Essentials: Beauty the French Way
Five principles to help you look your best while saving for your dream trip
Five principles to help you look your best while saving for your dream trip
The author’s daughter. Photo by Hope Perkins
The French women I know don’t like to talk about their beauty routines; it seems they’d prefer to support the myth that they just awaken first thing in the morning looking fabulous. I don’t mind the mystique, because with a little digging, it’s not hard to figure out what’s really going on. After decades of experimentation, interviews, and sleuthing, here are my best tips for making the most of yourself a la Française.
Principle 1: Water, Sleep, and Good Food Are Key to Looking Your Best
We Americans tend to look for quick fixes in bottle or pill form. The French know better: skimp on nutrition, hydration, and/or rest, and it’ll inevitably show up in your skin. No matter your concern — acne, blotchiness, signs of aging, dark circles — water, sleep, and proper nourishment will help.
Waterwise, you probably need to be drinking more. One easy way to up your hydration is with herbal tea. Peppermint and chamomile are the most popular in America, but for a French twist, try lemon verbena (verveine — my very favorite), linden blossom (tilleuil), or rose hip (cynorrhodon). They’re all delicious hot or iced.
Another way to get yourself to drink more water is to drink it carbonated. You don’t need a fancy green glass bottle of imported mineral water; inexpensive flavored waters like La Croix and Bubly abound these days. If you really like sparkling water, I suggest investing in a carbonator like a SodaStream. It will pay for itself in a matter of weeks, and it’s environmentally friendly. In summer, I love plain bubbly with a squeeze of lemon or lime juice — so refreshing.
Sleep: you need it, and probably more than you think. Aim for at least 7–8 hours per night. If you can’t manage that, try to supplement with a 20-minute power nap at some point during the day. I’m always struck by how much brighter and smoother my skin looks when I’m getting solid, regular sleep.
Nutrition is a hornet’s nest of controversy. All I’ll say is that setting outright allergies aside, I believe that stressing out over food is far more harmful to the body than any food, no matter how processed or calorie-laden. Relax, slow down, and gratefully eat what and when you feel like eating.
Principle 2: Consistent Skin Care Is Far More Important than Makeup
In the States, generally speaking, I see a lot of women investing time and money in covering up flaws — whereas French women will work to obliterate some flaws (like acne or hyperpigmentation) and turn others into assets. No amount of primer, BB or CC cream, foundation, etc. will compensate for unhealthy skin.
When it comes to skin care, consistency is as important as the products you use. Here are my routines. First thing in the morning, I put on sunscreen before taking my dog for a long walk. Once I’m home and showered, I do a double cleanse on my face and throat (see below), then use a toner, then apply a serum that fades hyperpigmentation, then moisturize and reapply sunscreen.
In the evening, I double cleanse, use micellar water and a cotton pad to take off any remaining eye makeup, apply a vitamin C serum, and moisturize. Once or twice a week, I’ll do a ten-minute chemical exfoliant. (See below for a recommendation.) Less frequently, I’ll use a sheet mask — mainly for relaxing fun with my daughters.
My routine doesn’t take long and involves relatively few products (which I’ll discuss later), but I’m religious about it. Maybe twice in the last year, I’ve been too exhausted at night to do my full routine. In those cases, though, I’ve at least wiped my face all over with some micellar water so I’m not sleeping in gunk. I’ll talk more about specific products below.
Principle 3: Get Professional Help When Needed
French women don’t mess around with problems like acne or any other skin problem that’s largely hormone-driven. They don’t waste time and money on folk remedies or expensive five-step subscriptions. Instead, they go straight to a dermatologist before the problem gets out of hand. (Of course, they have universal health care.) As budget permits, they’ll also visit their local aesthetician for professional facials.
Principle 4: The Pharmacy, Not the Department Store
You’ll be able to set aside some cash for an occasional treat at the aesthetician’s when you’re not going to the department store for your skin care. Forget all those fancy brands you see in the magazines; those are for tourists. A Frenchwoman’s best skincare ally is her pharmacist.
Unfortunately, Americans don’t have access to the wonder that is the French pharmacy. Some popular French pharmacy items are available online, but they’re usually hugely marked up. Don’t blow your cash that way. Instead, I’m here to tell you how to mimic Frenchwomen’s access to high-quality products at minimal prices. Some you’ll find at your local drug store, while others are available online.
A) Step 1 of a double cleanse should be a balm/oil-based cleanser. No matter what your skin type, you need an oil-based cleanser to remove sunscreen and makeup thoroughly. Some excellent, affordable step 1 cleansers include Banila Clean It Zero, Burt’s Bee’s Cleansing Oil, and (my favorite) Heimish All-Clean Balm.
B) Once you’ve washed with the balm/oil-based cleanser and rinsed and dried your face, use the second cleanser, which removes any traces of the oily balm. Great step 2 cleansers include Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser and The Ordinary’s Squalane Cleanser. You only need a tiny amount of each cleanser.
Here’s where I tell you about the best-kept secret in U.S. skin care: The Ordinary. Owned by parent company Deciem, they have a very French aesthetic — simple, clinical-looking packaging, no whimsical product names — and their prices and quality are unbelievable. You’ll see more recommendations below.
Let me say a word here about micellar water. It’s miraculous at removing makeup, and you can also use it as a toner. I always wipe some around my eyes at night with a cotton ball to remove any last traces of mascara. I’ve tried many micellar waters across the price spectrum, and Garnier’s Skinactive Micellar Water is the very best while also being the least expensive. It’s better than tony French brands like Lancôme and Avène and Bioderma, at a fraction of the price. I highly recommend it.
Regarding micellar wipes: they are not worth your time or money. I’ve tried every single brand, hoping to find a good one that’s airline friendly. None take off makeup thoroughly; all of them scratch and feel rough around the delicate eye area. You’re far better off buying a 3-oz bottle of Garnier micellar water and taking some cotton pads with you in your carry-on.
C) For toner, I love Trader Joe’s Rosewater with Witch Hazel. Thayer’s Witch Hazel Toner is another good one, as is Burt’s Bee’s Rosewater Toner.
D) Serum is optional, but if you have a special skin concern, like hyperpigmentation from old blemishes or sun damage, you’ll want to add this step. I love The Ordinary’s Vitamin C 23% suspension as well as their Niacinamide 10%, their Azeleic Acid, and their Alpha Arbutin 2%. For signs of aging, check out their retinoid options. For simplicity’s sake, use one serum at a time to see what works best for you. It takes a little while to read through the descriptions on their website, but it’s well worth the effort.
E) I use a light moisturizer morning and night and then layer a heavier one on my throat and around my lips and eyes at night. My hands-down favorite moisturizer is Cosrx’s Advanced Snail 96 Mucin Power Essence. Yes, it’s snail slime, but it is magic, and I will never be without it. It’s a light, oil-free, but incredibly effective moisturizer, and it also stimulates collagen production. It’s also humanely harvested — the snails are kept in a dark, humid room, amply fed, and as they blithely crawl around on a screen, their mucin drips through and is collected below.
I know; it sounds gross. But this stuff works miracles. If I could only take three skin care products to a desert island, they would be Garnier’s micellar water, Cosrx’s snail mucin, and Purito’s sunscreen (see below).
My recommendations for a heavier moisturizer for night/winter are Weleda’s delightful Skin Food or any of The Ordinary’s organic, cold-pressed oils.
F) During the day, sunscreen is your most important beauty tool. I recommend a minimum SPF of 30, and I personally use SPF 45–50. Two good sunscreens are Neutrogena’s Ultra-Sheer Dry Touch and The Ordinary’s Mineral UV Filters. But the very best sunscreen I’ve found (thanks to Rio Viera-Newton) is Purito’s Green Level Safe Sun SPF 50. It’s light and has a lovely herbal smell — but the best part is that it has centella extract in it, which fades existing hyperpigmentation while simultaneously preventing it.
Once or twice a week in the evening, indulge in a ten-minute special treatment for your skin’s unique needs. Here again, The Ordinary is your new best friend. Their AHA 30% Peeling Solution (a chemical exfoliant for signs of aging) and Salicylic Acid 2% Masque (for acne) are both outstanding.
I’ll also mention one of my newest discoveries for occasional problems: acne patches. They’re made of silicone, which has been proven to fade scars, and they’re brilliant. I’ve tried several brands, and my favorite are the Rael Miracle Patches. They’re not expensive and they make a huge difference in healing blemishes.
Principle 5: The No Make-Up Look
Five or six steps for skin care might seem like a lot, but it really doesn’t take much time, and the payoffs are huge. Besides, my makeup routine is correspondingly brief. In the winter, I wear eyeliner, mascara, a bit of serum foundation, a touch of creamy blush, and lip color. In the summer, I wear eyeliner, mascara, and lip color, because that’s all I need.
I really don’t think you need primer or shadows or highlighters or concealers. Which compliment would you rather receive: “Your makeup looks good” or “You look good”? For me and for the French women I know, it will always be the latter.
Here are my budget makeup recommendations:
Eyeliner — NYX or Jordana Easyliner
Mascara — Bourjois Volume or Kiss Me Heroine
Foundation — The Ordinary Serum Foundation*
Cream Blush — N by Neutrogena Cheeky Wink
Lip Color — Burt’s Bees Tinted Lip Balm or Maybelline Baby Lips Glow
*The Ordinary’s Serum foundation is light, silky, and sheer-but-buildable. It compares very favorably to Chanel’s Vitalumière, one of the most acclaimed of the prestige foundations. The Ordinary’s Serum foundation costs $6.70, and Vitalumière costs $50.00. The Chanel may be slightly better, but it’s not 7.5 times better, if you get my point.
Finally, I’ll say that I don’t get compensated in any way for my recommendations. I’m just here to tell you what has worked for me as a frugal Francophile. Once you get to France, you can stock up on all kinds of inexpensive, wonderful things at your neighborhood pharmacy — but that’s a subject for a whole other post. In the meantime, amusez-vous bien!