The global beauty industry has seen huge shifts over the last decade, including those that are driven by a growing awareness of diversity, and the imperative to serve consumers often overlooked by mainstream brands. In Africa, this narrative is even more compelling. A continent that is home to over a billion people, Africa offers a diverse consumer base with needs rooted in culture, climate, and unique beauty practices. However, for years, Africa’s beauty market was either marginalized or reduced to a niche focus, despite the continent’s rich repository of ingredients and traditions that have shaped global beauty practices for centuries, finding success in the process.
Africa’s burgeoning economies, growing middle class, and increasing digital connectivity are sparking a transformation, with consumers demanding products tailored to their unique identities. Brands from across the globe are taking note, yet many still lack the cultural insights, operational frameworks, and understanding necessary to navigate such a nuanced market. This gap has created fertile ground for consultancies like The Colors, co-founded by Haweya Mohamed in 2019, to emerge as critical players in shaping the future of beauty and consumer goods for multicultural markets.
Revolutionizing Multicultural Beauty
Haweya Mohamed and her co-founder Ammin Youssouf launched The Colors with an ambitious vision, which is to reframe diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) as a business imperative, rather than an ethical afterthought. “We don’t frame this as DEI,” Mohamed tells BeautyMatter. “This is business, pure and simple,” she continues. With this philosophy, The Colors has positioned itself not merely as a consultant, but as a movement championing what Mohamed calls “multicultural transformation.” This shift parallels the digital transformation wave of the 1990s, an apt analogy she uses to highlight the inevitability of addressing multicultural markets for any company that aims to remain relevant. This implies that in the same way digital emerged and opened communication channels, DEI becoming the business norm means that companies need to change if they want to remain relevant.
Based in Paris but with roots deeply intertwined with African and global multiculturalism, The Colors operates as a consultancy aimed at creating bridges between small, independent brands and the international conglomerates that dominate the luxury beauty sector. The consultancy is built on a foundation of practicality and impact. Rather than focusing solely on grandiose conversations, The Colors is determined to turn discussions into tangible business opportunities for the brands they serve. By working directly with founders, venture capitalists, ingredient suppliers, and retailers, the organization cultivates ecosystems where innovation thrives and small brands can scale. “Since launching our conference in 2019, we’ve highlighted brands like 4.5.6 Skin (formerly RYS Cosmetics) and connected them with investors such as Cathay Capital and FAB Co-Creation Studio Ventures,” Mohammed says. “Despite the pandemic's slowing momentum, we supported indie brands like 23 Beauty and Origin Beauty through a short acceleration program,” she continues.
One of The Colors’ core principles is rooted in demographic reality—80% of the world’s population is nonwhite. Yet, as Youssouf pointed out, the beauty industry has historically failed to cater to this majority. “We’re not talking about a niche market here,” he explained to BeautyMatter. “When the majority of global consumers are multicultural, this isn’t diversity—it’s just good business sense.” The consultancy’s ethos is to make multicultural beauty a universal experience, much like K-beauty transcended its origins to become a global phenomenon. The Colors likens its vision to that of a celebrated music label—“It’s like Zoumoton Records—Black music that became loved everywhere. Even in a small French village, you’ll find someone playing it at a wedding. This is the ambition for Black beauty—to make it for everyone,” Youssouf enjoins.
Through partnerships with indie beauty founders and global retailers, The Colors builds strategies that ensure multicultural consumers see themselves reflected in products. Whether it’s through the valorization of African ingredients or creating products that address specific skin and haircare needs, The Colors is leading the charge in rewriting the narrative for multicultural beauty.
Supporting African Indie Brands for Global Impact
A key pillar of The Colors’ work is its commitment to supporting independent brands, particularly those led by Black and African entrepreneurs. These founders often bring unmatched expertise in creating solutions for multicultural consumers, born from personal experience. Yet, they are frequently excluded from the broader beauty conversation, lacking access to funding, declining interest in investments, mentorship, and retail opportunities.
To counteract this, The Colors has cultivated an expansive network of over 300 professionals, including nearly 100 beauty founders with deep insights into multicultural markets. These individuals, Mohamed explains, often create products out of necessity—solving problems no one else has addressed. “This network is invaluable,” Mohamed says, emphasizing how the collective knowledge of these founders creates a strategic advantage for anticipating consumer needs.
The consultancy operates with a long-term view, helping small brands scale sustainably. It connects them with venture capitalists interested in investing in the multicultural market and helps them navigate retail spaces. Through this, The Colors is enabling local brands to secure space alongside international giants, fostering both visibility and sales. “We focus on establishing pathways for indie brands to connect with industry experts like DSM-Firmenich. At our annual event in May 2025, we will create concrete opportunities for promising brands through one-on-one sessions with retailers and investors,” Mohamed says. “Visibility remains crucial, and in New York, we showcased Elikya Beauty, Scent Of Africa, Travertine Atelier, Harlem Candle Co., Matteo Parfums, Moodeaux, and World of Chris Collins. This summer, our partnership with The Black Perfumers for an event in Grasse, France, will further elevate multicultural perfumers and their contributions.
While The Colors has a global focus, Africa remains central to its mission. They’re tapping into, and harnessing the power of, the global African diaspora. “The African diaspora is central to our work. We collaborate with networks like The Black Network in France (founded by Tanguy Ngafaounain-Tabissi) and the African Diaspora Network represented by investor Josh Ghaim during our event in New York,” Youssouf says. We also support diaspora entrepreneurs, such as Feven Tsehaye in Ethiopia, whose brand Chakka Origins was the first to create and register in Ethiopia an INCI[International Nomenclature of Cosmetic Ingredients] for Ethiopian cardamom essential oil,” he continues.
Mohamed and Youssouf’s consultancy also works closely with African governments, ingredient suppliers, and entrepreneurs to strengthen the continent’s beauty ecosystem. Beyond exporting raw materials, The Colors is pushing for the creation of local brands that can compete on an international scale. “Africa has an immense wealth of ingredients,” Youssouf says, citing ongoing conversations with Morocco and Comoros about integrating their indigenous resources into global beauty formulations. The consultancy encourages sustainability, fair trade, and the development of local production systems, ensuring that Africa’s beauty industry grows inclusively and equitably.
The Colors also serves as a platform for fostering collaboration across the African diaspora. By bringing together founders, investors, and industry leaders at its events, the consultancy creates opportunities for dialogue and partnership. These events, held in global hubs like New York, Paris, and Grasse, facilitate knowledge exchange and help brands prepare for the next stages of growth.
Challenging Industry Myths and Rewriting the Rules
A recurring theme in The Colors’ work is its focus on breaking down outdated narratives. For example, Mohamed challenges the concept of “diversity” itself, arguing that it implies a minority perspective when, in reality, multicultural consumers represent the majority. She also rejects the notion of “inclusion” as a passive process, advocating instead for active invitations that bring diverse voices into the fold. “It’s not about being accepted into someone else’s space,” Mohamed asserted, “[but] about creating spaces where everyone thrives,” she continues.
Another myth The Colors is eager to debunk is the belief that multicultural beauty is solely the domain of Black or Brown consumers. The consultancy aims to create products that transcend racial boundaries, appealing to anyone who values quality and innovation. “We want people in [places like] Poland or Finland to look at Black beauty products and say, ‘I like this because it’s good for my skin,’” Mohamed explains.
The organization also pushes back against the idea that beauty conglomerates lack the capacity to innovate. While large groups like L’Oréal and Estée Lauder have historically been slow to adapt and are now learning to tap into this audience, Mohamed believes their survival depends on acquiring and learning from the small, independent brands that are setting the pace for innovation. “[Most of these conglomerates] can’t innovate internally anymore,” she says. “They don’t have the stars, the resources, or the knowledge. That’s where we come in,” she continues.
The Road Ahead: Multicultural Transformation as the New Normal
The Colors’ mission is not without challenges. Educating brands about the business potential of multicultural markets often requires shifting deeply ingrained mindsets. Mohamed likened this transformation to the early days of the internet when many companies resisted digital innovation. “You can’t escape the future,” she said. “The question is, will you adapt, or will you become the next Kodak?” To accelerate this transformation, The Colors is prioritizing the creation of success stories that demonstrate the viability and profitability of multicultural beauty. By showcasing brands that achieve double-digit growth, the consultancy hopes to inspire investors and retailers to take multicultural markets seriously. “Success breeds success,” Youssouf emphasizes. “The more we can prove the value of this market, the harder it will be to ignore.”
The consultancy also sees itself as a hub for ongoing education and collaboration. Its annual events, held in cities like New York and Paris, bring together stakeholders from across the beauty ecosystem. These gatherings are designed to foster open dialogue, spark innovation, and help brands anticipate future trends. The Colors is more than a consultancy. It describes itself as a catalyst for change in the global beauty industry. By championing multicultural transformation as a business imperative, the organization is helping brands navigate a rapidly evolving consumer landscape. From empowering African entrepreneurs to challenging industry norms, The Colors is rewriting the rules of beauty and creating a future where diversity is not an exception but the standard.
As Africa rises as a key player in the global beauty market, The Colors’ work offers a blueprint for how brands can thrive by embracing multiculturalism. “This isn’t about charity,” Youssouf concludes. “This is about growth, opportunity, and the next frontier of innovation. The time to act is now.”
