My excitement for my last visit to Paris was headlined firstly by the fact that a trip to the hot chocolate lovers heaven, Angelina’s was on the cards. The second reason for all my squealing? The pharmacies. Shops piled high to the rafters with skincare, spotted by the bright green cross outside their doors occur as frequently on your travels as a coffee shop chain does in the UK. I counted at least one on every street in central. Dreamy, right? Skincare just doesn’t have the same clout over here as it does to our sÅ“urs françaises, they go crazy for the stuff as was confirmed by a rather sardine-like visit to the much talked about City Pharma on Rue du Four. All the usual suspect French skincare faves frequented the aisles but with a much cheaper price tag than the other haunts; here’s what I lugged back to UK shores…
Lets not beat around the bush here, Bioderma Crealine H20. Go hard or go home was my mantra, and go home I did – armed with over a litre of the stuff, all for under £15. Two big bertha bottles and a mini for my travels. The jury always gets divided whenever this product crops up, but I’ve been using it on a nightly basis to get off the grime for well over a year now and I’m still addicted to the stuff. The Clarins Instant Eye Makeup Remover beats it hands down at lid makeup and waterproof mascara removal, so I just sweep the Bioderma over to rid my face of foundation. Quick tip – it’s worth shopping around as some of the pharmacies were robbing you of almost £20 per bottle. Naughty.
Next up is a Caroline Hirons assisted purchase, La Roche Posay Serozinc. It’s a zinc sulphate solution, which is known for its astringent and sebo-regulating properties so is best suited to oily gals. I’ve been utilising it as a toning step, but the blurb on the bottle suggests uses ranging from soothing razor burn to nappy rash, intriguing right? Unfortunately it’s not yet stocked in the L.R.P UK range, so I’ll experiment some more and get back to ya as to whether it’s worth booking a trip to Paris to source it yourself. Another La Roche Posay offering made it into the bag, but this time something on the other end of the skincare solution spectrum, Cicaplast. This moisturising gel-like texture is formulated for regenerating irritated post surgery skins, now I don’t tick that box but… I was in a rush and needed something to bring it up to €30. I’m secretly hoping that this last minute addition will help to sort out my pesky post-spot dry patches that seem to be becoming an all too regular occurrence.
So that’s all the overseas imports for now, but in a related snippet it seems retailers over here are finally tuning in to our French skincare prayers. My beady eyes caught a peak of Bioderma on the shelves of Zest, Broadwick Street at the weekend and my virtual shopping list is growing per pageclick over at Escentual, where there’s 33% off all French brands for the whole of March, and they now stock Bioderma too. I think now might be a good time to hide my bank card…
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