Ami Colé founder Diarrha N'Diaye-Mbaye has announced the closure of her inclusive beauty brand after just four years.
Created in 2021 as a ‘clean’ beauty brand for women of colour, Ami Colé was backed by L’Oréal and stocked by retailer Sephora in the US and Canada.
In a post on the brand’s Instagram account, which N'Diaye-Mbaye described as “a love letter, not a goodbye”, the entrepreneur said she made the “hard decision to wind down” the brand after “four powerful and soul-stretching years”.
She said: “What started as a mission to create ‘clean’ beauty for melanin-rich skin became a movement and a metaphoric home for so many of you (just like what my mother built with her salon).
“We were a brand rooted in purpose, storytelling and the bold celebration of who we are. Let’s not forget bomb ass products.
“This moment is bittersweet.
“You have witnessed me start from a sketch in my Brooklyn apartment to the shelves of every Sephora in North America in four years.
“Thank you for everything you have taught me about living your dreams out loud.”
N'Diaye-Mbaye thanked her investors and Sephora “for making a home for us,” as well as the community who supported her.
She added: “To every Brown girl out there, don’t be afraid to fail out loud.
“Take it there! Dare to dream big! Learn, dust yourself and try again. Pay it forward.”
Ami Colé, known for its skin tints and lip oils, landed investment from L’Oréal’s venture capital arm BOLD at the end of last year
The brand had experienced 75% year-on-year revenue growth, according to a statement at the time announcing the investment.
Ron Robinson, the cosmetic chemist who helped create Hailey Bieber’s Rhode and has his own brand, BeautyStat, said he was “crushed” to hear the news of Ami Colé’s closure amid an outpouring of support for N'Diaye-Mbaye.
The pair became friends after launching their brands around the same time, he said in a post on Instagram.
“You have made such a huge impact in the beauty world,” commented Robinson.
“From making incredible, high-quality products accessible for black and brown make-up enthusiasts, to inspiring other black entrepreneurs to make strides in this industry.
“I’m so proud of you friend.”
In an article written for New York Magazine’s The Cut, N'Diaye-Mbaye detailed her struggles getting investment in the brand before the murder of George Floyd drew widespread attention to racial inequality.
However, she noted a “change of tune” to investors' attitudes to equity since 2020 and the effects of rising tariffs and marketing costs under US President Donald Trump on small business, adding that “it still hurts to watch an industry preach inclusivity while remaining so unforgiving.”
She also candidly described the ups and downs of building a new business and competing with the much deeper pockets of larger companies in the beauty industry.
Black-founded beauty brands raised US$16m in 2024, according to data from Crunchbase, making up just over 5% of funding for the US beauty industry.
That declined from $73m and a just under 10% proportion in 2022, amid a wider decline in US beauty funding.
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