Bonjour, mes amies! Since today is Bastille Day—the French national holiday—I thought it would be appropriate to talk about how les femmes françaises look the way they do. Think about some contemporary French beauties—Catherine Deneuve, Audrey Tautou, Juliette Binoche, Noémie Lenoir—and I think you'll agree that they are belle indeed.
Compared to the average American woman, our Gallic counterparts view investing in their appearance as an absolute necessity, not an optional luxury. They're more inclined to pamper themselves. Their biggest focus is on developing a beautiful, glowing complexion. French women of all economic means take pride in their skin, whether that means getting regular facials or buying the best moisturizer their budget allows. On a day-to-day basis, I've found that French women moisturize like you wouldn't believe. It's not as though you'll walk along the Seine and see women applying lotion in broad daylight, of course, but I've never met a French woman who didn't apply a cream every single night.
To find out the French approach to makeup, and to discover which products sell better in France than they do in the U.S., read more
