Ami Colé Wasn't Just Makeup—It Was a Love Letter to Us
Launched in 2021 by Glossier veteran Diarrha N'Diaye-Mbaye, Ami Colé combines the influences of Harlem and Senegal that shaped N'Diaye-Mbaye's sense of beauty, named after her mother. What began as an Instagram focus group during the nascent stages of building Ami Colé transformed into a full-fledged community championing a brand that delivered results. The products and support spoke for themselves, and as a result, Ami Colé eventually raised over $3 million in funds and secured real estate in more than 600 Sephora stores after launching in the retailer in 2022.
Ami Colé's signature tangerine packaging became our version of Tiffany Blue—instantly recognizable, deeply cherished, and proudly displayed on vanities, in makeup bags, and TikTok makeup tutorials. However, Ami Colé's orange signaled something more radical: accessibility, intention, and a sense of belonging. It didn't whisper exclusivity from behind a glass case—it smiled back at you with familiar warmth, saying, You're seen. You're centered. You're home. We weren't fed too-red, barely-deep, or far-too-ashy finishes. In fact, natural, everyday dewiness was the cornerstone on which Ami Colé was built.
Excellence was many customers' first love—a deep chocolate tint that was light enough for your lips' natural hue to shine but pigmented enough to offer a subtle brown veil (even better when paired with the Midnight or Cafe Touba lip liners, which arrived years later). Some found a home in the white tube of the satin-finish Skin-Enhancing Tint. I found relief after swiping the former's offshoot, Skin-Enhancing Stick, which connected with my neutral (sort of golden) undertones to reveal a filter-like drydown I hadn't experienced with any other complexion stick. (Read our review here.)
Few brands made me feel this considered, this prioritized, this seen. Ami Colé didn't just make good products; it was home for the ridges on our two-toned lips, pining for an everyday glossy (not sticky) finish, or the different textures and tones on our skin just looking for a complexion boost. Or as founder N'Diaye-Mbaye puts it in her farewell op-ed in The Cut, 'Better yet, we were on the shelves of the people whose needs matched what our products offered.'
You didn't need to be Black to shop at Ami Colé and understand its messaging, which was abundantly clear: these products are designed to solve the issues that Black consumers had battled for decades. Gone were the days of scathing social media uproar in brands' comments following a lazy complexion launch that left us with three deep shades and numerous light ones. We didn't need to wait for a brand's second-round relaunch after consulting with a Black influencer. Ami Colé got us the first time. A purchase meant more than supporting a Black-founded, Black-marketed brand; it was a signal to beauty's behemoths and corporations that intentional branding, thoughtful research and development, and community building are not insurmountable tasks. The road wasn't easy, but when is it ever for a Black founder? Still, N'Diaye-Mbaye kept the mission afloat even when she was drowning herself.
However, even with best-selling SKUs, a legion of Ami Colé devotees, and a laundry list of accolades built in four years, N'Diaye-Mbaye explains that Ami Colé couldn't outrun damning expectations from investors who rallied behind the brand's inclusive messaging when inclusivity and diversity were the buzzwords du jour during the height of George Floyd protests, but ultimately sang a new song under the scope of today's anti-DEI world. '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 explains.
Soon—September 2025, to be exact—there will be a world in which my Lip Oil will run out, brushes will lose their muscle, and lip liners will be worn to the nub. So yes, I stocked up. But more than that, I'm holding onto the feeling this brand gave me—one of joy, pride, and reflection, because that's the part you can't just reorder.
And while we won't be able to restock forever, we can savor what we have now. Below, ELLE editors rounded up a few of their Ami Colé favorites, products that made us feel most like ourselves—and that we'll be using down to the very last drop.
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Forbes
13 minutes ago
- Forbes
Miraval At 30: The Iconic Wellness Brand Expands To The Red Sea
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And yet, Miraval remains a Zen-like leader, doubling down on what it does best (and without showing much sweat on its brow). Part of Hyatt's luxury portfolio since 2017, Miraval is marking its 30th anniversary with a bold expansion this winter called Miraval The Red Sea. It's the brand's first international location and the only wellness-focused hotel on Shura Island, a pristine stretch of Saudi Arabia's Red Sea coast being developed into a major 'sustainable tourism' destination, with properties under construction by Four Seasons, Fairmont, Raffles, Rosewood and others. Set across more than three million square feet of beach and desert landscape, the new Miraval resort will feature 180 rooms and villas, extensive spa and fitness offerings, a Life in Balance Culinary Kitchen, and immersive new experiences, including Hammam Journeys and a Middle Eastern take on Miraval's signature floating meditation therapy. 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Los Angeles Times
2 hours ago
- Los Angeles Times
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Yahoo
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It's the new mass-affluent middleweight class, financially secure but two zeros short of private-jet territory.' Inflation, ballooning home values and a decades-long push into stock markets by average investors have lifted millions into millionairehood. A June report from Swiss bank UBS found about one-tenth of American adults are members of the seven-digit club, with 1,000 freshly minted millionaires added daily last year. Thirty years ago, the IRS counted 1.6 million Americans with a net worth of $1 million or more. UBS — using data from the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund and central banks of countries around the globe — put the number at 23.8 million in the U.S. last year, a nearly 15-fold increase. The expanding ranks of millionaires come as the gulf between rich and poor widens. The richest 10% of Americans hold two-thirds of household wealth, according to the Federal Reserve, averaging $8.1 million each. The bottom 50% hold 3% of wealth, with an average of just $60,000 to their names. Federal Reserve data also shows there are differences by race. Asian people outpace white people in the U.S. in median wealth, while Black and Hispanic people trail in their net worth. Barley was working as a journalist when her newspaper ended its pension program and she got a lump-sum payout of about $5,000. A colleague convinced her to invest it in a retirement account, and ever since, she's stashed away whatever she could. The investments dipped at first during the Great Recession but eventually started growing. In time, she came to find catharsis in amassing savings, going home and checking her account balances when she had a tough day at work. Last month, after one such day, she realized the moment had come. 'Did you know that we're millionaires?' she asked her husband. 'Good job, honey,' Barley says he replied, unfazed. It brought no immediate change. Like many millionaires, much of her wealth is in long-term investments and her home, not easy-to-access cash. She still lives in her modest Orlando, Florida, house, socks away half her paycheck, fills the napkin holder with takeout napkins and lines trash cans with grocery bags. Still, Barley says it feels powerful to cross a threshold she never imagined reaching as a child. 'But it's not as glamorous as the ideas in your head,' she says. All wealth is relative. To thousandaires, $1 million is the stuff of dreams. To billionaires, it's a rounding error. Either way, it takes twice as much cash today to match the buying power of 30 years ago. A net worth of $1 million in 1995 is equivalent to about $2.1 million today, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. A seven-figure net worth is, to some, as outdated a yardstick as a six-figure salary. Nonetheless, 'millionaire' is peppered in everything from politics to popular music as shorthand for rich. 'It's a nice round number but it's a point in a longer journey,' says Dan Uden, a 41-year-old from Providence, Rhode Island, who works in information technology and who hit the million-dollar mark last month. 'It definitely gives you some room to breathe.' No other country comes close to the U.S. in the sheer number of millionaires, though relative to population, UBS found Switzerland and Luxembourg had higher rates. Kenneth Carow, a finance professor at Indiana University's Kelley School of Business, says commonalities emerge among today's millionaires. The vast majority own stocks and a home. Most live below their means. They value education and teach financial responsibility to their children. 'The dream of becoming a millionaire,' Carow says, 'has become more obtainable.' Jim Wang, 45, a software engineer-turned finance blogger from Fulton, Maryland, says even if hitting $1 million was essentially 'a non-event' for him and his wife, it still held weight for him as the son of immigrants who saved money by turning the heat off on winter nights. The private jets he envisioned as a kid may not have materialized at the million-dollar threshold, but he still sees it as a marker that brings a certain level of security. 'It's possible, even with a regular job,' he says. 'You just have to be diligent and consistent.' The resilience of financial markets and the ease of investing in broad-based, low-fee index funds has fueled the balances of many millionaires who don't earn massive salaries or inherit family fortunes. Among them is a burgeoning community of younger millionaires born out of the movement known as FIRE, for Financial Independence Retire Early. Jason Breck, 48, of Fishers, Indiana, embraced FIRE and reached the million-dollar mark nine years ago. He promptly quit his job in automotive marketing, where he generally earned around $60,000 a year but managed to stow away around 70% of his pay. Now, Breck and his wife spend several months a year traveling. Despite being retired, they continue to grow their balance by sticking to a tight budget and keeping expenses to $1,500 a month when they're in the U.S and a few hundred dollars more when they travel. Hitting their goal hasn't translated to luxury. There is no lawn crew to cut the grass, no Netflix or Amazon Prime, no Uber Eats. They fly economy. They drive a 2005 Toyota. 'It's not a golden ticket like it was in the past,' Breck says. 'For us, a million dollars buys us freedom and peace of mind. We're not yacht rich, but for us, we're time rich.' ___ Matt Sedensky can be reached at msedensky@ and
