Adwoa Aboah: ‘I Don’t Think It’s Smug To Rep Yourself, To Like Yourself Or Maybe Even To Love Yourself’

Adwoa Aboah, the model, activist and founder of mental health community Gurls Talk, has a very sensitive sense of smell. 'It's kind of a nightmare,' she laughs. The upside, of course, is that she can always conjure her mum or her dad's particular scents. 'When I started travelling for work, coming home and having that smell that completely reminds you that you’re back in your safe space. It’s just cosy to me. I can smell my mum’s smell now. And I can smell my dad’s smell now. It’s something that makes me feel safe and grounded.'

All this makes her even more qualified for the latest entry on her CV. Aboah has just been announced as the global ambassador of Jo Malone London. Not only that, but she's also the face of one of the brand's most celebrated fragrances, English Pear & Freesia, the first person to ever hold such a position at the perfume house.

Like English Pear & Freesia, it's a match well made. Jo Malone London has been working with mental health charities for a decade - and has launched its own foundation, making a commitment to donate $2 million globally between Monday 10 October 2022 and Monday 9 October 2023. Aboah, meanwhile, has worked to destigmatise conversations around mental health via Gurls Talk - where you'll find discussions about everything from the idea of 'healthy' relationships to being an introvert - but also by being open and honest about her own journey, which continues today.

Aboah has always considered the brand as a place to find, 'the perfect gift for people,' but was initially surprised, although excited, when she got the call from Jo Malone London. 'I admired the brand so much, but it wasn’t necessarily one I had seen myself in,' Aboah says. 'When you delve deeper into what they stand for, and the work they’ve done over the years in regards to mental health, it all just started piecing together in the most beautiful way.'

For this year's campaign, Jo Malone London has partnered with Lennie, whose bio reads, 'a little blob just trying to help u get through the day.' Lennie's key message is kindness, to yourself and to others. Aboah is still working on the former. 'I give myself a bit of a hard time sometimes,' she says. It's still a work in progress but she's always learning. 'My best friend got married the other day and was giving a speech. She said, ‘I just feel like the most beautiful person today. I feel like the prettiest person in the world.’ I think we should all have that attitude. I don’t think it’s smug to rep yourself, to like yourself [or] maybe even to love yourself.' Personally, she tries to find a moment of self-acknowledgment at some point during the day. 'Take a moment to say, ‘I had a kind conversation with that person. I was present. I looked them in the eye. I asked them questions about themself.’'

As hard as you try to be present, to practice self-care, the universe sometimes has other ideas. 'Life is just quite messy. It's an ongoing journey with all of it. But that’s what makes it really exciting. I know myself really well because of it. Being confronted with different things and not turning away, but actually trying, as much as possible, to walk into it and deal with it.'