Adwoa Aboah: ‘Beauty felt other-worldly to me’
A champion for positive change in fashion and beyond, British supermodel and activist Adwoa Aboah talks make-up mishaps and how it feels to share a stage with Hillary Clinton
adwoa aboah is more than one of the most striking faces in fashion. While her modelling career – which kicked off with a Storm signing at the age of 16 – has seen her grace campaigns and catwalks for the likes of Chanel, Burberry and Dior, it’s the 27-year-old’s frank and outspoken voice in the mental health arena that has singled her out as one of the boldest figures in the industry.
‘I really am my own greatest critic,’ she tells Grazia, ‘so I have to feel like I’m a part of each collaboration – that I have helped to build it and had a real input into what it is putting out there for the world to see.’ And Adwoa really walks the walk in that respect. Her social platform, Gurls Talk – which aims to provide a ‘safe space to tackle stigmatised issues that aren’t spoken about on a day-to-day basis’ – this year collaborated with Revlon to create make-up sets for young women promoting self-love. And she continues to be Revlon’s global brand ambassador, singing the praises of her ‘Revlon Fam a Lam’ on Instagram.
Adwoa’s drive and passion behind Gurls Talk, which started life as an Instagram account in 2015, has brought acclaim from all corners. Earlier this year, her work with the campaign led her to grace the same stage as both Oprah Winfrey and Hillary Clinton at the 10th annual Women in the World New York Summit. ‘It was mental!’ she grins. ‘The day before I was checking out the main stage and assumed I’d be on a smaller one somewhere. Then, when I was told this is where it was all happening, I thought, “Oh my God, this is going to be absolutely terrifying.” I was effectively the
opening act for headliner Hillary Clinton. I couldn’t really believe it.’
Gurls Talk has now branched out from its digital platform roots to include a hugely successful podcast and events around the globe. But with a schedule that sees her clock up ample air miles regularly, does she ever factor in some downtime? ‘Yes, I’m actually quite strict about that because I used to burn myself out,’ she says. ‘I make time for myself. I go on trips by myself. I took a full month off in the summer to stay in the same place.’ It’s a welcome respite from a year of whistle-stop travelling. ‘This year I was on a tiny island in Greece, nothing too fancy, where the biggest concern of my day was deciding what
I was going to have for lunch.’
She certainly knows how to prioritise and focus on what’s important, and that’s why
there is a very clear goal to everything she does. Accessibility is a running theme in Adwoa’s beauty mission – a reaction to the alienation she felt from the industry during her teens. ‘I didn’t really have any concept of beauty because it felt so other-worldly to me,’ she admits. ‘Only now I look back and realise that there wasn’t anyone in the fashion or beauty industry that made me think, “Oh my God, I could be her.” If anyone, I looked up to Agyness Deyn. We don’t look anything alike but, at the time, like me, she stood out in her own different way.’ As for her first memories of make-up? ‘Thinking it was a good idea to use black eyeliner as an eyebrow pencil. There was a lot of black eyeliner going on. My mum wasn’t really into make-up so, when I got to boarding school and all the girls were caking themselves with foundation, I thought, I’ve got to start doing this. But I didn’t really get shade-matching, so that was interesting!’
Clearly times have changed, and as well as hitting on her own perfect base shade (Revlon Colorstay Foundation in 400 Caramel, £12.99), Adwoa now enjoys make-up for what it is (or should be): fun. ‘It’s all about just giving it a go and trying new things. Age has helped me feel more at one with make-up, to know that it’s not about sticking to one look.’ Does she think there’s any conflict between being a feminist and enjoying make-up? ‘If there is, it’s not a side of feminism I want to be a part of,’ she says. One thing’s for sure, when it comes to Adwoa’s modern beauty mantra, there are no rules. ‘When it comes to make-up or fashion, everyone should be able to do whatever the fuck they want.’ Enough said.