Ami Colé, the Black-owned beauty brand renowned for its clean, melanin-rich products, recently announced that it will officially close in September 2025.
Founded by Diarrha N’Diaye-Mbaye in 2021, the brand earned acclaim not long after its launch, becoming a favorite of many celebrities, including singer Kelly Rowland and actress Mindy Kaling. From the viral Lip Treatment Oil to the Skin-Enhancing Tint, N’Diaye-Mbaye’s products were created for individuals with darker skin tones, as they often find it hard to get products that go with their skin color.
Earning over 80 beauty awards, the brand became one of 30 Black women to raise over $1 million for their businesses in 2020. This was after the murder of George Floyd, when investors and corporations started throwing their weight behind diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.
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Ami Colé continued to raise more capital from well-meaning investors, including Imaginary Ventures, Debut Capital, and Female Founders Fund.
In 2022, the brand moved quickly onto the shelves of Sephora, starting with 270 doors and building to 600 doors nationwide within 16 months of its launch, N’Diaye-Mbaye told The Cut.
Even though the brand was backed by over $3 million in venture capital, its shutdown shows that a firm’s longevity cannot always be attributed to the millions of dollars it has raised. As N’Diaye-Mbaye put it, one of the challenges her brand faced was that there was no connection between her vision and the expectations of her investors. Also, her brand couldn’t compete with larger companies that had bigger financial backing.
“I wanted to make the most of the opportunity, so I invested heavily in marketing and prayed. But I couldn’t compete with the deep pockets of corporate brands; at retail stores, prime shelf space comes at a price, and we couldn’t afford it,” she explained.
“As we tried to grow, our sales wavered. We made operational decisions that felt necessary at the time — like scaling up production to meet potential demand — without truly knowing how the market would respond. One week we’d be completely sold out because an influencer mentioned us; the next, we’d be stuck with inventory we couldn’t move,” she continued.
“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 — 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.”
Four years after her brand officially launched, N’Diaye-Mbaye said, “the world feels upside down.”
“We’ve got this president, climbing tariffs, and marketing costs that are brutal for small brands like mine. And while my story isn’t unique, it still hurts to watch an industry preach inclusivity while remaining so unforgiving,” she said to The Cut.
Her brand’s products will remain available until September. And even though her company is closing, N’Diaye-Mbaye said her work in the industry isn’t done.
“I still believe in beauty — at every level — and I’m looking forward to discovering what comes next,” she said.
Born to Senegalese parents and raised in Harlem, Diarrha worked at L’Oréal and Glossier before starting her makeup brand.
Ami Colé’s startling announcement comes as big beauty brands such as Estée Lauder and Coty start reducing their workforce amid declining sales and a challenging global market.
