We love, love, love this New York Times piece on French women and their beauty philosophy. We've been talking about the French approach to skin care for years and this article manages to capture our thoughts perfectly. As the article says, "It’s easy to look natural if your skin is great. And that
may be where the French secrets really are. According to a 2008 Mintel
report, Frenchwomen spend about $2.2 billion a year on facial skin care—as much as Spanish, German and British women put together. If you
happen to use the bathroom in a French home—something that is not
considered polite, by the way—you might see a line of skin care
products rivaling a shelf at Duane Reade."
"There will be day creams (with sunscreen), night creams (without it),
re-pulping creams, serums, moisturizers, cleansers, toners and salves
for anything from orange-peel skin to varicose veins. But you might not
find much soap. Ms. Caron says she doesn’t use it on her face or her
body (except for 'certain places'). Madame Figaro magazine recently
quoted the French actress and TV presenter Léa Drucker as saying, 'The
day I stopped using soap, my life changed.' Post-transformation, she
uses a hydrating cream."
The article wraps up with, "For Frenchwomen, aging seems to be a matter of mind over makeup. If
women feel good about themselves, right down to their La Perla 100-euro
panties, they look good, too. Françoise Sagan once wrote, 'There is a
certain age when a woman must be beautiful to be loved, and then there
comes a time when she must be loved to be beautiful.' And many
Frenchwomen seem to be well loved as they get older—by their
tight-knit families, their friends and, perhaps most importantly,
themselves…"
We couldn't have said it better ourselves.
(photo: guardian.co.uk)
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