shipped me to Louisiana for boarding school). And I have been doing it ever since. I will be 26 this year.

Tell me about your journey into the art of beauty and makeup. How did you get into makeup? What was the appeal? Okay! So I wanted to actually be a hairdresser! I loved doing braids! I wanted to go to beauty school... but my parents told me to go to college first. I’m like blah okay fine. Went to college did every random major you can think of. Landed into an art major and I was like oh yesssss! This is me this is what I love! This is so much fun! Lol until they made me take a photo shoot class. I hated it and failed every computer art class I had. I went to the library randomly and was looking at a Kevyn Aucoin book and I was like ughhh this is the same thing I learned in class but the difference was that it was on the human body and not the computer! So I started practicing on myself and enjoyed how it made me feel. And the rest is history

What came into your mind the moment that you realized that makeup was the way

forward for you? When I saw how good it made me feel... when I realized it was such a fun and beautiful way to extract the inner characteristic and bring them to the surface so the world can see you at your best!

Lets talk about the process. After deciding makeup was the way forward, what steps did you take to make that vision a reality? I practiced on my friends every single day. I dropped out of school... got kicked out of home for dropping out of college because Nigerian parents don’t play that LOL... found my first makeup job and the rest goes without saying.

What would you say were some of the toughest moments/challenges at the beginning and how did you deal with them? Everything. Being homeless. Being whack. (Lets face it your always a whack artist until you master it and even when you mastered one thing, there is more to learn. There is always a new trend you know. Makeup is expensive. Not having the tools. Wanting to learn more but not having the funds to get trained. It’s a lot. Now that I think about it.

What lessons did you learn from those challenges that you would say have made you stronger and more resilient in the pursuit of your vision? That I have faced a lot of challenges and put myself in very detrimental situations just to pursue something I believed in with all of my heart... And the lesson I learned is to value and honour it. Because it was not easy to get here. I’ve learned to be humble. And I learned to be kind because I'm still thankful for the people who were kind and patient with me. And learned that big blessings come with big tests. So when you experience pain in any way shape or form baby you are doing something right!!!

How long would you say you pursued your passion for makeup before people began to notice and appreciate your work? 7 yearssss. Girl but hey, I know what it feels like to go unnoticed. To feel like I’m not enough for people to appreciate this love I have to give them... and so I believe this is the perfect time. I’m a woman now because of every experience I had prior to this recognition. God makes no accidents or mistakes.

What would you say made you stand out from the crowd? Living from my heart! I'm not the first to put paint on the face. But I did it with meaning. I do each shoot from my heart. I’ve made it my business to dwell in my heart and my daydreams. And the outcome of this is mind blowing to me... I’m still thankful for all the kind words. And it makes me realize all we got to do is live in our glory. And indeed our lives will be glorious.

How did you feel all that time, working so hard, pitching your amazing ideas to others and being shut down or overlooked and no one wanting to take you on? I mean it suckksssssss LOL. There is no other way for it to feel. But just keep shooting your shot and keep sliding in the dms. Someone will give in.

How did you handle those times? How did you pull through and what advice would you give to others who feel like they are doing all they can but nothing is working and no one is interested? I didn’t really handle them too well. I don’t know anyone does. Its rough. Mentally. It shows on you physically and you feel very heavy. And you don’t even know where to turn.

At one point you almost threw in the towel and wanted to walk away from your passion. Can you tell me why and what made you change your mind? What/who convinced you to stay and to hold on? Joey the photographer I work with was the one who talked to me and convinced me to keep at it. Basically, I had recently had a rough year and was over everything. I had a lot of fake people & users around me. I also actually had a really crazy relationship. The person that I was dating was denying the relationship and was seeing some of my clients behind my back which definitely broke me down mentally. I didn’t even want to look at another makeup brush to be honest and the creative ideas I wanted to bring to life, the ideas I had for shoots were never done as people were not sold on my ideas and did not want to them so I figured it was time to move on. Around the same time, Joey called me in last minute into the studio and I strolled and took my time getting there. When he asked me what took me so long, I told him I was applying for other jobs. He was like "why?" and I explained to him that I really just wanted to create artwork and be happy doing things that were outside the box and he was like “Great lets do it”, and I said ok. Here we are a year later with endless features from MTV to Essence, Elle UK, Glamour UK and the list goes on.

That is just so amazing and I am so glad you did not quit the game when you wanted to. Lets discuss the emotional and mental elements involved in the pursuit of ones vision. What was that like for you and how did you cope? I was way too muchhhhh. Doing too much, saying too much and just angry. And all that stuff-confused people do or people who lack means of communication do... But one Xmas a guy I was seeing bought me a journal and I got to release my thoughts, my feelings and my opinion on a piece of paper and it has been amazing for me. Sometimes I talk to myself in videos and watch it after just to really hear and understand myself.

What advice would you give anyone who is reading this and can identify with what you went through emotionally, mentally, spiritually? You cannot do this alone!!! And I don’t mean with other people. I mean you need a higher source to grant you grace. To handle everything and the anointing to give you access, knowledge and wisdom so you can be useful to the group or evnimorent you are working in/with.

When it comes to disappointments and let downs, some of us creative folks have experienced some of the worst. What would you say were some of yours and how did you bounce back from them? (I am asking because I believe that a lot of people in the creative industry don’t know how to handle disappointments and even betrayals and it spirals into something deeper and takes them to a dark place. Its time people know that everyone suffers some form of disappointment at one point or the other in their careers). A lot of that happened to me last year actually even when the images went viral... this is why yet again you need to be connected with your higher source! You need strength to take disappointment. You need grace to not walk up to someone who betrayed you and slap fire out of them LOL... and you need prayer to not let life make you a victim but victorious. Also we artists need more business skills. Business is always solution oriented and you should only be in your feelings when you are creating and loving. Any other emotion like anger blocks you from solving the problem. Think big and believe God will lead you through.

When it comes to career paths, how did your family react to your choice as a makeup artist? Did you receive support from them? I got kicked girl. I have Nigerian parents and they didn’t come to America for me to become a girl at Macy’s spraying perfume. Hahaha! That was what my dad told me but yeah, I did not receive support from them at first but they get it now. They recognized and started to grasp how deep it was at the same time the interviews and recognitions started pouring in! So this breakthrough was not outside but with my friends and family.

You have become well known for your unconventional ideas when it comes to creating powerful visuals; tell me, where does the inspiration come from? Honestly I really want to say that my inspiration comes from me always wanting to be this feminine little girl. I don’t want to say my life was hard or is hard because I know people have been through worse. But when you have to fend for yourself and do things for yourself, you never get to step into to the feminine things every girl is entitled to, hints; the, the roses and the pretty colours. Playing dress up with gowns made out of roses and daisy’s makes me think I am a Big Kid and now I am finally getting to be one in peace.

You have had an amazing working relationship and experience with the amazing and talented photographer Joey Rosado famously known as Island Boi, can you tell me how you two connected and started working together on such awesome images? Okay so way back when TBT LOL, Joey was the first photographer I ever shot with. He did his own thing during the years and I did mine. I am more of the everyday woman and he has been a social media sensation, which is amazing. So last year his MUA cancelled on him for a shoot and he called me to do it, we got on set and the rest is history...

That is amazing. How important would you say it is to have a network of amazing, talented and equally passionate individuals around you who inspire, motivate, elevate and push you to be the best that you can be? I think you never know who is just faking the funk and who is about their business and you don’t know which artist that was whack before will blow up! So just be good period! Simple as that. Sometimes someone will inspire you and you will inspire someone, you know? Let your heart do its job. Nothing in life is ever in vain. I think it is more about your character. If good people surround you, you automatically become more positive and driven. You inspire and motivate each other to be better and great work comes out of that.

Over the years you have poured quality time and love into creating some of the most stunning floral creations ever. Truly they are beautiful and I would like to know how you develop your creative process for the floral designs. I want to say my mother inspired me with plants. I grew up with plants all over the house. I love the smell, texture and look of plants. They are so soft, moist and delicate and when we shoot, we tend to have left over floral things so it was inevitable that I would come up with an idea for something creative.

What inspired and motivated you to embark on your personal project to elevate the way the world viewed and appreciated the beauty and excellence of the black woman? Because I am still in the process of healing and I know how much I needed to visually see the unlocked treasures that resides within me and I like to view our projects as a vision board and I guess when you look at it long enough you will manifest its glory in your life and that was the vision behind my project and I am so blown away by the fact that it is really changing how society views us and most importantly how we view ourselves.

What would you say is the best part of doing what you love and if you had a chance, that one moment, what would you tell your younger self? The best part of doing what I love is waking up living life how I choose to. Sometimes I randomly cry and if I could tell my younger self something, it would be ‘the best is yet to come baby girl, hang tight’.

The beauty and makeup industry like all other creative industry is so saturated with an incredible pool of talent all trying to be discovered or noticed. What are some of the qualities that you think would make them stand out from the crowd? See the issue is we wanting to stand out, everyone wants to stand out but do not force it. You get further when you look within yourself and do the things your heart enjoys and surround it with an amazing team and in due time, you will stand out. Alwayssssss. We are not standing out because we are not being ourselves. I am a huge Dr Seuss fan (I don’t even think his books were for kids LOL) and his quote “Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.” I live by this quote!!

The makeup and beauty industry is one that for many years has been somewhat underrated especially when it comes to the people who make the magic happen like you. People are or were once of the view that anyone can be a makeup artist and they don’t need or require any form of education especially formal education to be able to be makeup artists. What are your views and thoughts on this? Do you think that a certain degree of education is as important? I have no comment for this because we all learn and experience life differently you know and only you know what you need to excel to the next level.

Lets get down to ‘VISION’. Lets talk VISION. What does vision mean to you and how important do you think having a vision is for creative individuals regardless of what they want to do? Vision is everything and nothing at the same time. Sometimes you just play around with something and it comes out amazing and sometimes it’s on your mind and you just want to get it done! Life lol the only thing we can really pay attention to is manifesting things.

Describe your vision for your makeup career? What do you want to achieve as you the doors open wider and bigger for you? I think it has changed so much because I have changed so much but I am sure it will change again. I think the sole goal I am looking to achieve is my purpose, which is to give, live and love with no regrets.

What would you say are some of the struggles you have faced along the way and actually continue to face as you diligently pursue your vision and dreams? Time management has got to be the biggest one for me and I think the rest of my weaknesses stem from there.

What advice would you give when it comes to having a vision and how to stay focused on this journey? Each person is so different. I literally work on a lot of projects at once all the time. I think you should not look for outside sources to teach you how to focus. You and your passion can answer that question for you. Only you know what works for you.

You have gotten to the point in your career now where you work with some of the most amazing and talented individuals who like you are very passionate about their craft. How do you keep that relationship going and what advice would you give when it comes to creating healthy relationships both with clients and colleagues? Just be you and just love. There is nothing more to it than that. You can’t force relationships and bonds. It will happen when it needs to.

Your portfolio of clients and the brands that you have worked, collaborated with or been featured on such as Essence, CNN, Bleu magazine, Bellanaija to name a few and also working on the sets of VH1, OWN and Oxygen has grown and must be really exciting and give you such an amazing feeling of success which you rightly deserve, can you remember how you felt when you had the very first one? What was that feeling like? Each time and with each feature I get and see I get butterflies. I get so thankful and feel extremely blessed. Every time I am getting ready to do a high profile person or project, I pray and when it goes well I give thanks. When I hop on the train back home I giggle like wow, I am roaming around NYC like this amazing thing did not happen and I love that because it is a humbling feeling each and every time.

Model: Tiffany @dejavu_dreams, Giant flower by @hobbylobby

What motivates you to keep going and creating regardless of the ups and downs that come with being in this industry? I need it. I need to create these things and I need to express myself.

Lets talk about your very famous ‘Moshoodat’ series that took the web by storm. How did the idea for that come about? That was the project that brought me back into being a creative. The one that took me back into my creative space. I wasn’t the first to do this concept but I think this project did so well because of what it stands for. I enjoy free handily painting people and stretching my creativity every single time. For me this project was symbolic because every single model we painted restored me in some way, shape or form. As Joey and I make these images that inspire and helps to change the way society and people view the black woman, it heals me. I was really broken at the time and this series just stood for a jolt of positive energy and a ray of sunshine that was long overdue in my life which helped to give me a sense of piece of mind, a relief that joy does exist and that we can create what we want in our lives. This project is something that I hold very near and dear to my heart. So dear that I decided to print them out and create an art gallery in my room because each woman that took part in the project was a representation of me and because of them, I am at a mentally healthy state of mind.

How did your collaboration with Khoudia Diop AKA Melaniin Goddess come about? You both have created some amazing images over the course of time. Where did the inspirations come from for some of the looks and did you both put heads together to work on those amazing series? I told Joey I want to work with her. She is beautiful and he made it happen! I love her, she is a sweetheart and she brings my creations to life.

On a final note do you have a list of people you would like to work with in the future and if it did happen, if that vision came to life, what would that signify to you? I love what Solange and Beyoncé do for us! I love Rihanna’s creativity!

Thank you so much love for this. You are amazing and I look forward to sharing this amazing story soon. Keep shinning. Keep slaying. Keep inspiring and motivating. You ROCK love.

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