Beyond the pale

As a 32-year-old British Asian woman with clear skin and an obsession with beauty products, you might be forgiven for thinking I should be spoilt for choice at the make-up counters of London's department stores. Walking through the beauty hall at Selfridges the other day, I was surrounded by counters heaving with every shade of foundation, concealer and powder under the sun, along with rainbow colours for lips, eyes and cheeks. But, as I have discovered to my dismay over the years, it turns out my skin is just too dark for even the most multi-cultural of ranges.

There are already brands on the market such as MAC and Prescriptives which pride themselves on their colours for black and Asian skin. Prescriptives will whip you up a personalised version of its Custom Blend Foundation - which is all well and good, but, whereas the standard foundation is £22, the customised one costs more than double that price, at £45.

MAC has the right idea, offering a range of colours for olive complexions (there is no hint of pink), but the shades just don't go dark enough. Even supermodel Iman's eponymous range for darker skin, and Fashion Fair's cosmetics for "women of colour", make me look as though I am wearing a mask.

The worst offender, though, was Nars. I was given a makeover that left my cheeks ashen and the under-eye area almost beige. The assistant at the Clinique counter at Debenhams on Oxford Street simply said: "No, I don't think either of our darker shades quite matches your skin tone. Maybe you can mix them?" There was no point even looking at the four shades of concealer.

Now, finally, thanks to the supersexy Australian beauty brand called Becca, I have found a range that is perfect for dark skin and all its foibles (black skins tend to be oily; Asian skins tend to have uneven pigmentation).

Becca's founder is Rebecca Morrice Williams, a former make-up artist, who spent six years on research before launching her products Down Under last year (they are now available in London). She not only wanted to develop shades for every skin colour, she also ensured her products all had an SPF of 30-plus - essential in Australia, where one in two people get some form of skin cancer in their lifetime.

Becca's make-up artist Elizabeth Reeves, who helped develop the darker colours and is on hand to encourage London women to experiment with the new range, says: "The philosophy is simple. We want every woman on the planet - whether you are as pale as Gwyneth Paltrow or as dark as Naomi Campbell - to have make-up that matches her skin tone."

Reeves, a 35-year-old former model, who was born in Kenya and grew up in Perth, Australia, knows from experience how difficult it is to find make-up that doesn't make you look like a clown. "I used to have to mix two or even three different foundations to get my exact shade. Not only was it expensive but you didn't get the right consistency. Who wants that?"

First, she applied Luminous Skin Colour (£26), a pre-foundation primer, to my skin. I felt that I was wearing a base, yet my skin still looked natural because - miracle of miracles - it matched exactly. The primer comes in 14 colours, the Stick Foundations (£26) in 31 different shades. But it's hats off to the Compact Concealers (£22), which come in a whopping 34 colours. Reeves told me that, once I have got my base, I should experiment - orange lip gloss and a gold shimmer on the eyes would look fabulous on my skin.

But the proof of the pudding is in the wearing. The other evening, having cocktails at the Myhotel Chelsea terrace bar (where there was lots of natural light), my friend glared at me.

"I thought you said you were stressed, tired and under-paid?" she grumbled. "You look as if you've just been to a spa."

Fat chance. But at least now I don't have to go to the ends of the earth to find the right make-up.

The Becca range (above, left) is available at selected Space NK stores (call 020 7376 2870 to find your nearest branch) and Harvey Nichols (020 7235 5000).