Lighting brand Plumen has released a new LED light with a gold-coloured shade inside the bulb that "makes you look more beautiful" (+ slideshow).

The Plumen 003 light bulb, which has been five years in the making, is designed to be two lights in one.

A downward spotlight serves to illuminate specific areas for reading or eating, whereas a gold shade at the centre of the bulb gives off a softer, ambient glow that the company claims makes people look more beautiful.

This golden central structure sits on a specially engineered plinth, which draws away the heat of the LED to make sure the light bulb keeps cool.

"Our quest for beauty didn't stop with the physical appearance of the bulb: we also needed to consider how it would interact with and improve its surroundings," said Plumen. "It isn't only beautiful to look at: it makes you look more beautiful, too."

The overall concept of the 003 light bulb is inspired by Danish designer Poul Henningsen's PH lamp, which he created in 1925.

When designing his lamp, Henningsen was aiming to transition between the two lighting technologies of the time: kerosene oil lamps and electrical bulbs.

Plumen felt their challenge was similar to Henningsen's, as they were looking for a way to successfully replace incandescent bulbs with LED lights.

"Sustainable design often lacks sex appeal – LED bulbs being no exception," said creative director Nicolas Roope. "We decided that to attract customers to this new technology we needed to create an efficient light bulb that was also inspiring and beautiful in its own right."

"Since our original idea, LED technology has come on in leaps and bounds," he continued. "Previous gripes over light quality, colour temperature, reliability and brightness have all faded."

Launched in 2010, Plumen set out to create beautiful alternatives to standard low-energy light sources.

It has so far sold over half a million of its Plumen 001 and Plumen 002 compact fluorescent light bulb ranges – the first designed in collaboration with Samuel Wilkinson and the second created with Bertrand Clerc.

The brand won Design of the Year for its Plumen 001 light bulb in 2011, and has recently launched a crowdfunding drive to fund new product launches and "kick the business up to the next level".