Jackie Aina knows fragrance, but she is not just a casual perfume collector. Her passion for scents goes way back to childhood, and to hyperhidrosis, the excessive sweating condition she and her mother share.
“Our way of bonding was trying to figure out how to mask the smell,” Aina tells Refinery29. She learned the importance of scent at a young age and got familiar with the ins and outs of fragrance. That adolescent relationship with perfumes eventually developed into an adult relationship with candles to set a mood as she worked from home, which has now evolved into Aina’s newest venture: a self-care lifestyle brand called FORVR mood, which launched on the 10th of August, 2020 with a four-piece candle collection.
“I want people to actually get a product that makes them feel good right now,” Aina says of her new products. But more than ever, the popular beauty vlogger and social media influencer wants her brand supporters to be inspired. “I hope that people can see a Black woman doing it, and doing something on her own. I don’t have a wealthy family. I don’t come from connections. I’ve built this entirely on my own and with my faith in God and my followers’ support.”
Right now, FORVR mood might offer four candles, but Aina is intentional about it becoming an all-encompassing lifestyle brand rather than a just-one-thing brand. “It really is about a particular lifestyle. I want to teach women to take care of themselves first,” she says. “You can’t help someone else until you’re good. So get good, and then worry about other people.”
In some cases, getting good could be as simple as setting an ambience. Aina made sure to have different moods reflected within the candle collection, which is eco-friendly, free of sulfates or parabens, and made of 100% coconut soy wax that burns up to 65 hours. Between a juicy tropical scent called Left On Read, the universally-delightful citrus option Cuffing Season, the dessert-y Caked Up (which the founder calls “the quintessential Jackie Aina scent”) and warm, nutty Matcha Business, there’s truly something for everyone. FORVR mood will also be dropping a silk pillowcase and headband to set the self-care mood even further.
“Starting a business or even doing something unconventional is probably going to garner a lot of criticism,” Aina says. “You need to be able to confidently still believe in yourself with or without approvals and keep going because that’s always what I’ve had to do. Don’t ever be discouraged.” Believing in yourself should be a forever mood.
Source: Refinery29