Photography Courtesy of L’Oréal Paris

Aja Naomi King on Makeup as Armour, Ice Baths and Being Inspired by L’Oréal Paris’ Women of Worth

Date March 9, 2019

Last night on International Women’s Day, L’Oréal Paris held its third annual Women of Worth gala, which honours Canadian women who volunteer in their communities and awards them $10,000 to put towards their causes. Nominees included Nicole White who started Moon Time Sisters, a project that provides menstrual products to those with little or no access in Northern Indigenous communities, and this year’s award winner, Lynne Rosychuk, who received an additional $10,000 to help fund The Jessica Martel Memorial Foundation which supports victims of domestic violence. It was an evening filled with moving speeches and stories–and plenty of tears. No wonder last year’s host, Dame Helen Mirren, said being at the event was better than attending the Academy Awards.

Before the festivities, we sat down with this year’s host Aja Naomi King, star of How to Get Away with Murder, to talk about makeup as armour, what it means to be a woman of colour in Hollywood, and why she’s into taking ice baths.

This interview has been edited and condensed.

Before hosting this year, how much did you know about the L’Oréal Paris Women of Worth program?

“I went to my first Women of Worth event two years ago in New York. You read about it and hear about it, but it’s not until you are in that room and hear [these women] talking about why they’ve made the decisions that they made to do these things [that you understand how powerful it is]. It is so overwhelming, so incredible, so inspiring. These women were like, ‘I’ve got to do something about this.’ And they did. And I think that’s what makes it so powerful.”

I read that as a child you liked to watch your mom apply her makeup before she went to work, and that she seemed to really enjoy the ritual, rather than rushing through it or looking at it simply as another step in her morning routine.

“My mother was and continues to be a working woman, and I think for her that was her me time before starting a crazy hectic day. My mother works in television, which was, and still kind of continues to be, a very male-dominated work environment. And so as a woman—especially a woman of colour—it can be a bit of battle. For her it was almost like putting on her armour. It was about finding that sense of calm within her and not letting anyone destroy that.”

How did your mother feel about you wearing makeup?

“She was never like ‘you can’t wear makeup’ or ‘you can’t talk to boys’ or things like that. She trusted me. I was a goody-two shoes. For the bulk of my formative years I was in braces and glasses. My mom was like ‘you’re square and you’re a nerd. I have nothing to worry about with you.’”

What was the first beauty product you bought for yourself?

“I don’t remember the first, but I remember the thing that was the most impactful to me. I was at an age where I was really trying to explore makeup because all my friends were wearing it, and they were all looking so cute. I wanted to be able to do that too, but it was a struggle because I would buy eyeshadows and they wouldn’t show up on my skin. It was really frustrating. Then L’Oréal Paris came out with these high-intensity pigments, their HiP line [of eyeshadows and eyeliners]. I put one on and I was like ‘I can see it!’ When l think back to how that felt… I felt beautiful, and I felt like someone else thought I was beautiful, and deserved to be able to wear makeup and be included.”

You live in Los Angeles, the land of wellness. Are you into the movement?

“One of the biggest things that I’ve done for myself recently is that I don’t immediately look at my phone when I wake up in the morning. I actually have a morning with myself, instead of getting sucked into social media, email and text messages. That’s been really wonderful, to set my perspective and really key into myself. I really enjoy journaling during that time. And I love infrared saunas, with a bluetooth hook up so that I can listen to a meditation app. Lately, I’m also into ice baths. Every time I step out, there’s this feeling of renewal. Like, I can do anything!”

Knowing that your mom works in the entertainment industry, what has it been like for her to see things shift toward more inclusivity and transparency, and how do you both feel about these important changes?

“It’s been so great to see the tremendous changes over these past couple of years and the conversations that people have been having. But it has taken so long, and so many women have had to fight so hard just to get us to a place where we can be comfortable enough to really talk about things like sexual harassment and abuse, and then saying time’s up. I don’t think that would have been possible without the women who climbed to these places where no one could take their power away if they said something or supported another woman for saying something. [My mom’s experience working in television] was that she was always surrounded by white men. She had to be very comfortable being in a room with only white men, and being able to find her voice, speak up and disagree, which can be very challenging when you are afraid you might lose your job over being that one dissenting voice. We still have a ways to go in terms of making sure these boardrooms are diverse and inclusive, and that all these voices behind the camera are being heard.”

A key part of this movement is women lifting other women up. Who were some of your mentors in the industry when you were starting out?

“I loved watching Viola [Davis], Shonda [Rhimes] and Kerry [Washington] from afar, and seeing everything that they were doing. And then people who had been kind to me very randomly; my mom happened to know someone that was a friend of a friend of Angela Bassett and they asked her to call me to give me advice before I went to grad school. And she did. It was crazy! That’s why now whenever someone’s like ‘oh would you talk to my child about this, or have coffee with them,’ [I do it]. It’s so important to pass it on.”

See all the L’Oréal Women of Worth 2019 nominees and their causes below:

Photography Courtesy of L’Oréal Paris

1/10

L’Oréal Women of Worth 2019 Nominees: Adeola Olubamiji

Adeola Olubamiji was the first black person to ever earn a PhD in biomedical engineering at a Canadian university. Having witnessed the lack of diversity in the STEM field first-hand, Olubamiji set out to encourage women and visible minorities to pursue the sciences as a career through STEMHub Foundation. The organization works to helps young people secure admission and scholarships to graduate and undergraduate programs through their STEM-focused mentorships opportunities and workshops.

2/10

L’Oréal Women of Worth 2019 Nominees: Danielle Main

After Danielle Main found out she didn’t qualify for a service dog despite being legally blind, she decided to train her dog Pedro. It wasn’t until he successfully received his provincial guide dog certification that Main decided to found Leash of Hope, an organization that provides trained, certified service dogs to people on long wait lists or who are also considered ineligible.

3/10

L’Oréal Women of Worth 2019 Nominees: Eliza Olson

Eliza Olson has been working to conserve Delta, British Columbia’s Burns Bog since 1988. The 3,000 hectares of wetland is home to 300 plant and animal species as well as 175 bird species and is responsible for the region’s water regulation. After years of devastation due to mining and farming, the bog was officially declared an Ecological Conservancy Area in 2005 and a Ramsar Wetland of International Significance in 2012 thanks to Olson’s work.

4/10

L’Oréal Women of Worth 2019 Nominees: Isabelle Ducharme

Isabelle Ducharme became an activist after she was paralyzed in a car accident when she was 21. With a new understanding of the hardships people with disabilities face, Ducharme began working with the government, local businesses and tourism boards to increase accessibility through her role as the Chair of the Board of Directors for Kéroul and as a board member of the Foundation for Spinal Cord Research.

5/10

L’Oréal Women of Worth 2019 Nominees: Ishita Aggarwal

Ishita Aggarwal is working to help other women see their worth. Through her non-profit Mom’s the Word, Aggarwal is helping new and expecting mothers in need by providing them with essentials like prenatal workshops, food stamps, milk coupons, bus tokens and prenatal vitamins as well as connecting them with nurses and doctors.

6/10

L’Oréal Women of Worth 2019 Nominees: Katie Mahoney

Katie Mahoney was 22 when she founded her charitable organization, We Are Young. Inspired by her own grandparents, Mahoney’s work is focused on celebrating senior citizens’s accomplishments and granting their unfulfilled wishes.

7/10

L’Oréal Women of Worth 2019 Nominees: Lynda Debono

Lynda Debono decided to start Sarah & Claire’s Food Drive after a conversation with her six-year-old daughter about local families who don’t have enough to eat. Ten years later, the project has become the largest community-based charity food provider for Toronto’s Daily Bread Food Bank and has raised more than 225,000 kilograms of food or 400,000 meals.

8/10

L’Oréal Women of Worth 2019 Nominees: Lynne Rosychuk

In 2009, Lynne Rosychuk’s daughter Jessica was murdered by her common-law husband. Suddenly aware of the lack of resources for victims of domestic abuse in rural Alberta, Rosychuk set out to make a change through her Jessica Martel Memorial Foundation. With the primary goal of providing access to safe temporary housing and resources to people in need, the charity also helps to provide them with the opportunity and the tools to heal and continue their success after they leave the shelter.

9/10

L’Oréal Women of Worth 2019 Nominees: Nicole White

When Nicole White was at university in Saskatchewan, she learned that girls in northern communities often missed school due to their periods. With a box of tampons costing up to $18 in these communities, White knew she had to do something to make menstrual products more affordable and accessible. So she founded Moon Time Sisters, which has since provided over one million pads, tampons, cloth pads and cups and raised over $10,000 for shipping costs to northern communities.

10/10

L’Oréal Women of Worth 2019 Nominees: Toyo Ajibolade

When she was 16 years old, Toyo Ajibolade noticed a lack of accessible recreational activities for young girls in her community. In response, she started Lady Ballers Camp to provide girls from low-income households with access to free programming to develop their self-esteem and learn important leadership skills. In its six years of operation, the charity has also focused on employing and training minority youth who face discrimination in the workforce.