Khoudia Diop

While there seems to be no existing rule on being beautiful, Khoudia Diop believes in being yourself—this is a prerequisite to being an awesome human being! Born in Senegal back in 1996, Diop migrated to New York when she was two years old. It is worth noting that approximately 25% of the dark-skinned women apply bleach on their skin back in her hometown. While Diop never tried this, she wouldn’t deny wanting to be a degree lighter back then.

However, everything changed for Diop when they went on a trip to Paris when a local complimented her color; photographers even stopped her on the street and took her photos. From there, she took to Instagram and posted pictures of herself to empower women with dark skin.