Exclusive: Willow Smith on Dior Addict Fragrances, Self-Expression, and Her Ultimate Beauty Philosophy

In our first exclusive of the year, we speak with Willow Smith about her new role as the face of Dior Addict’s new fragrance line.

In case you missed it: We’ve officially entered a new era of Dior. The luxury label has recently expanded its Dior Addict family to include fragrances, and leading the fresh campaign are three familiar faces: actress and red-carpet sensation Anya Taylor-Joy, K-pop phenomenon Jisoo, and artist and singer Willow Smith.

There are three new scents in the Dior Addict collection, Peachy Glow, Rosy Glow, and Purple Glow, created by Dior Perfume Creation Director Francis Kurkdjian. Each scent evokes the image of carefree, radiant youth, imbued with bold, unique character, and the new campaign brings them to life in a dialogue with the iconic Dior Addict Lip Glow Oil created by Peter Philips. 

We had the pleasure of sitting down with one of the newly-crowned Dior Addict starlets—ahead, find out our full chat with Willow Smith, where we glean her thoughts on the latest chapter of Dior Addict, beauty philosophies, and self-expression.

You’ve always been known for your fearless sense of style and creativity. How does makeup or beauty fit into your self-expression? 

WS: I think makeup and beauty are such amazing vehicles to express yourself and to imbue yourself with different emotions. Like, some people associate the colour red with passion or, you know, confidence, and adding that pop of colour can be such a helpful way to feel more at home with yourself. 

There are three new Dior Addict scents. Between the three, which resonates with you the most and why? 

WS: There’s one that kind of smells like raspberries, and when we were on set, I was just telling everybody, like, “wow, this just makes me feel like I’m in like a magical forest with like huge raspberries”—it just was very visually evocative to me for some reason. 

What do you love the most about the Dior Addict Lip Glow Oil and why? 

WS: I love that it accentuates the natural colour of your lip, and I’m also a sucker for products that feel like they’re really moisturising your skin at the same time, and I feel like this product really does that. 

How do you hope these new releases will resonate with young women around the world who look up to you?

WS: Some of my icons are Grace Jones, Erica Bou, and Lisa Bonet. I feel like those women are confident and have a good sense of who they are, and that radiates everywhere they walk. I just hope that with me being an African American woman, too—wearing my natural hair with tattoos and piercings—that I can speak to people who are like me and also who are not like me and just inspire them to be themselves. I’m proud that I can expand on what is seen as beautiful in the mainstream media. 

How do you see this Dior Addict beauty campaign becoming part of the broader cultural shift? 

WS: I find Jisoo and Anya to be such strong artistic women, and I think that they stand in their truth so much, and that is something that I am proud to be a part of and stand with them on.

What is one piece of advice you would offer to people who are looking to follow in your footsteps? 

WS: There’s so much judgment and so much scrutiny in this day and age, not only because of social media, but just because of the general zeitgeist—I would just say try to focus less on what other people think and more about what truly makes you feel good.

What sensations or visuals come to mind when you think of your own inner glow? 

WS: Wow, my inner glow? Man, I think that my perception of the inner glow would be so much less physical and more to do with taking care of your body, taking care of your spirit, and going out of your way to make sure that you are filling up your cup in whatever ways are most important to you. That’s, in a lot of ways, where beauty originates, you know? 

There’s something deliciously fun about this campaign! We’ve got candy-coloured shades and fruity perfumes—every girl’s dream. How important is playfulness in your creative process?

WS: I think that playfulness is extremely important throughout our entire lives. I think it’s a deep way to connect with the essence of who we really are. So, of course, playfulness is extremely important in my creative process.

On that same note of girlhood being celebrated by this collection, what does girlhood mean to you? 

WS: I think that for a lot of us growing up can be a little bit of a traumatic experience, or maybe a lot of a traumatic experience. And I think that there’s a lot of nostalgia and beauty that is attached to that. I would hope that as a culture, we could see more beauty and have a little bit more rose-coloured glasses for the present and what is to come, because sometimes I think we get hung up on the past a little bit too much. 

The collection speaks of beauty as liberation rather than perfection. How has your own idea of beauty shifted over the years? 

WS: I think liberation is an amazing word to use, because throughout the years, the beauty standards have just become more and more insane. And I think that has hurt and still hurts a lot of people. And I think that it’s really awesome that the culture is shifting towards perceiving beauty differently and on a wider scale and range. I think that as a culture, hopefully we’re moving towards accentuating our natural features, and I definitely feel Dior Addict is here to put us all on that path.

Being in this industry comes with a lot of judgment and scrutiny. How do you navigate that? Do you have any advice for people who are also going through that same experience? 

WS: I would say that something that is really, really helpful to me is just focusing on the positivity that I want to put out into the world instead of the negativity that I may be receiving. Even though it hurts to be perceived and even more to be perceived negatively, I think we can always find solace in our pure intentions and our desire to make others feel loved.

What is your beauty philosophy? 

WS:  I think that the birthplace of beauty is really loving oneself and treating oneself with care and attentiveness, and sometimes that side of beauty isn’t as much in the light. To make a long story short. My beauty philosophy is that taking care of oneself and treating one’s body like a temple is the most important thing.

What are the best beauty hacks that you’ve learned over the years working with makeup artists and all?

WS: Man, I’m just going to have to go with a really, really simple and very effective beauty hack, which is trying to get as much sleep as possible. 

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