“Celebrate yourself… and stay positive!”
― Khoudia Diop
“I’ve learned to ignore the negative people and just be a living example of confidence and self-love.”
― Khoudia Diop
“I feel beautiful when my makeup looks great.”
― Khoudia Diop
“To this day, the first thing that I do every morning is look in the mirror. I’ll tell myself, ‘Look at your skin. Look at your teeth and your smile. You are beautiful.’”
― Khoudia Diop
“Self-love is not something that you get in one day or two days. It’s an ongoing process, and I go through it every day.”
― Khoudia Diop
“I was mostly bullied by my classmates. People would come up to me and say, ‘You’re so dark.’ I’d always fight back by calling out one of their insecurities, like, ‘Well, you have a big nose.’ Today, I’d tell them that I really love them. I’d thank them because they made me realize how unique I am.”
― Khoudia Diop
“Learn yourself and love yourself.”
― Khoudia Diop
“Being teased and losing my self value eventually ended up inspiring me to be a better version of myself.”
― Khoudia Diop
“I learned to find things to love about myself and to celebrate them.”
― Khoudia Diop
“For those who feel the need to be bullies, I ignore them.”
― Khoudia Diop
“Diversity is what makes life interesting.”
― Khoudia Diop
“Negative energy is wasteful.”
― Khoudia Diop
“Even though I was very young, it was traumatizing seeing someone try weird things on their skin all for the sake of being lighter. It’s as common as relaxing your hair or maybe even brushing your teeth. I had friends not wanting to do it, but their moms gave them creams to help lighten their skin. That’s how accessible it is.”
― Khoudia Diop
“I want to inspire other young women of color and empower them. I want them to know that they can do and be anything they dream of.”
― Khoudia Diop
“I use Aveeno Daily Moisturizing Lotion for my body and Aveeno Clear Complexion Daily Moisturizer for my face. I love how it smooths my skin and keeps it soft and shiny all day.”
― Khoudia Diop
“Make Up For Ever has foundation options that work for me – and everyone.”
― Khoudia Diop
“I hear a lot from women in Africa. And not just from dark-skinned women but from all women struggling because of insecurity. They thank me and tell me that I inspire them. And that makes me feel really, really proud.”
― Khoudia Diop
“We need more women of colour in fashion, period.”
― Khoudia Diop
“When I was in high school in Paris, some photographers wanted my photos and asked if I was interested in modeling. I wasn’t interested because I wanted to get my education first. I was scared because I didn’t know what I was getting into.”
― Khoudia Diop
“The message I have for my sisters is that how you look doesn’t matter as long as you feel beautiful inside.”
― Khoudia Diop
“I want to inspire young girls and let them know that we are all goddesses inside and out.”
― Khoudia Diop
“You are OK however you are, and you are very beautiful.”
― Khoudia Diop
“I grew up in Senegal, where more than 50 percent of the women bleach their skin, and skin bleaching is a huge deal. I grew up seeing my cousins and my aunts using it.”
― Khoudia Diop
“My skin is dark and glows. It almost seems blue, and it’s supersoft.”
― Khoudia Diop
“I was in Italy on vacation, and I saw my reflection in a mirror. I saw how unique my skin was and why people stop me on the street to ask about it. I started falling in love with it.”
― Khoudia Diop
“I was teased a lot, growing up, because of my skin tone.”
― Khoudia Diop
“Personally, it was always very difficult to find complexion products that match my shade.”
― Khoudia Diop
“People have made comments, calling me names like ‘midnight’ or ‘mother of stars.’ At first I confronted the bullies, but eventually I learned to tune out the negativity and just love myself more.”
― Khoudia Diop
“As I grew, I learned to love myself more every day and not pay attention to the negative people, which helped a lot.”
― Khoudia Diop
“There are so many types of beauty that all deserve to be celebrated.”
― Khoudia Diop
“I wanted to bleach my skin so bad, but my sister always discouraged me. She’d say, ‘This is a bad thing. Don’t try it.’”
― Khoudia Diop
“My mom was the only one who didn’t bleach her skin. She was the one who kept her natural complexion. So yes, I consider her a role model. All of her other family members would say to us, ‘Oh, your mom is so beautiful. She’s lucky she kept her skin.’ Those comments stayed with me.”
― Khoudia Diop
“Kids used to tease me and call me ‘fille des etoiles,’ which translates to ‘daughter of the stars.’”
― Khoudia Diop
“There were times I wouldn’t leave my room for weeks and sometimes missed school because I hated how people would look at me. But my older sister helped me find the positive: She used to show me pictures of Alek Wek to say, ‘See! You can be a model if you want!’”
― Khoudia Diop
“My very first account was @BlackBarbie, which is what my friends called me growing up. Then I thought, ‘You can either call yourself that, or you can find something that will matter to dark-skinned girls.’ So I came up with @melaniin.goddess.”
― Khoudia Diop
“I wanted to show girls it’s not bad to be dark, that different is beautiful.”
― Khoudia Diop
“I want to be an actress and learn astronomy!”
― Khoudia Diop
“I let my life, and success, speak for itself.”
― Khoudia Diop
“Where I grew up, we had light-skinned models but not dark. Every time I would talk about being a model with my friends, they would start laughing out loud.”
― Khoudia Diop
“I was so ashamed of it that I would spend hours in the shower crying and trying to wash my skin off.”
― Khoudia Diop
“When I was younger, I didn’t have any inspiration to like the skin I was in.”
― Khoudia Diop
“In my family, only my brother has a similar skin color. But in Senegal, the color is common.”
― Khoudia Diop
“I didn’t have to listen to nobody or look how anybody wanted me to look. I just wanted to be myself and look however I want.”
― Khoudia Diop
“In my country – even though we have a lot of dark-skinned people – people think the lighter you are, the better you are. They think beauty has to do with being light-skinned. I think that’s really wrong.”
― Khoudia Diop
“My sister was the one person who told me not to change, that my skin was beautiful. She really helped me feel good about myself.”
― Khoudia Diop
“I don’t know why. I’m fascinated with stars and space. I just love them.”
― Khoudia Diop
“I was born in Senegal in 1996. My mom moved to New York when I was two years old, so I was raised by my aunt back home.”
― Khoudia Diop
“It makes me proud to help girls realize that they don’t have to change who they are.”
― Khoudia Diop
“While in Paris, I got into modeling – photographers would literally stop me on the street.”
― Khoudia Diop
“I was bullied a lot, being a kid, so I feel like I’m standing out because I realize who I really am.”
― Khoudia Diop
“I would get so angry whenever I’d notice people looking at me weirdly. They’d even stop me on the street and ask questions about my skin color.”
― Khoudia Diop
“I’ve always had trouble finding makeup in darker shades.”
― Khoudia Diop
“A tip that I got from my mom that really helps keep my skin fresh is to wash my face with ice water in the morning. I love it. Just splash with water – cold water. That’s the first thing I do every morning.”
― Khoudia Diop
“Having support from family, friends – and now fans – definitely helps to affirm that I am worthy, loved, and beautiful. I hope everyone can see that in themselves and feel this way.”
― Khoudia Diop
“I wanted to express myself using visuals and also celebrate the beauty of black women, travel, and have amazing opportunities. I also wanted to be a living example of inspiration for other women and girls.”
― Khoudia Diop
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