Women of colour come in all different hues from hazelnut, to caramel to coffee brown.A newly launched make-up line does too.Black Up is considered the first luxury make-up brand created by professional artists for ethnic skin tones. It was founded more than a decade ago in Paris and specifically designed to suit the needs of coloured skin from combating oiliness and uneven skin tone to boosting radiance.The line was launched at Gibbons & Company’s Reid Street store last week, with new eyeliner colours and lipstick shades expected to be out this summer.Gibbons cosmetics and perfume buyer, Althie Bell, said the line’s popularity has been spreading like wildfire.“The fact it was becoming the number one ethnic make-up brand in France and we saw it was a European craze and going global we thought this might be something great to offer to Bermudian women, that was really the reason we brought it here,” said Ms Bell.French make-up artist Clothilde Lambadarios, who is also the brand’s export manager, was present for the launch. She talked to The Royal Gazette about some of the benefits of the brand and what local ladies can do to stay looking their best during the hotter months.Ms Lambadarios has been a professional make-up artist for six years, including one year with Black Up.She said the brand’s founder noticed there were few to no foundation colours for darker skin tones in France; he decided to produce a premier brand, comparable in quality to Chanel or Dior, but similar in price to MAC Cosmetics or Bobbi Brown’s make-up line.The brand is known for having a large selection of foundation colours ranging from hues like singers Beyonce’s and Rihanna’s to model and actress Grace Jones’.Oil-free, the foundations were created to meet the needs of mixed and black skin, which tends to be more greasy.For the humid months she recommended a matifying base primer to put on the face before foundation. “It will hold the make-up for the whole day and also matify the skin because we know that for women of colour matifying represents 40 percent of the skin’s needs, while it is only 15 percent of skin needs for Caucasian women.”She said the line’s oil-free creme-to-powder foundation, with sun protection factor (SPF) of 15, would give local women a photoshop finished look and hide imperfections like acne scars and hyperpigmentation. It retails for $40.Ms Lambadarios said soft corals and pastel shades for blush and lipstick were all the rage this season. Flashy colours like fuchsia and indigo for the eyes were also likely to be popular items for local women.Because coloured women are usually able to carry off bold shades, local make-up artist Tasha Gomes suggests they try the pearl pigments eye shadows in blue and green, which retail for $19.Ms Gomes said bright colours were “hot for the summer”, while metallics and darker colours are best for winter. She said lipsticks in hot pink, orange and deep fuchsia were also good bets for the warmer months.Black Up offers a smoky, eye-pencil in a handful of jewel tone colours. Ms Lambadarios said five new shades, including turquoise, gold, khaki, olive and hot pink will be available in July.“With this product you can use it as an eyeliner or an eye shadow. It’s waterproof so you can go to the beach and go to swim and it will hold all day.”Another of the brand’s must-have items for summer is the gold shimmering body oil. She said the product could be used on legs when wearing a dress or skirt; or on arms while at the beach or an evening event to add an extra touch of sparkle.“You can put your clothes on directly after because it’s a dry oil. It’s moisturising but it will not be greasy on the skin,” she added.Ms Lambadarios believed local women would take well to the brand. “It’s very natural looking and it’s not like women using the foundations or powders will feel like they have a mask on their face.“People also love the texture because it’s completely oil-free, because of the heat if you did not have that you would be shiny all day.“So they love the colours and textures and the hold because when you put the make-up on in the morning you don’t have to reapply because the pigment stays all day.”Maya Furbert, 29, stopped in to Gibbons to have her makeup done by Ms Lambadarios during the launch event. The dark-skinned beauty said: “I am definitely pleased with how natural [the foundation] is. I feel radiant. She put a foundation and shimmer on and you can see I have that extra glow to my skin.”Useful websites: www.blackupcosmetics.com; www.gibbons.bm.