My Favorite French Beauty Products

liberté, egalité, french pharmacé

My favorite part of traveling is discovering beauty products in different countries. Whether it’s drugstore mascara in Mexico, Italian baby powder, Japanese eyeliner, or Moroccan perfume oil, my bathroom is filled with an Indiana Jones-esque beauty stash from drugstores around the world.

But one city, above all others, has my beauty-loving heart - Paris. I proudly identify as a hardcore French beauty stan. Once I met a hot french Jewish dermatologist who explained that La Roche Posay and other French skincare brands aren’t just sold in drugstores - certain La Roche Posay products (including a lot of highly specialized products they don’t sell in the USA) can be prescribed by a doctor for various skin concerns. French skincare and beauty isn’t treated as some frivolous luxury - it’s medical, and integrated into their relationship with personal health. Which I love!

French beauty is also straight up sensual. To me, the best French beauty products feel luxe, rich, and refined. The packaging is substantial, the components feel expensive, and the scents - oh, the scents! As an unabashed fragrance lover, I live for a richly scented French beauty product.

NGL, writing about French beauty products feels a little passé in 2024. Sometimes it seems like the beauty world at large has moved on to K-Beauty, J-Beauty, no-beauty-beauty, food-inspired beauty, celebrity-founded beauty, etc. And I get it! I love all of those things. But there’s something that keeps me coming back to the world of French beauty. To me? Nothing compares.

After many trips to Paris, hundreds of hours of deep diving through old ITG posts, devouring listicles, scrolling through French Beauty subreddits, and many dollars spent at CityPharma, I’ve refined my list of holy grail French beauty products. And yes, there are so many lists online - French Beauty has been written about to death - but the recommendations below are the result of years of reading those lists, spending hours finding more lists, trying everything on those lists, and then buying more things that weren’t even on a list. But do your own research! What works for me might not work for you. Check out old Top Shelf articles on Into the Gloss, TikTok, NYMag, Reddit, Vogue, there are lists everywhere!

Read on to the end for a bonus recommendation from my Frenchiest French friend, Pauline Chalamet!

Where? CityPharma

one time I ran into a Glowing Up listener outside of Citypharma and made her take this embarrassing photo with my haul. Wherever you are- I'm so sorry.

CityPharma is heaven on earth. It’s an absolutely giant pharmacy with an incredible selection of every French skincare, beauty, and haircare brand. I go armed with screenshots of the exact products I want to buy, and if if I can’t find something on the shelf, I show it to one of the amazing women who work there who point me in the right direction. I find the prices are so much lower at Citypharma, which is key if you’re buying enough products to keep a small country moisturized (like I do). However, I must warn you that Citypharma is crowded. It’s not for the faint of heart, serious shoppers only. Don’t bring your friend who doesn’t like crowds. I suggest going right when it opens, when it’s a little less packed. But be warned, you will most likely have to shove a French woman out of your way to get what you want. The employees at Citypharma are super knowledgable, and you should totally lean into asking them for recommendations. On my last trip to CP, my friend told one of the employees about his chronic body eczema that his US dermatologist hadn’t been able to clear up. A kindly Citypharma employee immediately introduced him to a few products that he said cleared up his skin in days. Those women are basically doctors!

FWIW, I’ve also heard that French girls “in the know” also like Pharmacie Monge but I haven’t personally been.

Some of my PharmaHauls over the years. Yes, I know I'm insane.

My Favorite Products (excusez-moi, produits)

Nuxe Reve de Miel lip balm

Nuxe’s iconic honey lip balm is pure magic for chapped lips. I have put it on EVERY NIGHT, religiously, for at least 5+ years and my lips have not been chapped since. You heard me right - this product literally ended my chapped lips forever. It’s more of a lip mask than a lip balm - but it’s way nicer and thiccer than most lip masks available in the states (I’m looking at you, Laneige). The texture is amazing - thick, whipped, nourishing, with a really nice matte finish. It’s not greasy or slippy. Plus, the staying power is insane- it stays on my lips all night. Like I will wake up after thrashing and rubbing my sweaty face into the pillow and in the morning, it’s literally still on my lips. I love this stuff so dearly, and I always pick up a few jars whenever I’m in Paris. On my last trip I bought a jar of the limited edition Sweet Lemon scent, which I’ve been liking. Stay away from the rose one, it’s not nearly as moisturizing as the OG.

Nuxe Huile Prodigieuse

Yes, I know this body oil is on every list of must get French pharmacy products. And here it is on mine. But people love it for a reason! It’s moisturizing, yet somehow not greasy (it’s a dry oil! and no I don’t know what that means)! It’s also versatile, the bottle says you can use it for hair and face! But most importantly, it smells like a fucking gorgeous delicious French angel laying in a warm bed of sun-kissed flowers. The scent is so divine, so heavenly, and so damn sensual, that I save my precious stash and slather it head to toe on special date nights when I need the scent of my skin to literally drive a man crazy. I literally weaponize this oil as a sexual tool, and you should too. It also comes in other scents (Neroli and Floral, but the OG is my fave) and even comes in a shimmery version that I love slathering on my pale hot dog legs for a nice glow. You can buy it online from the US, but it’s literally a third of the price at Citypharma.

Biafine

Okay, I know this is a boring burn cream that is also on every French pharmacy listicle. But my god is it amazing. Biafine is a magical, healing burn cream that every French person keeps in their medicine cabinet. This summer I got a gnarly burn from a cast iron pan, and applying this stuff twice a day made it go away in less than a week. It also works really well for healing sunburns.

La Roche-Posay Anthelios Oil Control Fluide

This iconic sunscreen lives up to the hype. It’s lightweight, not-greasy, high SPF, all the things you’d want in a sunscreen. And yes, it’s technically available in the states, but the French version is different, because the French government allows different, more advanced SPF filters in sunscreen? God knows I don’t understand why. And please don’t make me explain it. I personally use the Oil Control version, because my face is oilier than a duck in a Dawn commercial, but the regular version is great too.

Avene Ultra Fluide Perfector

My last trip to Citypharma was a manic sunscreen binge. Since I wear sunscreen every day, I let myself indulge in as many French sunscreens as I could physically carry home. I justify my sunscreen obsession by telling myself that sunscreen is basically a medical purchase, and an investment in keeping future Caroline’s skin tight and wrinkle free. While I’m devoted to my beloved EltaMD UV Clear, I did tons of research on good French sunscreens for oily skin and came across the Avene Ultra Fluid Perfecteur on one of my deep dives. And wow, it’s stunning. Super lightweight, and once you rub it in it’s actually completely imperceptible on your skin. Plus it has a very slight tint that evens out my skin tone in a lovely, subtle way.

Bioderma Cicabio Lotion Spray

This is a fully unsexy recommendation but I stand by it. It’s a chalky textured, milky liquid you spray on oozy wounds or irritated skin to speed the healing process. It has lots of uses (including for something called maceration of the folds WTF?!?) but I personally use it to heal freshly popped pimples! After I (safely) pop a juicy zit, I clean the area and use a q-tip to dab a juicy clump of this on the open, oozy hole. It dries quickly, and I try to leave it it on the spot for as long as I can. This product dries things out, helps the pimple form a scab, and usually within a day, the scab has fallen off and the area is completely healed. Sorry for the TMI but WOMEN’S STORIES MATTER. I prefer using this product to heal a popped pimple instead of a pimple patch, I find there’s no chance of the zit reanimating into a FrankenPimple which sometimes happens to me when I use patches.

Bioderma Cicabio Creme

Another unsexy recommendation! After I get my beloved, 2x/yearly microneedling treatments (which are like a magic eraser for my texture and post inflammatory hyperpigmentation), my skin is raw and red for a week after. After microneedling, you’re supposed to be really careful with your skincare - and only use a gentle wash, moisturizer, and mineral sunscreen. A PA recommended I use this healing, soothing cream 2x/day, and it’s so incredible. It just instantly soothes and nourishes my compromised, itchy skin. Whenever I’m in Paris I pick up a giant bottle so I always have some on hand for way cheaper than it would cost in the states.

Hexomedine Transcutanee Solution

Yet another completely unsexy, acne-related recommendation. I learned about this stuff on of my manic pre-Paris internet research binges, in an old ITG Top Shelf.

It’s essentially a spot treatment for painful, blind pimples. The pimples straight from the bowels of hell, the ones that you feel for days and never come to a head and last for weeks. The pimples you spend 45 minutes driving to your dermatologist in Beverly Hills for a cortisone injection that you later receive a bill for $100. This stuff works on those! If you feel one of those horrible under the skin pimples coming on, you put this on ASAP - the sooner the better! You dab it on twice a day and it takes the swelling down and speeds up the healing process a little bit. Sometimes I can stop a blind pimple in its tracks if I get the timing right. You have to get it over the counter from an actual pharmacist (the pharmacy is upstairs at Citypharma).

Nuxe Refreshing After Sun Lotion

This is a summer staple. When I’m a bad girl and give in to the tanning gods, this after sun lotion is a staple. It smells - like all Nuxe products - heavenly and delicious. It claims to “extend your tan” - I have no idea if that’s actually true - but using this product on my parched post-sun skin is a delightful treat that I simply adore.

Caudalie Vinosun Protect

You guessed it, another sunscreen. I love the ease of a spray sunscreen for body application, but I’ve been spooked by too many fear-baity news stories about the dangers of aerosols, so I’ve been trying to phase them out. I tried this based on the recommendation of a friend and loved it immediately. It smells delicious and feels so nice on the skin. This makes the normally laborious process of applying body sunscreen feel delightful.

Honorable Mentions

Bioderma Micellar Water

Hot male citypharma employees restocking the Bioderma micellar water. This is better than porn to me

Of course this is the best micellar water ever. But it’s so widely available in the states, why would you waste valuable suitcase space to schlep it back? But if you have the space, go for it.

Lip Balms!

Not sure why I felt the need to take this guerilla footage of the lip balm display in Citypharma, but I stand by my choice. All French lip balms are amazing. Before I check out, I usually grab a fistful of various tubes (any brand) at the pharmacy. I hesitate to recommend a specific one because, as a Certified Lip Balm Monster, I believe you should grab as many as physically possible and try them all. If I had to rec one, I think my favorite is this Boiron Dermoplasmine Lip Stick, but it’s hard to find. Lip balms are also a great gift for your friends back home!

La Roche Posay Cicaplast Balm B5

La Roche Posay’s Cicaplast Balm is soothing balm for irritated, raw, compromised skin. I use it on scabs or dry irritated patches it works beautifully. One time I went skiing (never again) and this fixed my raw, wind-chapped nose.

La Roche Posay Serozinc Face Mist

Everyone crows about the Avene thermal water, which I’ve never really understood, because it’s just water that you spray on your face. But this face mist is different. It’s full of zinc which is incredible for keeping oily skin in check. It mattifies and refreshes my face, so key in the summer.

Guest Recommendation!

It didn’t feel right to make this list without getting input from an actual French person. Thankfully, my Frenchiest French friend, the incredibly talented actress and producer Pauline Chalamet agreed to share her recs. Pauline is obsessed with clean beauty - she runs every product she touches through an app called Yuka that rates any item (food, beauty, skincare) based on its toxic ingredients. Anytime I was around her she scanned my products until I told her to stop because it was starting to depress me. Point is, Pauline is committed to clean beauty! And she has lived in Paris for many years, so I had to get her recs.

Pauline (who has super sensitive skin) swears by the Bioderma Crealine Gel Moussant, a mild, soap free facial cleanser, and the Avene Tolerance Hydra 10 facial moisturizer (which only has 10 ingredients? Make it make sense).

Anyway that’s it! My first substack! This one was long. What else should I write about? Food? Beauty? Home decorating? Entrepreneurship? The time I met the actual Lisa Frank (true story!)? The sky’s the limit.

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Caroline Goldfarb is a writer/producer/entrepeneuse. She is currently a co-executive producer for Max’s hit comedy THE SEX LIVES OF COLLEGE GIRLS, and her writing has appeared in New York Magazine, Bustle, and Los Angeles Magazine. She co-founded the internet’s favorite tinned fish brand Fishwife which has been featured in Vogue, the New York Times, and is available at Whole Foods stores around the country. She loves pickles and olives.