Many people look to Jackie Aina as a lifestyle and beauty authority. Often described as a bold voice in beauty and fashion, Aina is known for her expert tips and unapologetic glam—as well as her honesty, message-driven content, and love for fragrance. Since 2009, Aina has found ways to advocate for the representation of women of color in the beauty, fashion, and creative entrepreneurship space on her YouTube channel and social media platforms, which have amassed millions of impressions and access for others.
Now, as the Co-founder and CEO of FORVR Mood (pronounced forever mood), a luxury fragrance line, she’s breaking down barriers in the fragrance industry. In 2020, Aina and her business partner and fiancé, Denis Asamoah, founded the brand and released four signature candles as an ode to Aina’s love for home fragrances and perfumes after years of research and toiling with the idea.
“As a fragrance lover, I have a sense of what I expect to smell when I shop at a department store. Designer brands are notorious for creating scents that generally tend to be crowd-pleasing. Because of that, niche brands have taken off in the fine fragrance world specifically because that’s where you can go and get custom-made, bespoke, unique, pushing-the-envelope scents. That’s why FORVR Mood exists,” said Aina.
Formulating For Representation
Often criticized for its lack of diversity, the fragrance industry is being shaken up by digital creators sharing their favorite lines, chemists becoming business owners, and perfume lovers concocting their lines.
According to a report conducted by Fortune Business Insights, The global perfume market was projected to grow from $48.05 billion in 2023 to $69.25 billion by 2030, at a CAGR of 5.36% during the forecast period. As lucrative as the industry is, the numbers about diversity don’t add up. They’re rarely reported. In 2021, the Fragrance Foundation, a group of industry leaders, launched an initiative called #FragranceForwardTFF, which stated on their website, “focused on opening the doors of the fragrance industry to all, marshalling its members to devote resources towards education, mentorship, and recruitment, while also pushing for awareness and acceptance and non-discriminatory employment opportunities across the board.”
Aina has traveled the world buying perfumes and has grown an elaborate collection of perfumes, yet she still saw the need to create a line to diversify the industry. “As a consumer, I knew what was missing on the market. I created the brand that I (and others) wanted to see and buy,” she said.
Glamour Magazine recently highlighted the origins of perfumes from ancient Egypt and Greece – and how the industry has shied away from its roots, thus creating a diversity problem.
When Aina thinks about that lack of representation in the industry, she finds it odd but not surprising due to the elitisms associated with high-end luxury items, race(ism), and social constructs around class. “Black people across the diaspora love to smell good. The Western world values a super obsessiveness about cleanliness. One would think because we’re wildly obsessed with smelling good and being well put together that there would be way more Black people in the industry, but there is not.”
On the other hand, Aina is grateful for her influence and business acumen, which has led to FORVR Mood’s exclusive partnership with major retailer Sephora.
“Small businesses make room for themselves. FORVR Mood started direct-to-consumer. Thankfully, we have the support of Sephora. They are incredibly intentional about our partnership. Historically, with other companies, some businesses have to beg to be on a retail shelf and get their name out there. Thanks to the digital landscape, I don’t have to do that. They see my content and how much knowledge and fun I’m making for people – and businesses come to me. That’s what this digital age has afforded a lot of entrepreneurs and small business owners. It’s also why I’m so proud to be a businesswoman who has been able to bypass some of the gatekeepers – and make room for FORVR Mood – and hopefully others,” said Aina.
Every Scent Tells A Story
Aina formulated the scents in her line to tell stories and inspire people to show up as their most confident selves. In her words, “People also see with their nose.”
“I started this fragrance line by creating personalities because the fragrance is so emotional. It’s not just what you’re smelling – it’s where you smelled that scent before and who smelled that way,” said Aina.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers found that people became more invested in the fragrances of their homes and personal aromas. Grand View Researches cited, “Consumers were concerned about their mental health resulting in a preference for fragrances that help them to relax to reduce distress and anxiety.”
Scent profiles often make people wonder about others’ lifestyles.
“You have to tell a story with fragrance, especially as a digital creator. It’s important to be creative when talking about perfume notes. I like to tell a story and build a narrative that reminds people of something, someone, or a place they’ve been so that it creates a better visual picture.”
As part of bringing the FORVR Mood fragrance line to life and consumers, Aina took her time naming each scent based on its notes: Hard to Get, I Am Her, NDA, and You Remind Me.
“The names of the fragrances (and our candles) are the first introduction to the product. With beauty products, giving something a name or pronoun makes the product more fun and personable,” said Aina.
With the introduction being key to driving sales, Aina and her team spent four years ideating on names and “living with the product”.
“We got our first set of samples for our fragrances in 2020, and we didn’t finalize the names until a year ago. The typical protocol when working with a fragrance house is they give you a ‘factory name.’ I wouldn’t even entertain the name until I smelled something that resonated because there is no way to reverse engineer the name once the scent is out there,” said Aina. Aina believes business decisions like this are purely intuitive.
Trusting Your Instincts In Business
Throughout her journey, Aina has always positioned herself to learn and collaborate. “It’s important to build a brand and create a table to bring smart people together to ideate and create. I know some people love the idea of single-handedly building things—but in my opinion, it’s a bigger flex to be able to take people with me,” said Aina.
Working that way also keeps her balanced and allows her to be soft while doing business. This ties back to FORVR Mood’s brand philosophy of creating space for women to experience ease.
“Part of the brand’s ethos is that we want Black women to be shown in positive ways. We also want Black women to look and feel cared for when using our products. That means if I’m walking into the room, doing everything, knowing everything, that’s the antithesis of this brand. It’s giving soft life! It’s very much giving; you don’t have to do everything. That’s okay. And if you want to, that’s okay, too. It’s nice to have the option of not having to figure everything out, have every answer, or solve every problem,” said Aina.
Living out her values as a businesswoman has helped her sharpen her instincts and set boundaries to avoid being taken advantage of.
“As a former people pleaser turned entrepreneur, I learned that I could not be successful if I were spread thin. There are so many experiences that are unique to us as women founders. Being strategically generous has done me great since starting the brand. When I choose someone I want to work with I pour into them and give that person 100 percent of my time instead of trying to give 20 percent to everyone else – and settling for the time I have left over for myself,” said Aina. For her, this means saying no to more people and telling the right people yes. “In business and mentoring, I would rather do more for fewer people than pour into everyone because it can diminish the impact you want to have,” said Aina.
With the release of FORVR Mood’s fragrance line, Aina is eager for people to experience their boldness and confidence through the collection. And she is looking forward to what’s next on her entrepreneurial journey.