OrientalBlack Up
Black Up is a French makeup brand born in Paris at the end of the nineteen-nineties, presented by the house as the first French brand dedicated to medium to dark complexions. Founded by makeup artist Fabrice Mahabo, it has extended its catalogue from complexion to skincare, hair and perfume, with an eau de parfum that bears its own name.
Black Up perfumes
OrientalA brand born from dark complexions
Fabrice Mahabo, a makeup artist of Ivorian origin trained at the Parisian school Christian Chauveau, launched Black Up for women whom the foundations available on the market left without an answer. The house dates its founding to 1999; several press accounts trace the start of the venture back to 1997, when he finished his studies.
The positioning is professional: products developed with makeup artists, concentrated pigments, shades designed not to turn ashy on dark skin. The brand has been sold at Galeries Lafayette, at Sephora, and as far as the United States at Macy's.
The founder and what followed
Fabrice Mahabo no longer runs the house. He tells Glamour that he partnered with the wrong private investor and was pushed out of his own company; he returned in 2018 with another cosmetics brand for Black and mixed-race skin, D.Kup.
The house today claims European manufacturing, fully vegan foundations and formulas not tested on animals, with part of its production kept in France. Its catalogue covers complexion, eyes, lips, nails, skincare and hair.
The house's fragrance
The brand's eau de parfum, signed by Dora Baghriche-Arnaud, is oriental, floral and musky. It bears the name of the house and comes to complement a makeup and skincare offering, rather than open a perfume collection.