Black is beautiful. For Dr May Ikeora-Amamgbo, it is more than a statement; it is a philosophy that has shaped her life’s work. A former Miss ECOWAS beauty queen turned scholar, human rights advocate and entrepreneur, she has built a career that bridges academia, policy and business. Armed with a Master’s degree in Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution from the University of Bradford and a PhD in International Law from the University of Hull, she has spent more than two decades championing gender equality, combating human trafficking and advancing peacebuilding across Africa and Europe.
Beyond her work in human rights, Dr May is the founder of L’Avyanna Skin Naturals, a women-focused skincare brand created to celebrate and care for Black skin while creating sustainable economic opportunities for women. She also founded the Raising Women Initiative (RWI), which empowers girls and women to realise their full potential.
What began as a response to a gap in the skincare market has grown into one of Nigeria’s pioneering melanin-focused skincare brands, with more than 300 stockists nationwide and products distributed internationally. Rather than taking on the title of chief executive, Dr May serves as Creative and Product Development Director, a deliberate choice that reflects her focus on strengthening the institution as the company prepares for its next phase of growth.
Her latest venture is a clinical Beauty Hub in Abuja, inspired by research undertaken during a recent study tour of South Korea, China and Vietnam. Conceived as more than a retail destination, it is designed as a piece of African beauty infrastructure that combines innovation, research and specialist skincare.
Today, Dr May Ikeora-Amamgbo occupies a rare space where scholarship, advocacy and entrepreneurship reinforce one another. Whether she is shaping international conversations on human rights, developing products designed specifically for Black skin or investing in institutions that empower women, her work is driven by the same belief: that meaningful change begins when knowledge is matched with action.
Interview by Yinka Olatunbosun
From Miss ECOWAS to a PhD in International Humanitarian Law, how do you manage the glam past with the demanding realities of global advocacy?
I do not see them as separate lives that need to be managed against each other. Miss ECOWAS gave me a platform and taught me early how visibility works, how quickly a room can decide who you are before you have said a word. The PhD gave me the depth to ensure that when I spoke, it carried weight beyond appearance. I have never felt the need to choose between being taken seriously and being seen. The women I most admire were never asked to make that trade, so I decided early that I would not make it either.
In the First Daughter movement, how can first daughters protect their peace while renegotiating the culturally imposed role of co-parenting?
The first step is naming it honestly. So much of what first daughters carry goes unspoken because it has been normalised as love or duty rather than labour. Once you can name it, you can begin to set boundaries without guilt, communicate clearly with family about what you can and cannot hold, and recognise that stepping back from an inherited role is not abandonment. Peace comes from renegotiation, not rebellion. It is possible to remain a devoted daughter and sister while refusing to be the household’s silent safety net indefinitely.
As a British Nigerian who has travelled to nearly fifty countries, how do these influences shape your style, home life and everyday aesthetic?
I gather rather than adopt. A textile from West Africa might sit beside a piece of Korean ceramic in my home, not because I am collecting souvenirs but because each object taught me something about how a culture thinks about craft and care. My personal style works the same way, tailored British foundations with distinctly Nigerian colour and boldness. I think travel should change how you see beauty, not just where you shop for it.
Could you walk us through the daily mindfulness practices that ground your mornings?
My mornings are protected time before the world makes its demands. I do not check messages first. There is usually a moment of gratitude, meditation, and stillness before the schedule takes over. Then comes our family morning devotion, where everyone takes a turn to lead. A reminder of God’s promises often kicks off my day with the faith I need. In Nigeria, you really have to brace yourself before getting out there.
How do financial literacy and wealth creation intersect with a woman’s everyday wellness and peace of mind?
Financial dependence is one of the most under-discussed sources of chronic stress in women’s lives. It shapes whether a woman can leave a harmful relationship, negotiate fairly at work, or simply sleep without worry. Financial literacy is not about becoming obsessed with money. It is about removing one of the biggest quiet threats to a woman’s peace. When women understand and control their finances, that anxiety tends to loosen its grip on everything else.
As the founder of L’Avyanna, do you view skincare routines as a vehicle for self-worth rather than just a cosmetic chore?
Very much so. A skincare routine is one of the few daily rituals a woman does entirely for herself, no audience, no performance. When a woman starts to care for her skin properly, something shifts in how she carries herself more broadly. I did not build L’Avyanna to sell products. I built it to give women a reason to pause and tend to themselves daily. L’Avyanna means “strong, beautiful woman,” and that is how I want every woman who uses it to feel.
Why is it important for African women with dark skin to have a brand they can trust for their skincare?
For a long time, melanin-rich skin was treated as an afterthought in this industry, formulated for lighter skin first and adapted later, if at all. That is not good enough for the range and richness of African skin tones. L’Avyanna exists because African women deserve formulations built for them from the outset, not adapted for them as a courtesy.
We never waited for the market to ask, especially in Nigeria. We gave our customers what they needed, not simply what they wanted. When we brought sunscreen into the Nigerian market, no major stockist would carry it. We were told Nigerians do not buy sunscreen. After years of investing in education about sun protection, sunscreen is now everywhere and our bestseller. The same resistance met our Melanin Glow range. There was a period when the word melanin itself was treated as undesirable in the beauty market here. We stayed committed to that message, launched a campaign called ‘My Colour My Heritage,’ and trademarked the phrase ‘Melanin Glow.’ Today, that range is our bestseller. Everyone says give the market what it wants. For us, it has always given the market what it needs.
What expansion plans are in place for L’Avyanna?
We are building a clinical Beauty Hub in Abuja, informed by research I conducted on a recent trip through South Korea, China, and Vietnam, studying how advanced skin clinics operate. Beyond that, we are continuing to expand our retail footprint across Nigeria and to strengthen our international distribution.
We are also extending into baby skincare, a direction inspired by becoming a new mother myself. Realising how much we still lean on foreign brands for our babies’ skin and food made me look again at our own traditional ingredients, the ones our mothers and grandmothers never failed to pass down. The ambition is for L’Avyanna to be recognised as a serious beauty infrastructure for African skin, across every life stage, not simply another product line.
What actions have you taken to protect your brand from counterfeits?
Counterfeiting is a real and constant threat in this market. We invest in traceable packaging, work closely with our stockists to verify authenticity, and actively monitor unauthorised sellers.
But I think the deeper issue for the industry as a whole is the absence of a fully developed beauty ecosystem in Nigeria. Consumers still gravitate toward foreign brands over local ones, even as Nigerian brands have worked hard to understand and serve the needs of our people. That is partly a reflection of how much more investment tends to flow into foreign entrants than into homegrown ones. South Korea offers a useful model here. Their government and their own consumers deliberately protected that ecosystem to the point that it now exports to the world. I would love to see Nigeria, and Africa more broadly, build that same protective instinct around our own brands.
In your advisory work with the UN and AU on migration and anti-trafficking, what discoveries did you make, and how did you help tackle irregular migration?
The biggest discovery was how much irregular migration is driven by a lack of credible information and legitimate opportunity at home, rather than recklessness, as it is often framed. For me, real change came from combining rigorous research with frontline work. I wrote a book on anti-human trafficking between Nigeria and the United Kingdom, published by Palgrave Macmillan in New York. Serving as Technical Adviser to the Governor of Edo State and chairing the Managing Migration through Development Project with the European Union, the World Bank and the International Organisation for Migration, alongside other international partners, made a tangible difference. That work contributed to the rescue and rehabilitation of thousands of people and the establishment of institutions that continue that work today.
How do you leverage your varied expertise to challenge societal stereotypes and drive your vision of empowerment?
I refuse to let any single part of my work stand alone. When I speak on policy, I bring the entrepreneur’s practicality. When I speak on beauty, I bring the policy architect’s rigour. That combination itself challenges a stereotype, the assumption that a woman is either credible or glamorous, either an intellectual or an entrepreneur, rarely all at once. I would rather be the counterexample than argue the point in the abstract.
What institutional shifts do African governments and the private sector need to support women’s leadership and financial independence?
Access to capital remains the single biggest structural barrier for African women entrepreneurs. Beyond that, governments need policies that formally recognise and support unpaid care work, and the private sector needs to move beyond symbolic representation towards genuinely funding and promoting women into positions of real decision-making power. These shifts will not happen through goodwill alone. They require deliberate policy design and accountability.
How do you ensure you set aside time for rest despite your busy schedule?
I treat rest as a discipline rather than a reward I get once everything else is finished, because that day never comes. That might mean a quiet weekend with no meetings, time with my family, or simply a book with no obligation attached to it.
It is not always easy. I often feel anxious and overwhelmed by how much still needs to be achieved. Today’s fast-paced world, especially on social media, tends to reward algorithms over real work, which can make anyone feel they have not done enough. I try to stay true to myself and to excellence, and I make sure to rest in between.
