What Diarrha N’Diaye’s Appointment at Skims Beauty Means

When Diarrha N’Diaye announced in September that her beloved beauty brand, Ami Colé, was closing, it sent a ripple through the beauty community. For many, Ami Colé was exactly where they got their clean and minimalist makeup that also centered Black women. N’Diaye built a loyal following with products formulated specifically for deep and dark skin tones using “clean” ingredients, offering alternatives to mainstream brands that have long failed to prioritize inclusivity or safety for Black beauty lovers.

Now, N’Diaye revealed her next chapter. She’s joining Kim Kardashian’s empire as executive vice president of Skims Beauty, the brand’s highly anticipated foray into cosmetics and skincare.

“I have sat on salon floors, worked eight-hour shifts at beauty retailers, started a company, and am now taking an executive seat at a beauty brand promising to bring a fresh approach to beauty,” N’Diaye told The Cut. “I have been around the block, and I’m happy to bring this vault of knowledge to Kim’s beauty closet to work on a new wave of inclusive beauty for all. The sky really is the limit, and I want every little brown girl to know that.”

"I want Skims Beauty to be a place where everyone feels represented, and there was no better person to help us do that than Diarrha,” Kardashian said in a statement.

@justaregularwhitegirl Founder of Ami Cole is coming back as executive director of @SKIMS beauty. What are your thoughts? Will you be trying #amicole #skims #blackowned ♬ original sound - justaregularwhitegirl

The appointment arrives at a pivotal moment for both women. N’Diaye’s independent brand shuttered under financial pressure and sustainability issues, while Kardashian has been teasing the relaunch of her beauty ambitions under the Skims umbrella.

“Skims Beauty… that is coming next, and that’s going to be so fucking major,” Kardashian said on the Call Her Daddy podcast. “I loved KKW Beauty, and then I sold the company, then brought it back, so I sold that to Skims. We’re going to make it so much fun—fragrance and makeup and all the things.”

She also teased the return of one of her most popular products: “The lip liners—they’re coming,” she said. “They are coming. And the KKW Beauty, like the, you know, the original. I feel like I tried to do something. I love when I, like, know what works and then try something and I know it doesn’t work, and that’s OK. And so we’re going to bring back what works and we’re going to make it so major and so great.”

But the biggest question looming over N’Diaye’s move has more to do with optics and authenticity. Will Skims Beauty genuinely champion inclusivity, or is this another case of a major celebrity brand bringing in a Black executive as a symbolic gesture?

“It’s a little sad she didn’t get more investment to keep up her company," One TikTok user wrote. "But she’s a smart businesswoman. If she’s good enough to lead Skims Beauty, she was good enough to have more investment in her own venture. Private equity failed her.”

TikTok creator @plaintej voiced a similar mix of admiration and skepticism.

“Choosing to align herself with one of the most controversial brands in the beauty space is very interesting," she said. "The girls have big, big, big problems with Skims, so I’m very curious about how this is going to play out in terms of public perception. For Skims, this is a very good move—to have a Black woman as the face of your brand is great. But for Diarrha, I just truly truly hope and pray that she is so selfish in this moment and getting exactly what she wants out of this.”

“I’ve never bought anything from Skims & I’ll be holding that position,” one person wrote. “Sad coz we could have had an amazing beauty brand but now she’s gone to the dark side.”

Regardless of the reaction, N’Diaye is still amped about her new job.

“I meant what I said about my love, dedication, and obsession with our beloved beauty industry,” she told The Cut. “I am proud to have lived my dream out loud, failed, and dusted myself off into an amazing new opportunity to continue to do the work.”

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