Celebrity stylist Melissa Holdbrook-Akposoe partners with Aveeno UK

Ghanaian Brit Melissa Holdbrook-Akposoe, celebrity stylist to Ghanaian Brit rapper, Stormzy has partnered with skincare brand Aveeno. Holdbrook-Akposoe commonly known as ‘Melissa’s Wardrobe’ shared the news with her 300K plus Instagram followers.

Melissa has followers who have popularized the hashtag #melmademedoit referring to things that they purchase or try that the influencer has either shared in her feed or likes and uses. One of these products is Aveeno’s skin relief oil. Melissa shared her love for it several times in her posts then according to Melissa, her followers followed suit and bought the oil out of stock so many times that it led to Aveeno featuring Melissa in an advertorial campaign centered around the product.

Her post sharing this news was illustrated with an image of Melissa in London’s Underground standing next to a billboard starring the influencer. She followed this with another post about the campaign. This time it was an advert illustrated with a video featuring Melissa talking about sensitivity and wellness.

The text (in the words of Melissa) supporting the post read “When life and work gets busy, I really feel the effects on my body. Breakouts, bumps and dryness are always a major sign for me to slow down and take care of myself and my skin. We all have a sensitive side and know that it’s never a permanent state.” It went on to say “I feel like I’ve always been a very sensitive person and when people used to call me that, it used to feel like an attack. Now I embrace it because I feel like it makes me human.”

This is not the first time Melissa’s influence has led to collaborations or projects for the celebrity stylist and influencer. She has worked with the likes of Jo Malone London and in September 2022 she partnered with Ghana based restaurant, Kōzo Ghana on a limited edition cocktail named for her popular hashtag ‘Mel Made Me Do It’ in support of Start Ghana Foundation. 50% of proceeds from each of the cocktails sold went to the charity that supports childhood education and youth empowerment skills. 

Also that same September saw perhaps the greatest testament of her influence, a song released by her styling client rapper Stormzy called ‘Mel Made Me Do It’. The title of the song was not only in tribute to Melissa’s influence but also starred the stylist herself with a contingent of Black British talent such as Gabrielle the famed singer, Ian Wright the former renowned footballer, Dina Asher-Smith the athlete, Lil Simz the musician, presenter & host Zeze Mills etc. The star-studded video also featured athlete Usain Bolt, football coach Jose Mourinho, journalist Louis Theroux and famed talk show host Jonathan Ross.

In the video the cameo with Melissa sees her walk into a space where Stormzy is standing on his own with a lint roller in her hand which she proceeds to roll on Stormzy’s clothes. The image above is from that scene. With reference to the honour of having a song named for her, Melissa is quoted as saying on social media “Get you a bestie that names his comeback after you…”

This song by Stormzy is evidence that Melissa has great influence so it is not surprising that products (such as the Aveeno oil) that she is linked to sell out.

The new Aveeno campaign billboard featuring Melissa is in tube underground stations across London, UK. Follow Melissa at @melissaswardrobe.