Silk or Lace Creators: An Interview with Naya Mousa

We interview Naya Mousa, one of Silk or Lace's content creators and a viral sensation with over 2M followers on Tiktok.

She is pictured wearing the Iris Wig (now sold out, similar wig is the Andie). 

Tell us a little bit about yourself.

My name is Naya Mousa and I’m an actress and content creator on Tiktok. I was born in Syria but I moved to California when I was 16 years old.

I left my home country and moved with my family to America for a new start after a war broke in my country.

One of the main challenges for me was learning the language. I spoke some English back in Syria, but I never had full conversations with English speakers and I wasn’t familiar with any slang words.

The term “what’s up” was so foreign to me! 

When I started my junior year in the US, it was definitely nerve wrecking. It took me some time but I managed to adapt. I had so much support and was able to make friends and catch up with everyone. 

What's your favorite part about being an actor?

My fav part about acting is the endlessness opportunity in it, every role is different. It never gets boring. I also adore being on set and getting to meet new people. 

How/why did u start tiktok?

I was first introduced to Tiktok by a family friend. Back then it was mostly known for music, but I got bored and downloaded the app and started watching videos. Shortly after, I became addicted to it and I started making videos.  

I never thought it could lead to anything else but I was so wrong because the app changed my life.

I started making videos almost every day on Tiktok. There was such a big supportive community who stood by me and helped me grow.  

What was your very first Tiktok video?

I think my first video was featuring my cat.

I was just making random videos then and didn’t know what my niche was.

But at some point, there was a challenge going on that was called “boy challenge,” which changed my life.

This challenge was that girls would put their hair up to try to make themselves look like a guy. I wanted to join this challenge, but decided to take it to another level.

Instead of just putting my hair up, I ended up doing my eyebrows all bushy cause I thought at that time, “hey usually guys have thicker eyebrows than girls and mine were so thin so I ended up drawing them with an eyebrow pencil”.

Then I wore an oversized jacket and did the challenge.

My video ended up going viral.

People really liked it - a lot actually thought that I cheated on the challenge!

They were convinced that the “guy” character was my guy twin or brother or someone else all together.

And that’s honestly when I realized that I actually do have an androgynous look.

I ended up naming the guy character “Alex” and I made him my alter ego. I started doing different scenes with him and became known for it.

What's the most common question you get on Tiktok? 

Definitely “are you boy or girl” almost every video of mine will have at least 100 comments asking about my gender.

And I just think, why do people get worked up about it?

I think part of it is definitely curiosity because the looks are so different. In some of my videos, you’ll see me with short hair looking like a typical male. In others, you’ll see me with long hair and girlie makeup, which give me more of a feminine look.

Even in real life, I express myself by dressing both traditionally feminine and masculine ways.

For me, clothes should have no gender - it’s just fabric.

If I like the outfit, I’ll get it. I shop in both male and female sections of the store and don’t think much about it.

How did you get into wigs? What do you love about them?

I started wearing wigs when I started making videos on Tiktok. I wanted to play different characters so I ended up getting a bunch of wigs. I love how different wigs can entirely change my appearance.

One can make me look like an angel and another can make you look like the devil. It’s crazy how hair can change your whole vibe.

Follow Naya on Tiktok and Instagram!