Five French Girl Beauty Tips

Every time I'm in Paris I get so wowed by French Girl Beauty. Parisienne girls are so delectably chic, yet it never looks contrived, it always seems so effortless.

Clemence Poesy

I've never, ever run into Parisienne girls sporting the makeup overload that you see here. (which doesn't mean it doesn't happen, I've just never seen it).

street cred, Paris

Opaque, overthick foundation, Instagram styled contour, or clowning, or baking or whatever the idiocy du jour, just doesn't show up on the streets of Paris. (Apart from on the faces of the IG/YT enthusiasts visiting town.)

street style Paris

My Parisienne friend Emmanuelle told me that her hometown squad think Kardashian styled makeup is like a horror movie.
It's too big, too much, hides the girl and makes her look lacking in self confidence.

 I asked her for a list of beauty products that the average chic Parisienne girl uses to pull off that effortless, gorgeous, killer cool, French girl beauty.

Marion Cotillard

She told me that to a French girl looking too perfect feels too fake, but that they wholeheartedly believe in great skin. "Beautiful skin is everything,"

Tip One: With that in mind French girls take care of their skin, making sure it never looks stripped or dried out by always using a facial oil.

Personally I like dry finish oils so that my skin doesn't look liquefied or slimey. My favorites are Tatcha Camellia Oil which is a super luxe skin care product from Japan, and Nuxe Huile Prodigieuse, which is France's leading beauty oil. I am obsessed with the gold version of this incredible oil, which not only hydrates but also illuminates the skin.

Both of these have a dry finish, so makeup not only glides on after you apply it, but it also holds all day.

Audrey Tatou

Tip Two: Next, rather than a thick or heavy foundation, French girls prefer to give the illusion of perfect, bare skin by using a sheer and lightweight product like a BB or CC cream.

I use BB's over CC's, mostly because I haven't found a CC that I'm crazy about.

For a lighter cover try Ren BB Cream, if you want a little more coverage try MAC BB Cream.

Tip Three: French girls don't get crazy with concealer, many preferring to use none at all because a little shade under the eye makes you look real. (I'm looking a little too real these days. This is one step I can't get too French beauty with!)

Tip Four: Mascara is never thick or clumpy. A chic Parisienne prefers a defined and slightly elongated fringe of lashes. Try a mascara like Lancôme Definicils.

Marion Cotillard

Tip Five: The perfect way to pull the entire effortless chic look together? A red lip. Rather than a gooey, glossy red lip look for a soft, hydrating matte red lip. 
My personal favorites are Charlotte Tilbury Matte Revolution Red Carpet Red, which is a true red. MAC Ruby Woo, which is a blue based red, and for my golden skinned girls MAC Lady Danger, which has an orange base.

Lea Seydoux

Want Flawless, Gorgeous Looking Skin? Add Oil. ~ Beauty Tip Of The week #38

So how is your skin doing right now?
If yours is anything like mine it's starting to feel the effects of the colder weather. Cold weather stresses our skin out. It makes it sensitive and irritated, it dries our skin out.
The holiday season adds to this, because we are running around more, going to parties and events (alcohol + tiredness), going out at night shopping (stress + cold weather) and even though the holidays are tons of fun, they are exhausting.
If you are traveling there is another layer of chaos to add in to your equation, and it becomes super visible on your skin.

I couldn't figure out what was up with my skin. My foundation started looking really flat and lifeless, and nothing seemed to be working. I tried a bunch of different things before I realized what was up - I wasn't using a facial oil.

When I talk about facial oils people freak out

The old way of thinking was that facial oils would give us acne. They don't.

The new breed of super facial oils work magic on the skin.

Plenty of them are super antioxidants. They are incredibly nourishing and hydrating. They prevent water loss, sensitivities and irritation.

Facial Oils make your makeup look gorgeous!

From the makeup point of view facial oil make the skin look smooth and glowing. A couple of drops of a really good facial oil before your moisturizer will make your foundation glide on beautifully and smoothly, and give you the most gorgeous, healthy looking skin.

Which Oil Should You Use?

There are lots of different oils to choose from.

Personally I adore products with Camellia Oil. I am a firm believer that the most effective lip balms are the ones that contain camellia oil. My all time favorite face oil has a camellia oil base too.

I use Tatcha's Camellia Beauty Oil. It calms your skin when it is feeling sensitive or irritated, it hydrates it when it feels dry. This is one of those products that gives you an instant result - you see the difference immediately, and know you just did something very right for your complexion!

It also contains 24 karat gold which gives your skin a really sensual glow.

Tatcha Camellia Beauty Oil even comes in a travel size, which is perfect to take onboard your flight with you, and if you are a little nervous about adding an oil to your skin care regimen, is perfect as a trial product.

Check it out at tatcha.com

Camellia Beauty Oil