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Ami Colé beauty is an ode to melanin-rich skin

Ami Colé founder Diarrha N'Diaye, New York

Ami Colé, New York

Ami Colé founder Diarrha N'Diaye, New York

New York – Ami Colé is an ascending Black-owned beauty brand providing women of colour with non-toxic, high-quality cosmetics.

Initially launched with three products – its Skin-Enhancing Tint to even out skin tone, a nourishing Lip Treatment Oil and a Light-Catching Highlighter – the brand focuses on enhancing natural beauty and skin appearance, using ingredients like baobab seed oil extract, which is native to Sub-Saharan Africa.

The brainchild of Diarrha N’Diaye, a first-generation Senegalese-American, Ami Colé is described as celebrating melanin-rich skin in all of its excellence. ‘After all these years there is still a lack of elevated women of colour brands telling relatable stories and offering non-toxic, quality beauty products. There are even fewer [direct-to-consumer] brands,’ says N’Diaye, the brand’s CEO. ‘Ami Colé is about discovering, defining, celebrating and exploring the excellence of those with melanin-rich skin, and using nourishing, non-toxic ingredients.’

Ami Colé represents a new generation of Black beauty founders and brands claiming space in the mainstream beauty market. For more case studies, explore Reclaiming Black Beauty.

Magpie designs friendlier therapy for Gen Alpha

Magic Canvas designed by Magpie Studio. Illustration by Lucas Garcia, UK

London – The branding studio has created an illustrative visual identity for children’s art therapy practice Magic Canvas.

Magic Canvas, which uses art therapy techniques to unlock and understand events in children’s past and come to terms with early experiences, wanted to move away from the clinical, inaccessible way that art therapy is typically communicated. Working with Magpie, its new branding uses a palette of Crayola pastel colours and visuals inspired by children’s drawings.

By taking this child-like, unpretentious approach to its identity, and one that targets children rather than parents, Magic Canvas hopes to overcome children’s fears about psychotherapy. ‘We recognised the need to balance play with professionalism – to appear fun for kids, while inspiring trust in their primary carers,’ says David Azurdia, creative partner at Magpie Studio.

At a time when young people are more aware of their mental health than ever before, the therapy practice is being rebranded for the highly creative Gen Alpha.

TikTok could soon be a Gen Z job site

Global – The social media platform is testing a tool to connect recruiters and TikTokers.

The pilot program, according to Axios, is designed to help young people find jobs on TikTok, via a separate web page accessible via the main video app. On this new network, brands will be able to post available jobs, with a focus on entry-level positions.

Rather than applying with a traditional CV, users will be able to post a TikTok video resumé that doubles as an elevator pitch and unique introduction to the applicant. The program is now being tested with a beta group of brands, including major sports leagues.

This isn’t the first time TikTok has been used as a recruitment tool. Brands such as HBO and Hollister have been using its creative Gen Z audience as a way to recruit for social media positions and graduate schemes. A subculture of TikTokers offering career advice has also thrived on the platform.

As we explore in our latest Youth microtrend Out-of-work Networks, we’re likely to see an explosion of branded career support systems, as Gen Z graduates continue to face the repercussions of the pandemic on their working lives.

Unity Works scheme

Stat: Affluent Millennials are hungry for travel

Camp Sarika by Amangiri, US

The pandemic isn’t dampening wealthy US consumers’ appetite for wanderlust, with more than a third having already booked leisure travel for 2021.

This is according to a recent survey of 1,000 US consumers conducted by Accenture and Tripadvisor. Zoning in on high-income travellers earning over £70,787 ($100,000, €81,991), The Future of Travel survey reports that 34% of affluent Americans have already booked a trip for the year ahead. Among high-income Millennials, 32% have booked leisure travel.

While about one in five of all respondents say they will travel internationally, this share is greater among affluent consumers, with about a quarter surveyed considering booking an overseas trip. For all respondents, safety remains front-of-mind, with 28% waiting for herd immunity before booking any travel, while 22% are waiting to be vaccinated before doing so.

With Covid-19 concerns still apparent, for affluent holidaymakers in particular, Anti-social Sanctuaries could provide a solution – premium destinations that promise liberation, as well as total safety and seclusion.