French women’s best-kept beauty secrets
Ever-immaculate French women flock to their pharmacies, to stock up on effortlessly efficacious beauty staples. Renowned for their understated aesthetic - naturally flawless skin framed by deliberately 'undone' hair is the signature French look - now you too can channel the likes of Clémence (seen below) with our edit of French (beauty) Fancies.
It's a truth universally acknowledged that French women never get spots (in spite of their penchant for vin rouge and rich food) - because in the unlikely event that a pimple should threaten their flawlessness (after one-too-many macarons, par example), they nip it in the bud with Odacité's chic (really!) anti-blemish solutions. The {Oily-Acne Prone Serum Concentrate} looks suitably inconspicuous - a petite, violet vial of pure, blemish-battling extracts - and works overnight to zap les zits.
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No Chanel 2.55 is ever without Caudalie's best-selling {Eau de Beauté} - a refreshing, antioxidant facial spritz to instantly brighten, tone and invigorate typically nonchalant skin cells (*french shrug*). With a gorgeously minty fragrance, this is ideal for creating instant luminescence (and disguising the scent of that give-away Gauloises...). Pair with the exquisite {Vineactiv Glow Activating Anti-Wrinkle Serum} - a rebalancing, free radical-fighting elixir that leaves skin smooth, supple and lustrous.
Cleanser, moisturiser and primer in one, you'll find Embryolisse {Lait Crème-Fluide} in every Mlle's armoire de toilette ('bathroom cabinet', to you and me). A skin care classic, this lightweight daily hydrator is almost the exact same age as Jane Birkin (WHAT a claim to fame) and is the ultimate 'go to' for women who'd rather be sipping champagne with their friends than conducting a multi-step 'ritual' (less is much, much more). I like to supercharge mine with a drop of Odacité's {Vital Glow Serum Concentrate} - but there's one to address every skin care concern. Et voila!
And of course, we mustn't overlook the {Eclat du Regard} - a nifty twist-up puff-reducing stick which fits neatly in your Céline and shrinks under-eye tote bags to the miniest minaudiere proportions. Cooling upon application, it instantly disguises signs of too-late nights (or much too-early starts).
With a discreet salon and chic clientele, Leonor Greyl is tasked with mane-taming the locks of the 'Paris Elite'. The self-titled {L'Huile de Leonor Greyl} is a gorgeous pre-shampoo treatment, developed to care for hair in the same way you'd care for your delicates (gently gently, like your favourite French knickers). Prescriptive and easy to navigate, there's a cleanser to suit every hair type - from limp to long, very dry to generally confused (the {Bain TS Shampooing} for greasy roots and dry ends is a bestseller) - and the {Serum de Soie} is ideal for controlling and nourishing strands.
And last, but by no means least, Nuxe's romantically entitled {Rêve de Miel} is the connoisseur's lip balm. An utterly buttery blend of honey, shea butter and grapefruit essences to deep-condition and soften ta bouche. Perfect pour les amoureux. Bisous!
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Cult Beauty’s Content Editor and a Cult Beauty OG, Verity loves nothing more than the marriage of language and lip balm. A quintessential Libran, she’s a self-professed magpie for luxury ‘must-haves' and always pursuing the new and the niche — from the boujee-est skin care to cutting-edge tech. Balancing an urge to stop the clock with her desire to embrace the ageing process (and set a positive example for her daughter), Verity's a retinol obsessive and will gladly share her thoughts about the time-defying gadgets, masks and treatments worth the splurge...
