In a move that has shaken the beauty industry, beloved Black-owned beauty brand Ami Colé announced they will cease production in September 2025.
The decision marks the end of a groundbreaking run that redefined clean beauty and inclusivity for melanated skin.
Founded in 2021 by Diarrha N’Diaye-Mbaye, Ami Colé launched during the COVID-19 pandemic as a love letter to women of color and a commitment to clean beauty made with melanin-rich skin in mind.
From its grassroots beginnings, where N’Diaye-Mbaye transparently shared product development with her followers on Instagram, the brand quickly became a cultural movement, not just a cosmetics line.
“Ami Colé wasn’t just selling lip oils and skin tints,” wrote Harper’s Bazaar in a feature recently. “It was building a community. It was making space. It was pushing back against the industry’s long-standing erasure of Black consumers.”
From Startup Star to Industry Staple
Ami Colé’s success was meteoric. Just a year after launch, the brand secured a coveted partnership with Sephora, first appearing in 270 stores before expanding to over 600 locations nationwide. Its hero products, like the lightweight Skin-Enhancing Tint and universally loved Lip Treatment Oil, were praised for addressing a major market gap: clean, everyday beauty essentials specifically designed for Black and brown skin.
N’Diaye-Mbaye, a former L’Oréal marketing executive, made it her mission to reimagine the beauty aisle.
“As a Black-owned and women-owned brand, reaching this milestone means everything, not only to me but to our entire community who helped us get here,” she told Bazaar in 2022.
The Costs of Inclusivity—and Investor Apathy
Despite early buzz, increasing costs and waning investor enthusiasm for “diversity” appear to have contributed to Ami Colé’s heartbreaking decision to shut down. N’Diaye-Mbaye candidly addressed the issue in her announcement, pointing to shifting attitudes in venture capital as a major hurdle.
“Instead of focusing on the healthy, sustainable future of the company and meeting the needs of our loyal fan base, I rode a temperamental wave of appraising investors,” she said. “Some of whom seemed to have an attitude toward equity and ‘betting big on inclusivity’ that changed its tune a lot, to my ears, from what it sounded like in 2020.”
Even with support from Bold, L’Oréal’s venture-capital fund, in 2024, Ami Colé could not overcome the rising overhead costs and the growing indifference of investors who once rallied behind Black-owned brands in the wake of George Floyd’s murder and the Black Lives Matter protests.
A Reflection of a Bigger Crisis
Ami Colé’s closure speaks to a broader, unsettling trend. As public interest in racial equity initiatives cools, many Black-owned brands are losing institutional support, even after proving their value and viability.
For founder N’Diaye-Mbaye, the decision to close wasn’t a failure—it was a conscious step informed by integrity and care.
Marianne Williamson, entrepreneur and author, praised her transparency:
“Ami Colé shutting down even though they did so many things the right way hurts my heart,” she wrote on Instagram. “But it’s a true testament to the type of founder Diarrha is. She was so transparent and clear in this article, and I’m happy she’s using her platform to speak about her journey as a Black founder and some of the challenges we face—especially in terms of venture capital and mentorship.”
What Comes Next?
While Ami Colé products will remain available through September, N’Diaye-Mbaye’s impact is lasting.
Her work built a blueprint for inclusive beauty that other brands can follow, and her decision to speak openly about the structural barriers she faced is empowering a new generation of Black entrepreneurs.
The beauty industry has lost a gem—but perhaps gained a louder call for change.
