The Best of French Beauty

To celebrate the fact that I am currently on holidays and heading to Paris tomorrow, I figured it would be the perfect time for a round up of my absolute favourite French beauty products. I have been particularly obsessed with French pharmacy skincare for quite a while, but there are also makeup products and perfumes I absolutely adore from France.

Skincare

If you have been following my blog for any amount of time, you are probably aware that well over half of all my skincare products are either from Bioderma or Nuxe. Bioderma is the brand behind the micellar water craze. I have tried a ton of the other micellars out there and they are never as good. Part of me wishes they were because Bioderma is kinda pricey for drugstore skincare but it is 100% worth it. I also love their Hydrabio range (blue packaging) of cleansing micellar, toner, serum and moisturisers, which are perfect for my dehydrated skin. They also have a Sensibio range (red packaging) for sensitive skin and a Sebium range (green packaging) for oily skin.

Nuxe is slightly more upscale and luxurious with beautiful scents and natural ingredients while Bioderma is more of a purist dematologically geared range. My favourite product from the range is the Rêve de Miel Lip Balm ($19.99), which is easily the most moisturising I have ever tried. You also need to check out the Huile Prodigieuse Dry Oil ($26.99), which can be used on skin, hair and nails and smells absolutely incredible. 

Makeup

French makeup doesn’t always have to mean pricey (though, of course it certainly can be); one of my favourite brands is L’Oreal and I find myself using their primer and mascaras all the time. Their foundations are excellent as well but sadly too dark for me. The Lancôme Teint Miracle Foundation ($57) has been my favourite for years now as well. I use it every single day and even though I try to find new foundations to try out and broaden my horizons, they never quite stack up. If you are looking for a bit of luxe, Chanel and Dior are also fantastic. Every single thing I have tried from Chanel so far, I have loved. The Coco Rouge lipstick ($52) formula is a particular standout; check out the shade “Edith” when you are store next. I also love the Dior Addict Fluid Liquid Lipsticks ($52) as a great hybrid formula to give me a bold but glossy red lip.

Perfume

A best of French beauty wouldn’t be complete without perfume. Everyone knows about the iconic Chanel and Dior ones already so I thought I would focus on some underappreciated scents. Lancôme La Vie est Belle ($69.99) is a seriously beautiful fragrance with pear and black currant top notes; middle notes of orange blossom, jasmine and iris; and base notes of patchouli, tonka bean, vanilla and praline. I have gotten more compliments wearing this perfume than any of my more expensive fragrance combined.

For something special, I would definitely recommend Fragonard. You can buy this in a couple of boutique perfumeries in Australia like Saison and Libertine for $149, but I actually went to the flagship store in Paris to buy this one and it is absolutely beautiful. Belle Cherie was my pick but there was at least 5 others I had to struggle to choose between.

I would love to know what you favourite French beauty products are too, maybe even so I can pick them up while I am here in Paris. There is always something special about getting some treats on holidays.