Meet Dime Jones: The Modern-Day Renaissance Woman

The Other Side of Beverly Hills

Before she was the multi-hyphenate cool girl she stands to be today, Dime was navigating growing up in South Central between the two very drastic contrasts of Los Angeles. “Where I grew up was pretty much the hood,” she recalls. “It shaped me to be so humble because you know there are a lot of people out there in need. It’s so easy to get caught up in this industry and think everything is Hollywood. It would be easy not to give back, but that wasn’t my perspective. I always thought, ‘What do I need to do for my community?’”

Dime knows that Los Angeles can have a reputation for being clicky or fake, but she says that’s not the LA she grew up in. Her father battled addiction for most of her life, so while she had the opportunity to see beautiful things, she also witnessed struggle. “If you visit where I’m from, you’ll see a real community. Los Angeles is a place that people move to with a glamorous destination in mind, and we all want that—but I know people who have never even been to the beach. Even at 30 years old, I’m still exploring new LA museums, architecture, and food.”

While California never experienced the legal segregation of the Jim Crow South, the redlining that happened almost a century ago still has lasting impacts. “They may not have had ‘White Only’ signs at restaurants, but there were still places that my grandparents couldn’t live or visit after dark—otherwise, there would be a problem with the police,” says Dime. “That kind of thing bleeds into the fabric of a community until you have generations of kids who have never been to certain places.” This silent history is what motivates Dime to bridge the gap through Clean Up South Central, her non-profit.

Philanthropist. Designer. Renaissance Woman.

Dime has her hands in the fashion and beauty industries in big ways while also working to give back to her neighborhood, but she doesn’t claim to have it all figured out. Her recipe for success looks a little like this: pursue your passions, take risks, repeat—a formula that has worked well for her so far. “The things I do are in very different lanes, but they come together,” Dime explains. “I’m very passionate about my community, but I’m also very passionate about my design work. Even having a stable 9 to 5 job with a great company is something that I’m very proud of, especially where I come from.”

One of her notable passions, Clean Up South Central, came about organically in 2020 right in the midst of the George Floyd unrest. She noticed that as people looted all across the country, the nicer parts of the city seemed to get cleaned up quickly while the neighborhood she grew up in still saw the effects of the 1965 riots. “I posted about it and invited five people to come to clean up with me, but it snowballed from there. It got reposted by Rihanna’s makeup artist, Bella Hadid, and so many other people. The next thing I knew, over a thousand people came out to help clean up; including a lot of people from fashion brands that I’d connected with over the years.”

As excited as Dime was to have the support, she knew that she wanted to give back in more ways than offering people a photo opp. South Central doesn’t just need to be cleaned up—it needs jobs and opportunities. Today, the organization focuses on providing individuals with skills that will empower their futures. Her first collaboration was with Jordan, where they highlighted five women in LA who are giving back to the community. Most recently, she partnered with Foot Locker, who donated money to buy computers for high school students in exchange for graphic design. “When you invest in the kids, you better the community,” Dime says.

Dime’s entrepreneurial prowess doesn’t stop there. After her time at Clark Atlanta University, she went to a trade school in LA to study fashion merchandising and launched her first fashion collection called Nior in SS19. “I’ve always loved old Hollywood fashion–especially the elegant Black women of that era. I’m so inspired by Diana Ross and The Supremes, and I love sequins. Everything I do is always tied to my identity as a Black woman and my love for history, and all of [those inspirations] come out in Nior.”

LA Beauty and a Less-Is-More Aesthetic

Dime has an effortless confidence about her that makes you want to stand up just a little bit taller, but when she was growing up, she wished she had more influences to help her perceive her own beauty in a positive way. “Being a dark-skinned woman, I didn’t have a lot of beauty influences growing up, but Tyra Banks was someone who changed that for me. I would watch America’s Next Top Model, and she would take normal beautiful girls and transform them into supermodels. Her cast was so diverse, and I saw all types of Black women, so I was glued to the TV, and I knew then that I wanted to do something involving fashion.”

Like many young enthusiasts coming of age during the YouTube beauty boom, Dime thought that she would find herself becoming a beauty influencer, similar to Jackie Aina, who she admires (don’t we all?!). Instead, fashion chose her—but she’s still influenced by the effortless beauty she grew up around.

“When I think of LA beauty, I think of that Lauren London look. She’s barely wearing any makeup and still looks beautiful. Back in high school, my older sister’s friends would just wear brown lip liner and fresh, dewy skin. It was always about the skin for us and being moisturized with butters and oils.” While Dime does admit that part of her gorgeous complexion is just due to genetics (her grandmother boasts the same flawless complexion), she also has a routine that she likes to maintain.

“I make my own oil that I use on my hair and my body,” she says. “It’s made of jojoba oil, obsidian oil, and vitamin E oil, and I just blend that together. I also love Black-owned beauty like SHANI DARDEN, and I’m a big fan of Korean beauty brands, like GLOW RECIPE, but I have to put it out there—I think it’s OK to get botox and other treatments to help your skin. Sometimes there are solutions you want that beauty products alone can’t give you, and if you can afford it, I’m not judging.”

On Inspiration and Ambition

What makes Dime such an impactful creative in so many different avenues is her willingness to be flexible and to continue learning and evolving. “Right now, I’m really open to just having fun,” she says. “I’m inspired by flowers, nature, and old African pictures, and I enjoy expressing my ideas through storytelling—so I research a lot of things from the past to merge the old with my ideas. There’s nothing new under the sun, so it’s all about how you tell your story.”

She cites designers like Rick Owens and Vera Wang, who found success in their collections later in life. For anyone that isn’t sure which lane they should take, Dime’s advice is just to start small and do your research. “Starting with research is a great way to figure out what you want to do, what you’re into, and how you want to tell your story.” She also recommends leaning into your community for support. “Having a good support system is everything. Whether they’re friends or family, even a teacher or classmates, if you have someone positive in your life, tell them your dreams, and if they care about you, they are going to motivate you to pursue it.”

Through Dime’s support system, she’s been able to go from an aspiring influencer attending IPSY’s conferences to a bustling entrepreneur, collaborating with the brand for a Juneteenth dinner and now the Valentine’s Day-themed Glam Bag, something she calls a “full circle moment.” In her words: “Explore your creativity. Explore your feelings. And don’t ever feel like you have to stick to only one thing.”

Want to hear more stories about Beauty Through The Black Lens? Read How Tenille Murphy Is Building an Empire Through Authenticity: White Hair and All or learn How Travel Influencer Francesca Murray Gained a Global Perspective. Want in on all the IPSY Glam Bag fun? Take our Beauty Quiz now to get started. Already an Ipster? Refer your friends to earn points, which you can use toward products. Either way, don’t forget to check us out on Instagram @IPSY.

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