For i-D’s The Ice-Cream Issue, we interviewed Wolverhampton born Sharmadean Reid about her fanzine WAH! Standing for “We Ain’t Hoes!” it was a mag started in 2005, by girls for grrrls. Nine years later and as WAH became London’s go-to salon for the punk-est girls in town, Sharmadean was established as a bonafide entrepreneur extraordinaire.
What are your top tips for someone doing their nails themselves at home?
Give yourself the time and space to do it. Don’t rush. How many times have you tried to rush to paint your nails while walking out the door, only to smudge them?! I’d put your fave TV show on, lay everything you need out on your table before you start and take your time. I can forgive you for not using basecoat but always use a topcoat for a salon finish. Our Classy Glassy Glossy topcoat dries in minutes and is super glossy!
What would you be doing if you hadn’t opened WAH?
ARGH so many things! I’m a total polymath, I love doing lots of things and I can do them well. I want to open a library, a hotel, a club, a restaurant. I’d love to just be an academic, I love studying. I’d open a kids breakfast club, or a florist, or be an interior designer. I’d like to make films or have my own magazine. I love doing everything! In the past I used to bemoan that WAH was holding me back from doing the things I loved, but now I’m just going to channel them all through WAH!
What are your favourite nail designs that you’ve created?
I was doing negative space nails like four years ago with gold minx but I didn’t do it enough to claim that as a look. I love my latest smiley face tips. Seeing those ten little guys look at me with their happy faces makes me happy! I love our Keith Haring print design, I get that a lot. Lately though I just love working with colour.
What’s your best piece of advice for someone looking to start up their own business?
Just get on with it and stop talking about it. There’s enough money out there for everyone.
How does beauty in LA differ to beauty in Britain?
Wow. So, so, so different. LA is where beauty starts. Every beauty trend starts in LA. Even acrylic nails started in LA! They’re so much more willing to try out a new beauty trend in America, and some trends stick and some won’t but everyone is given a chance. In the UK we are becoming more and more experimental for sure but it takes a bit of persuading. I think people here are a lot more reserved with their cash and choose to spend it in quite specific places. In the UK we also have a thing about loyalty, so we are more likely to stick to our fave beauty treatments or therapists even if they aren’t giving up 110%. When WAH first opened I really was having to dispel myths about nail art and nail salons being ghetto, dirty, tacky places. I had to be strategic in showing that cool girls went there too and you could have fashion forward designs, not just 80s flicks.
Who is the most beautiful woman in the world?
Ugh there are so many. I feel so lucky to know so many hot babes. But if we’re talking celebs that everyone knows, I can’t stop looking at Jennifer Lawrence’s face. Ever since I first saw her in Winter’s Bone, I was in love. I also think Jennifer Lopez has this ridiculous energy. Her face is like a sun beam. Both of these women have a down to earth-ness about them, mixed in with total glam.
When do you feel most beautiful?
When I’m tanned, healthy and in love.
Who is inspiring you right now?
So many people! Marilyn Minter I’m obsessed with. I’ve just taken one of her pics to ProntaPrint in Wolverhampton to ask them to blow it up so I can frame it. One day I’ll buy something for real… I’m inspired mainly by nature and colours around me. I’m inspired by MTV circa 1998. I love India Hicks, she’s like this blue blood who moved to the Caribbean and started her own lifestyle brand, has a ton of kids, looks happy and funny and is just loving her life. I’m also inspired by Oprah Winfrey… right now I’m like, what can I do to be more like Oprah?
What’s your favourite thing to do with your son?
Museums, galleries and cinema. I’ve turned him into a film obsessive and our fave thing to do is to cuddle up and watch anything by Studio Ghibli.
Where do you hang out in East London?
I don’t really anymore, but if I was I’d be at Night Elm bar at Rita’s Bar and Dining.
What’s next for you?
Work on taking my line of WAH London nail products global. Work on turning it into a lifestyle brand. Working on a brand new incredible salon and working on WAH TV! Life is good and fun. I’m enjoying channeling my ideas into all these things!
Credits
Text Felicity Kinsella