Damilola Akinnaike is redefining safe skincare
Written by Marianne Olaleye, JAIKU
Damilola Akinnaike’s line of pregnancy-safe and postpartum beauty products started as a homemade concoction, now it’s in Selfridges and the winner of BGF x Glossier’s 2024 Black Beauty Grant.
Photographed by Krystal Nuevill
AMI London was created out of necessity. In 2019, when Damilola Akinnaike fell pregnant, she suffered from hormonal imbalances. That meant breakouts, hyperpigmentation, and sore spots… symptoms that are all too common especially with Black and Brown women. The only issue was, nothing sold on the high street was safe to use.
“I had burns all over my face,” she says. “I could barely even put water on my skin.”
While the doctor had prescribed her steroids, she wanted something that was also suitable to use while she was nursing. So she made her own concoction. Through research Akinnaike found that by mixing shea butter, rosehip oil, avocado oil, jojoba oil, and mango butter, hers and her daughter’s skin had improved within a matter of weeks.
“I felt this calling to help other families and raise money for charity,” she says. Producing a small batch of the balm, she sold her product on Instagram raising over £1,000 for a charity called The Good Exchange to help provide necessities like baby food and nappies to those in need.
That’s when the fans started flocking. “They were like ‘We love the product so much. We need more.’ And that’s how the idea came to me,” she adds.
Akkinaike enrolled in an organic skincare formulation course to boost her skillset and by June 2020, AMI London was born.
Through ups and downs, it was Glossier’s Black Beauty Grant Programme that rescued her from the brink in 2023. “I was a runner up, so I got £500,” she says, “And even though it hasn’t been smooth sailing, I thought I’m definitely on the right track.” In fact it was one of the programme’s mentors that encouraged her to apply again. And in 2024, she won.
Winning gave her the confidence boost she so desperately needed, but on a practical level, it enabled Akinnaike to secure a manufacturer - expanding her production output by five times – and a social media manager, to take that responsibility off her plate.
Black Beauty Grant Graduation 2024, Shot by Hannah Faith, Delika Studios.
With a strengthened product line of vegan-friendly products including body butters, face oils and skincare tools, she was put in touch with an agency to curate a pop-up shop at Selfridges.
The experience was fantastic exposure for her brand and connecting with her customers gave her a renewed focus on the company’s vision and mission for the future.
Committed to transparency, safe ingredients, and research, Akkinaike wants to use her platform to conduct little-known skin health studies, as well as securing global distribution for her brand. “We want to do studies to make sure what Black women are using is safe,” she says.
Akinnaike’s resilience and refreshing approach to business proves that you can create a beauty brand with lasting impact.
“Not giving up, even when things get really tough,” she says, “Is one of my proudest moments.”
Thank you so much to Damilola for sharing such her journey with us.
Connect with Damilola here or read more about the Black Beauty Grant programme here.
We’re eager to learn, collaborate, and share knowledge, so if you’re interested in working with us, say hello@blackgirlfest.com
BGF x
