Sarah Hammoud: The beauty creator who refused to play by the rules

A couple of weeks before her twenty-seventh birthday, Sarah Hammoud opened up to The Beiruter in her brand new Beirut office, complete with baby blue desk, furniture, and even coffee maker. Three unique plants stood at separate corners, Zamia, Bamboo, and Money Tree, to cleanse negative energy and bring prosperity.

The young woman from Teffehta, Saida, has a love of makeup that began when she was a child. “I stole my mom’s make up and accessories and drove her crazy”. During Covid, while working at a mall cell shop and attending university, she shot a video using her sarcastic banter. While getting ready for a friend’s birthday, she told off women who didn’t know how to use an eyeliner, and it went viral on TikTok. People begun asking for more till she grew her audience to 2.8 million on Instagram.

The sweat under the tint

“I started for the fun of it, because I loved the camera and got rejected a lot in the industry”, says Sarah. Hence, she created the platform she had always dreamed of, never expecting it to become a career. Sarah felt that success followed her.

Coming from an average-income family, she used her parents’ old 40-year-old broken down bedroom to shoot content. The closet and walls weren’t neat, so she got light pink, light blue, and white cardboard she used for school projects and scotched them up into a proper background.

“I had this passion for the camera, and I wanted to get started with what little means I had. From four walls, I was able to reach nearly 5 million on social media”, admits Sarah. She challenged the trending fake influencer culture and wanted to succeed by rolling up her sleeves and getting her hands dirty.

She was initially criticized for her habit of comically disparaging viewers, now, she says, the style has become wildly copied. With a knack for turning disaster into humor, she put her talents to good use. “We have this feature built-in as Lebanese people. Whatever happens, wherever we are, our smile remains plastered”, says Sarah

True to her voice

Sarah has managed to stay true to herself in an industry that chases trends and audience tastes. Every once in a while, she goes into the spiral of “do you still like me, natural regular ole me? Do you want me to give you the CEO vibes, the perfect life?”. To her knowledge, recording her every move and every bag she purchases is the kind of content getting exposure, seeing as it’s provoking and puts people’s deficiencies in the spotlight. “Since I got the office, I showed it to my audience. It was still empty; I sat on the floor and cleaned”.

Accused of vulgarity and brazenness on occasion, when Sarah first talked about mental health, the subject was taboo. “What made me famous was that I was diagnosed with chronic depression, I should’ve taken medication due to family issues”.

While talking about make up, she discussed Cipralex and antidepressants. Her whole family was shocked: “What will people say?” Sarah doesn’t censor herself as many advise her, she feels a responsibility to shed light on topics that matter to her, putting her reach to good use.

Angels on her shoulders

At 20 years old, Sarah felt like a social butterfly in society, loved by everybody. When she reached home, where she didn’t feel safe, she became silent, isolating herself in her room and even getting suicidal thoughts. “I have angels on my shoulders, compelled by God to my service. I see God’s mercy and his help in work and outside it”, shares Sarah. It was intuition, God guiding her to the right path that led her to therapy.

Sarah recounts that her doctor prescribed medications indefinitely because he established that dopamine was not produced in her body. She stopped taking the meds after two months then paid for therapy sessions from her salary at the mall, once she started working.

“I knew I had something; I believe we all have a purpose in this life. It’s your job to discover your calling. You don’t need meds”, says Sarah. A switch happened inside and she made the call to focus on therapy with another doctor.

Everyone questioned her choices when she started on her content creator journey. With a degree in Radio/TV, she could’ve worked at a TV station. Her family thought they were giving her constructive criticism. Her friends and entourage believed she was throwing her life away, that she’s not even funny. Nowadays, they’re the first to clap for her and buy from her one-year-old make up brand Heaven Beauty.

On women and power

Women are held to impossible standards in Sarah’s eyes. “I always say it to my followers, a woman is not defined by the loudness of her voice, her gossiping, her body, or by nearly becoming a man to prove her strength. Power cannot be seen, it is felt”, she says. Presence, femininity, the soft power within, and how with intelligence a woman can get whatever she wants, are the means she relies on. “The man plays his part; we can’t live without him. The stronger the woman, the more she needs a man in her life”, confesses Sarah.

She recently took a course on energy, practiced self-reflection on where she is suppressing herself. “When I opened the brand, I succeeded and made money, when I want to show a trip or a gift I got myself, I think: shouldn’t I feel sorry for others? But then again, I worked hard for this, I’ve earned it”, says Sarah.

At first, she wanted to avoid speculations then realized: “to hell with it. People will talk anyways. I want to be a source of inspiration for women like me”. When it comes down to it, happiness for Sarah is a decision with a unique source, God. “A man’s worth comes from his values, manners, kindness, the light that comes from within, having a positive impact wherever he goes, and leading with pure intentions. It’s not about the: Unboxing time!”

The woman behind the public image

When you withdraw the content creator persona, Sarah Hammoud remains the woman who invests in herself to reap the rewards whenever and wherever she is. She always ponders the question If there’s no more social media and preconceptions what would become of her.

“I always take care of myself in therapy, to be able to say no to the things I don’t want, not to disturb my inner child, keep my surroundings safe and loving, do whatever I want and wait for no one to make it happen for me. If you put this Sarah in the Honolulu right now, without the bare necessities to live, I’ll create something out of nothing and remain the same person”.