Diarrha N’Diaye-Mbaye has turned a new leaf.

As AFROTECH™ previously told you, N’Diaye-Mbaye announced the closing of her beauty brand Ami Colé in July, which was on Sephora shelves across North America. Rather than being able to focus on moves that would have positioned the company for longevity, she admitted to allocating time to appraising investors who were not all consistent in their support of inclusivity.

“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, to my ears, from what it sounded like in 2020,” she told The Cut.

Joining SKIMS

N’Diaye-Mbaye said her belief in beauty hasn’t changed and that she was optimistic about what’s ahead. It appears her journey has led her to SKIMS, the shapewear brand founded by Kim Kardashian alongside Emma Grede and her husband, Jens Grede (valued at $4 billion in 2023).

N’Diaye-Mbaye will now serve as its executive vice president of beauty and fragrance. The Cut newly reports that she will lead product development, innovation, and brand strategy, carrying experience from companies such as Glossier and L’Oréal, per WWD. She intends to bring to the company “best-in-class formulas and a customer-first mentality,” per The Cut, and will be tasked with “bridging the gap from clothing to makeup, hair, and fragrance.”

“My commitment to an inclusive beauty industry runs deep. I am so thrilled to be joining SKIMS to stand up their anticipated Beauty and Fragrance vertical. Together with Kim Kardashian and Jens Grede we are committed to creating a magical beauty experience for every single body,” she said in a post shared on LinkedIn. “For the past 15 years I spent countless hours listening to the beauty exchange on salon floors, selling fragrance at my local Sephora, working corporate and most recently building Ami Colé brick by brick — I am simply obsessed. It’s an honor to bring that product and community obsession to the global stage where the sky truly is the limit and inclusivity is simply tablestakes.”

She continued, “It’s important to share that it’s okay to dust your self and try again. Listen to your gut, let your intuition drive, and let go of the idea of a perfect blue print and the universe do its thing! ‘You are part of something way bigger’ as Beyoncé would say.”

Kardashian commented, per WWD:

“I want Skims Beauty to be a place where everyone feels represented, and there is no better person to help us do that than Diarrha. She has an incomparable talent at marrying the emotional and tactical sides of beauty, and her instincts and experience for innovation and authenticity will power our brand.”