I love to travel and learn about different cultures, I find it so fascinating! It’s hard to miss the style and beauty of different cultures, it really is what makes our world so special. The french women of course have a look all their own. With a carefree yet defined style, I have noticed several specific beauty standards that most parisian women embody. I’ve tried over the years to incorporate several of them into my way of life and beauty routine. I’ve gathered a few of my favorite french beauty secrets for you.
The French lifestyle is known for their unprocessed, fresh foods, walkable cities, and dinners with friends that trail late into the evenings. They live on average four years longer than Americans. The national lifestyle contributes to the beauty secrets of the French women as they build their beauty from the inside out.
Some of the most incredible skincare in made in France. A stellar skincare routine is one of the most important French beauty secrets. French women take skincare very seriously, not only for great skin today but for great skin in the future, taking care of themselves as they age instead of playing catch-up later. They don’t want to look forty when they’re sixty, but they also don’t want to look sixty when they’re forty. By enjoying a healthier, more relaxed lifestyle and utilizing a nourishing skincare routine, they try to slow down aging rather than stop it completely.
In France, jolie laide is the motto — loosely translated to describe unconventional beauty. Often times in the US we work so hard to conceal some of our physical traits that make us uniquely us, but they are exactly what French women find most appealing. A refreshing take on what it is to be “pretty.”
In France, makeup is usually seen as more of a tool used to supplement a person’s features, and not to create features that don’t already exist. This idea of being an enhanced version of yourself is a French foundation of beauty as well as self-acceptance.
“That Parisian ‘glow’ comes not only from well cared-for skin, a delicate pop of highlight in the right places. Be a makeup minimalist. Choose one feature to emphasize, and keep the rest of your makeup to a minimum. For example, highlight your eyes with a sweep of eyeliner and mascara, but keep your skin and lips bare or natural. There is something very captivating about a woman with lightly touched skin, a hint of mascara, and a bold lip color. The world gets to see the beauty of the real you. For French women, contouring is very scary, because it changes the sculpture of the face. It’s much more about adding highlights, they catch the light on the cheeks, and on the Cupid’s bow of lips so you don’t really need contouring.
French women take the time for pampering, whether it’s just a relaxing bath at home, a massage, or a face mask. French women also know that hydration is the key to good skin and good hair. I recommend drinking a glass of water before going to bed and first thing in the morning. Water is the French women’s secret weapon—for skin and beauty, for health (flushing toxins) and for weight control (don’t snack when you think you are hungry, your body is really thirsty).
French women like their hair to be very healthy and shiny, so when they wear it messy, it doesn’t look dry and damaged, they are much more about looking for a good haircut than a good styling product. The women are also known for a unstyled care-free look with their locks. Air dried hair in its most natural state becomes a high fashion look when you put it together with a great wardrobe, makeup and skin routine. I have always done a version of this for myself. I often will wash my hair at night, and wrap it in a special bun folding an old school large and loose silk scrunchie in a special way. I will sleep with it overnight to wake up with the perfect wave in my hair.
Finally, French women invest in several different perfumes. Each morning, they choose which fragrance they want to wear that day, depending on the mood, the time of year or their plans for the day. The perfect placement is small amount behind the ears, on the back of your neck, and on the wrists.
Take some of this French inspired beauty secrets and incorporate them into you lifestyle, enjoy a chocolate croissant and espresso to feel the full impact of the Parisian state of mind.
Related: Beauty Looks for Your 40s
