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Adwoa Aboah is booked and busy. She’s a prolific model, a mesmeric actor, an empowering mental health activist and, to top it all off, a new mother, welcoming daughter Shy six months ago. As the saying goes, I don’t know how she does it. But what’s so refreshing about Aboah, is that she doesn’t always seem to know either – and, even more wonderful, she’s always completely open and honest about the mental ups and downs that come with her busy life.
You’ve probably seen Aboah in at least one of her many high-profile campaigns. In 2017, she appeared on the cover of British Vogue and was voted Model of the Year for models.com. She’s modelled for Boss, Fendi, De Beers, & Other Stories and Burberry. Since 2022, she has been the Global Brand Ambassador for Jo Malone London. This year, she has been named as the face of English Pear & Freesia as well as the face of the brand’s Mother’s Day campaign.
You may have also seen Aboah on the small screen, perhaps in her role as Becks in season 4 and 5 of Top Boy or as Lia in Ghost in the Shell.
Or perhaps you know her as that always-comforting, always-honest voice in your ear. Ten years ago, Aboah launched Gurls Talk, a community-led non-profit organisation which champions open discussion about mental health for young women. The accompanying podcast, The Gurls Talk Podcast, has become a safe-space for young women to hear relatable, frank conversations about the highs and lows of life in the modern world.
We sat down with Aboah to chat about her impressive career so far, being a new mother and, as her life gets busier than ever, how she keeps her beauty routine simple and chic amidst the chaos.
GLAMOUR: It's the 10 year anniversary of Gurls Talk this year, which is so exciting. Could you take us back a decade – what brought you to Gurls Talk?
Adwoa Aboah: It's crazy to think that it's been going for that long and has evolved and changed as both myself and the community have grown up. [When it started], I don't think I really thought about it too much. I think we live in a different time now – we can kind of share our opinion more freely, but also there are certain fears that come with that.
I think for me, I always felt a want and a yearning to be part of something bigger than what I was brought up amongst in school and university – no shade, some of those people are still very much my friends. But I think I really needed to find a community of like-minded people. That really was what kind of brought me to start Gurls Talk. I just wanted to bring people together. My world had been so small, I think, because of mental health and active addiction, and I was just looking for something bigger. I felt ready to get out of my own way and do something for myself and reach my full potential. I think, as well, so much of that time before Gurls Talk was very much… not necessarily self-involved, but it was all about me. I was just like, “I need to start thinking about something else!”
Do you find that conversations around mental health have shifted for young women over the last 10 years?
There are definitely new pressures. We didn't have those social media pressures as much back then.
But I think what's both incredible but also sometimes disheartening is that [women are facing] the same issues as well. You know, I can walk into rooms with women younger than myself. I speak quite freely about things I went through, and they're still going through the same things. I'm always dumbfounded when I go into spaces with young women who are still at school, and I can still have the same conversations about things.
[What has definitely changed is] the way in which they articulate themselves and the language they have. I was definitely not able to talk about my own mental health as well as they can – I've been taught a lot by the community about how to talk about it and how to be more open about it.
Despite the show's title, this season features a host of incredible female talent.
You've just become a mother, congratulations! How has your perspective on your work both as a mental health advocate and a model and actor changed?
Shy is only like six months, so I'm not sure what her issues will be! But I think I've already started to think about what kind of parent I hope to be when she starts going through the things that she will almost certainly go through. I talk to my partner about this a lot – we've just gotten through certain things, we're in our 30s, and we just think about Shy and all the things that she's just gonna have to get through as she figures out the person that she is.
I think I've been very educated by my work and the community about how to talk to young people and I’m still kind of immersed in youth culture, so I hope that I can use some of that. But ultimately, she's still gonna think I'm, like, an annoying naggy mother! So, I'll do my best. But, you… what's the saying? We all fuck up our children in some sort of way. I’m sure I'll do something – I'll be too open!
In terms of my work, it's just not part of my journey that I would have been be able to be a stay-at-home parent – and respect to all the the women who either choose or don’t necessarily have the choice to stay at home – but I have to get out there and pay the bills and do my thing. I think I'll be even more strategic about what I want to put my energy into and the people that I want to work with.
That brings us to your decision to work with Jo Malone London again as their Global Brand Ambassador and face of the English Pear & Freesia Campaign. Obviously that's a brand that feels like an important collaboration for you?
It’s that brand that's always been around, whether it was something that our parents used, or you saw in your friends’ parents’ bathrooms. It just feels like a very integral brand to Brits and Londoners. I think also as you get older, you want nicer things in your life. I think I used to look at Jo Malone London as this aspirational brand, and now, being part of it for so long, I feel like it actually isn't necessarily aspirational. It feels very rooted and it knows who it is and it feels like I fit into it really nicely.
Do you find that certain Jo Malone London fragrances evoke specific emotions or memories for you?
I would say Red Roses is a big one. My mum, smelling that in her bathroom from such a young age.
My mum uses the Peony & Blush one. She always has it on her front hall table.
Yeah! Ooh and also the big candles. I think those are just the ultimate luxurious items. Walking into my mum and dad’s – them having parties at home and they'd light that candle in the hallway. That's a big memory as well.
She described her journey going sober as “almost like a grieving period”.
What products are always in your makeup bag?
I've got the Glossier eyebrow gel, eyelash curlers, Rhode blush, the Victoria Beckham lip liner, and a Farah Homidi lip palette.
What is the best beauty hack you have learned in your career?
I think you would be amazed at what you can do with a lip liner. You can just put it everywhere. Even a gloss or a lip salve – whatever you have in your bag. If you just put that on the eyelids, it just works a treat. People are always asking, “What's on your eyelids?” I'm like, “It's my nipple cream,” or something. I mean, literally, whatever.
How would you describe your beauty aesthetic?
I wouldn't say confused… but maybe it is slightly. I think there are two parts of me. There's one that is still that teenager or that [woman in her] 20s. The person who's figuring it out and doesn't really care and wants to wear everything all at once. Sometimes my boyfriend's like, “How have you walked out of the house like that? Like, how many patterns do you want to wear?” But then there's part of me that's the kind of uniformed, sleek, chic Row vibe.
