Zaynna Is Exactly Who She Thinks She Is
The Toronto-based content creator talks cosplay, celebrity faces, Japan, and why your follower count is just a number on an app.
Zaynna in a few of her most iconic looks.
There's a certain kind of person who walks into a room and makes you stop mid-sentence. Not because they're loud about it, but because something about the way they've put themselves together feels intentional. Specific. Theirs. That's exactly what happened when Drea Monique spotted Zaynna at Durag Fest, Charlotte's beloved celebration of Black creativity, fashion, and culture. One conversation, one follow, and suddenly it was clear: this girl wasn't portraying a persona. She was naturally the main character.
Ten years deep into content creation, Zaynna, known online as @itszaybaybay, has quietly built one of the most visually distinct presences in the game. Makeup. Fashion. Travel. Cosplay. She moves fluidly between all of it, and none of it feels forced. That's not an accident. That's a decade of choosing herself over and over again.
Creator Snapshot
Zaynna
@itszaybaybay · Toronto, Canada 🇨🇦
10 YRS
In the Game
∞
Iconic Looks
From the Dance Floor to the Beauty Chair
Before the ring lights and the viral Pennywise look, Zaynna was a dancer. She attended performing arts school where she trained in ballet, jazz, hip hop, modern, and African dance — and every showcase came with stage makeup. That's where the spark hit.
"This is a lot of fun," she said during her sit-down with Drea Monique. "It's like a different way to express myself."
Minoring in visual arts alongside her dance training, Zaynna started connecting the dots between color theory, shading, and face. By her last year of high school, she was all in on beauty. She went to beauty school for two years, started taking clients, and eventually did makeup for names that would make your jaw drop — Missy Elliott and Busta Rhymes among them. Not bad for a girl who used to call makeup wearers "powder puff girls."
"Who I am now is exactly who I wanted to be when I was eight years old."
— Zaynna, @itszaybaybay
The Pennywise Effect
Ask anyone who follows Zaynna what her most iconic look is and they'll say it without hesitation: Pennywise. The character transformation that broke through the algorithm and introduced her to a whole new audience — made by a woman who, by her own admission, hates clowns and has never watched the movie.
"I was literally just doing the makeup," she laughed. "I didn't watch it."
That's the thing about genuine creative instinct; it doesn't always need the full context. Her process for bigger, prop-heavy looks is where it gets really interesting. She doesn't work alone. Her mom is deeply in the mix, building headpieces, crafting accessories, sometimes constructing pieces while the camera is rolling.
"She's the OG through the woods," Zaynna said of her mother. "If you're gonna do this, you gotta go all out."
"Your community is really, really important. A lot of people take advantage of it. Be grateful."
— Zaynna, @itszaybaybay
Shy Girl, Bigger Stage
Here's the part people don't expect: Zaynna is an introvert. A homebody. A self-described "nerdy girl" who watches anime, wears oversized clothes on her off days, and gets more shy as she gets older, not less. So how does someone like that build a platform that commands attention? Dance, again.
When Zaynna stepped on stage as a performer, something shifted. She describes it the way Beyoncé talks about Sasha Fierce — a persona that lives at the intersection of who you are and who you become when the spotlight hits. She imported that energy directly into her content. The shyness never fully went away. But it no longer runs the show.
Japan Three Times in One Year (And Counting)
If you've followed Zaynna's travel content, you know Japan isn't just a destination, it's a spiritual home. She's been three times in a single year, including a month-long stay. The through line? Anime. A love that started with Sailor Moon at age six and never let go.
Her 30th birthday? Spent at Sanrio Puroland — Hello Kitty's iconic Tokyo theme park — on the same day as Hello Kitty's 50th birthday. Hello Kitty dress. Hello Kitty shoes. Pure happiness.
"In my mind, we're celebrating together," she said.
"The only thing that really changed is the number on an app."
— Zaynna, @itszaybaybay
The Makeup Tips You Didn't Know You Needed
Since we had a pro on the call, Drea wasn't letting her leave without the goods.
Zay's Makeup Tips
The Nose Contour Hack
Apply foundation all over — including your nose. Then place concealer along the sides. Your natural skin tone becomes the shadow. No harsh brown lines. No cakey contour. Just a refined silhouette.
Bake Your Brows
After filling in your brows, set them with powder the same way you'd bake under your eyes. It softens the look, locks in the product, and keeps them from reading too drawn-on throughout the day.
Lash Glue as Liner
Draw your lash line with lash glue instead of applying adhesive to the strip. Then press your lash on top. More control, cleaner application — and black lash glue reads as liner anyway.
What 10 Years Actually Teaches You
Zaynna is celebrating a decade in content creation this year. And the thing she keeps coming back to isn't strategy or metrics; it's community. She's watched creators chase aesthetic perfection and lose themselves in the process. She did it too, briefly — trying to fit the "baddie" mold. It didn't feel like her. So she stopped.
"My page is me," she said. "Go on it and be like, whoa, what's going on here — but understand who I am with all the chaos."
Now she keeps her makeup clientele small and referral-only. She still lives with her mom and calls her her best friend. The follower count is just a number. Everything else — the anime, the cosplay, the creativity — stayed exactly the same.
Follow Zaynna
Drea Monique sat down with Zaynna for the Mostly Sugar YouTube interview series spotlighting women who lead with self-expression, unapologetically.
Watch the Full Interview
Drea Monique x Zaynna · Mostly Sugar
