“It’s one way of inspiring confidence in yourself,” Quynh Anh Shyn laughs about her electric blue hair. This fashionista is definitely not short on confidence. “No matter how you look confidence is the most important thing,” she nods, wise beyond her years, from Koheis Bar where we’ve taken refuge to avoid the torrential rain outside.
Đọc bài viết bằng tiếng Việt
Storm clouds of another kind have been building in the last few days as Quynh Anh Shyn’s been engulfed in the type of gossipy scandal that proves you really are a celebrity (the usual mix of besties, betrayal, and a boy). So, we’re grateful to grab an hour with Quynh Anh Shyn and we promise to keep the conversation focused on her life as a fashionista.
There’s a lot to talk about, starting with her big audience. Her Instagram (@quynhanhshyn_) has two-and-a-half million followers. There’s Quynh Anh Shyn‘s Facebook fanpage, with another one million, TikTok with well over 300K. Then there’s her fashion label, Seen, that’s almost at 20K. Oh, and there’s the obligatory YouTube channel with over 400K subscribers where she does everything from testing different Saigon pho from a distinctly local VND30K up to an opulent VND1M version served in the Landmark 81 building, to shows spent exploring her closet and sharing make-up tips on a budget.
Throughout, twenty-four-year-old Quynh Anh Shyn’s looks are a whirl of day-glow, anime-inspired excess…which she pulls off with style and in hair colours which seem to change daily. There’s pink-haired, blue-haired, blond-haired Quynh Anh Shyn, then there’s Quynh Anh Shyn as valley girl in a Mickey Mouse T-shirt (by Gucci, naturally) and boyfriend jeans, Quynh Anh Shyn as all black power-suit wearing socialite, Quynh Anh Shyn as Coachella casualty in bikini and cowboy boots, Quynh Anh Shyn as an actual cowboy in cowboy hat and American flag chaps. She evens nails a trailer-trash shoot as COVID-time supermarket shopper in a tracksuit and mask swinging a shopping basket.
The eclecticism is deliberate. “Don’t be afraid to change, don’t fit into stereotypes…” she says, continuing with the sage advice. She’s learnt the hard way. She shed her clean-cut angelic image a couple of years ago. That was despite everyone around her advising against it. “It took a lot of determination,” she shrugs. But gradually people started to accept her new bold approach to self-styling. And she admits she’s been working up to this moment all her life. “Right since childhood I was obsessed with dressing up, anything related to fashion,” she explains.
These days she works closely with her stylist doggedly following trends around the world and interpreting them. “Then we bounce around the ideas, and come to something that’s very me,” she elaborates. Despite the confidence she’s still a little cagey, maybe even superstitious, when we ask about her career plans. She resolutely refuses to answer in case she jinxes her next moves.
So, instead, we switch attention to what’s in her bag.
#1 Galaxy Z Flip Phone
“It’s my everything,” Quynh Anh Shyn exclaims about her Samsung Galaxy Z Flip, a phone that successfully reintroduced the folding screen. Quynh Anh Shyn frequently travels for shoots and exotic stays at resorts around Vietnam. “I’m quite a diligent traveler,” she admits. She’ll spend an inordinate amount of time researching the location, the weather, everything about her trip to get the most out of it. “And when I’m there my phone allows me to check in, to take photos around the hotel while we wait for them to prepare the room, and to work on the move…”
#2 Wallet
“The person testing out all the types of pho in the video is really me,” she laughs, “I’m a snack-a-holic.” And with most street food places not accepting cards she has to keep cash on her person to pick up the bill at the end of it.
#3 Oral B Dental Floss
Quynh Anh Shyn’s “trustworthy assistant” is some Oral B dental floss. “Back to the food again,” she grins. With her addiction to digging around for the best bowls of pho and other local delights, and as her growing celebrity means, she knows might run into anyone at any moment, and so she likes that smile to be pristine. “So this is my constant companion,” she says placing the floss on the table.
#4 Jomi Absorbent Paper
Quynh Anh Shyn always appears immaculate on screen. “Ha ha!” Quynh Anh Shyn laughs faux-mockingly, “I have my tricks.” She confesses to having oily skin and the rigours of constantly applying heavy makeup take their toll too. “This is my secret for skin that’s not shiny and always photogenic…”
#5 Minty Candy and Mouth Spray
“OK, confidence comes in many forms,” Quynh Anh Shyn continues as she pulls out some breath-fresheners. “They help me to keep my teeth white, and the spray gives me more confidence when I meet someone…”
#6 Fenty Gloss Lip Bomb
Before she heads back out into the stormy Saigon afternoon, Quynh Anh Shyn pulls her favourite lip balm from her bag: her Fenty Gloss Lip Bomb. “It’s kind of a multitasker, like me,” she laughs again showing us the product. “This lipstick has lip balm, and a light gloss layer that makes my face look fresh whenever I apply it,” she explains, “and it easily combines with my eclectic outfits!”
Photos and video by Khooa Nguyen, Tuan Jerry and Johnny Viet. Thanks to Koheis Bar and Brothers for hosting us during the storm.
