Summer may be limping to a close, but there is no reason why your skin shouldn't look sun-kissed well into autumn. Not too surprisingly, given the paleness of most English skin, and not to mention the paleness of most English summers, the product that flies off the shelves during the summer months is bronzer.

For years I assumed bronzer had nothing to do with me, after all, most of it was thinly disguised fake tan. But many of the bronzers on the market today are for enhancing skin colour, not covering it up. Obviously, bronzer doesn't need be used in the same way as on white skin - a touch of a well chosen bronzer on dark skin really can highlight the beautiful shades already present. And if you've got it, why not flaunt it?

Speak to any make-up artist and they'll tell you that, contrary to popular belief, those with black skin actually benefit more from bronzer than their paler sisters. "The more melanin you have in your skin, the more light is blocked," explains Nicole Guarnieri, national training manager at Shiseido. "That's why black skin so often looks dull. A bronzer that brings out the luminosity of the skin, as opposed to one that just makes the skin darker, is perfect."

A luminising bronzer will bring out red tones in black skin, leaving you looking sun-kissed and radiant. "Bronzer can also detract from any unevenness of tone," says Guarnieri, a problem for many black women. If you go for a bronzer with two tones, one darker than the other, such as the Luminizing Colour Powder from Shiseido (L4) or the Brush On Bronze pearls from The Body Shop, the lighter tone doubles as a highlighter for either under the eye or on top of the cheekbone. Bronzer is always good for highlighting the cheekbone, but where else you apply it depends on your face shape. If you've got a broad nose, you can shade the sides to give an angular effect. Or if used softly under the jaw line, it can disguise heaviness there. Who needs sunshine?