It's already been a month since I was in Paris but I've been so busy with other things that I haven't even properly edited the majority of the photos I took whilst on vacation. Of course, no trip to France is complete without a few beauty buys. I will say I demonstrated pretty good restraint with regards to beauty purchases - I saved my funds for a very extravagant handbag purchase. When I told my boyfriend how much the bag was, he literally fell over in his seat laughing. But that's a whole other post for another time....
Back to the beauty bits - nowadays a lot of French pharmacy goods are available stateside so I skipped the heavy 500ml Bioderma bottles and went for a few select things I knew I would use.
I didn't even need a basket at CityPharma this time around - I only picked up three small things. I wanted an acne treatment from Avene because I'm a big fan of their TriAcnéal line. I've used a couple of different versions of the TriAcnéal lotion but this time I went for the TriAcnéal Expert (€10.98). Avene bills this as a night time moisturizer that targets blemishes, dark spots and aging. Pretty nifty for a cream just under $14, eh? I haven't tried this out yet but I'm really hopeful!
I also picked up a tube of La Roche Posay's Toleriane Moisturizer (€10.50), one of my holy grail skincare products. I love this moisturizer for it's no-nonsense and gentle formula. I would repurchase this all the time if it weren't for the fact that it's more than double the price here in the U.S. If you have finnicky combination oily skin, I highly recommend giving this moisturizer a try.
My last CityPharma purchase was not really planned but I vaguely remembered some bloggers recommending the La Roche Posay Cicaplast Baume B5 (€5.95) so I thought it wouldn't hurt to try for the price. I haven't had the chance to really use this yet but it seems like a pretty straightforward multi-purpose moisturizing cream for sensitive, irritated skin. If it's too rich for my face I plan on using this as a hand cream.
On the other side of the affordable French skincare spectrum we have Biologique Recherche. I've read about the brand's famous P50 toner for years but it's a hard brand to track down. So I made it a point to visit Biologique Recherche's spa on Champs Élysées to pick up two of their products at the top of my wishlist. Let me just say that the next time I'm in Paris I will be sure to make a spa appointment at their Champs Élysées location - the lobby is immaculate and you immediately feel zen just walking to the till. Unfortunately I only had time to pop in to shop - they have a full display with their product lineup in the lobby. I left with the Lotion P50 PIGM 400 (€57), the Mask Vivant (€48) and a generous number of small samples from the sales assistant. This is definitely a luxury skincare brand and I'm excited to report back on my experience with these products. I haven't tested the toner yet as I'm working through some other acid toners. I will say the Mask Vivant is as stinky as everyone says it is - it reminds me of Marmite which I absolutely hate. The verdict is out on whether it's worth the price and the smelly experience! I will say that for future Biologique Recherche purchases I'll be turning to Rescue Spa which is U.S. based and has comparable prices to France (Mask Vivant is still $10 cheaper in Paris with the exchange rate).
What are your favorite French beauty products? Anything I should have picked up whilst I was there?