If you’re avidly on TikTok like I am, there’s a 99% chance you’ve come across — and then obsessively scrolled through — Zara Larsson’s dazzling makeup looks from her Midnight Sun world tour. And the mastermind behind these viral creations? Sophia Sinot, the Netherlands-born makeup artist currently taking over everyone’s FYP.
Channeling Y2K aesthetics, her teenage nostalgia, and a whole lot of rhinestones, Sinot’s looks are dreamlike, fun, and playful, even entering ethereal. What began as a love for watching beauty videos on YouTube and experimenting with makeup as a preteen has since blossomed into a full-blown career. Now, Sinot is making a global name for herself, with a client list that includes Doja Cat, Troye Sivan, and Emma Chamberlain.
We sat down with Sinot to talk about her creative partnership with Larsson, her steadfast passion for makeup, and how she’s navigating her rapid rise to online fame.
Sophia Sinot: In high school, I always loved to experiment on myself, wearing crazy looks to school. I also did makeup on my friends, but it was all just for fun and I never really knew you could become a makeup artist until I was 18.
When I finished high school, I had to decide if I wanted to go to university or not, and I knew university was just not going to be my thing. So, I did a makeup course — and honestly, since the first lesson, I just knew, like, “Oh my God, this is a world I actually don’t know anything about ,but I immediately felt so motivated to jump right in.”
SS: [Around five years ago,] Zara and I met through a photographer named Paul Edwards. Paul and I met in Stockholm at this random party. I didn’t really know him at the time, but he loved my work and came up to me. We started following each other and then, a month or two later, he randomly DMed me and said, “Hey, this is super last minute, but would you want to come to Stockholm tomorrow morning to do a shoot with Zara?” I was like, “Oh, yeah, for sure.” And then I just took a flight the next morning and I was with her on set.
At that time, I still did hair and makeup, so I did her hair and makeup. We did some pretty creative looks that were a bit different than what she usually did. And then we really liked each other and she booked me for a whole press week in London the week after.
SS: Zara and I have always really loved sparkles and glitter and pink and anything colorful and glamorous. But I think over the past five years, we’ve definitely done that, but there’s never really been a set aesthetic we had for her — it kind of went all over the place. I said to her, “I really think we should have a stronger look for you, branding-wise. Like, who are you as a person? How do we want to express that to the world?” Later in the year, we had a music video together and the makeup for that music video was pretty natural.
But we were talking about it again and I said to her, like, “I know you’re going on tour soon and I really think I should come with you this time. Even though I’ve been with you before, it was always just like one show, you know? But I think for this one, we should just be together every day and really make a statement.” And the only thing I knew was I wanted to make it all glitters and sparkles.
SS: It just kind of goes with the flow, honestly. I have some ideas and sometimes I’ve had an idea where I’ve thought, “Oh, this is what I want to do tomorrow.” And I already know and I have a very clear vision of which products I’m going to use in my kit. But I think maybe like 75% [of the time], I really have no idea what I’m doing.
SS: I really love space and nature. And the aesthetic on stage, I feel like Zara’s looks are very, like, showgirl and Barbie and fantasy. But I’m also really inspired by nature. We did one look that was literally like a midnight sun reference.
And then also, I obviously love the 2000s, I really love Christina Aguilera. Back in the day when I was really young, I used to watch the “Lady Marmalade” music video and I was like, “Oh my God, this is my dream makeup, my dream hair, my dream outfit — like everything.” Christina Aguilera has been a big inspiration for these looks so far.
SS: I just really love the way gems look on stage because I think they look amazing from up close but also just really good from far away. It looks amazing on your phone camera, it looks amazing on the big screen on the street — and I think the reason why is because it just catches the light. It looks very magical. It also really reminds me of the reflections of the sun on the ocean, when it’s really sparkly. And I think that just really fits the whole theme of super colorful and warm and like she’s in the sun.
SS: This is the funny thing, everyone’s been asking me this… And the answer is really disappointing because I don’t do anything special at all. I do Zara’s base makeup pretty light, and I keep her skin care very, very light and I don’t use any setting spray. I do use powder, of course. She just has great skin. Even for touchups, all I give her is a little powder puff. And when she goes off stage to get into the outfits, she just quickly does a bit of lip gloss and that’s it.
SS: For sure. I really love one thing that’s always in my kit, and that’s the Wonderskin Eyeliner Pencil. It’s a black eye pencil, but it’s so waterproof that even if you put it on the upper lash line, it doesn’t transfer to the bottom lash line. For the glitter, I use a [glitter] hair spray from Amazon. I’ve been using that all over her body and face, but halfway through [the tour] I ran out, so I’ve started using the Anastasia Beverly Hills Space Dust Powder and that’s been one of my holy grails. The blushes I’ve been using on Zara are from Glam by Majha, and I use them on myself as well. I also really love the Armani Beauty Luminous Silk Foundation. And any MAC Cosmetics lip pencil and any Anastasia Beverly Hills lip gloss, I love — that’s, like, my favorite combo.
SS: Sometimes, it’s overwhelming because it just feels so surreal. I don’t even know how to describe it. Like, yesterday or the day before, I got a message from this girl and she was saying that my looks have really uplifted her. And I felt like that was such a beautiful way to describe it, because to uplift someone with your work is just a really special power, almost.
There’s also been a lot of other people who have messaged me saying they’ve never even touched makeup before, but I really motivated them to try it for the first time, which is so sweet. It makes me emotional. It’s just makeup, but I understand why they say that, because I have that feeling too whenever I look at something that inspires me.
