The French Girl Beauty Guide for Effortlessly Beautiful Skin

We all know that French style is known for its chic, effortless, “just rolled out of bed” fabulosity that leaves you wondering just how they have the same amount of hours in the day that we do. With that being said, it’s probably not a huge surprise that their beauty routines are the same. So…what are their secrets? This is your French girl beauty guide to their favorite beauty brands, the best skincare products, makeup ideas, and more! Ready to get that French beauté?

French Skincare Tips

PIN IT

Before you even start thinking about going on a makeup shopping spree, you’ve got to start with beautiful, healthy skin. Since most French women often wear little makeup, preferring to enhance their natural beauty instead, this is by far the most important step to mastering French beauty. They realize that taking good care of their skin is not only good for looking your best, but for feeling your best. In this case, beauty is skin deep!

Above all else, Parisian women value their beauty products and take their skincare routines very seriously. You won’t find any harsh cleansers or heavy scrubbing here! French women have a simple approach when it comes to skincare, preferring a no-frills routine with products that really work for flawless skin.

The French girl learns at a young age that moisturizer is the key to great skin and a healthy glow, so finding one that works for you is a must. You’ll also want to find a great lightweight sunscreen – sun exposure and harmful UV rays are no friend to the skin and will speed up aging and hyperpigmentation.

Favorite Skincare Products:

Bioderma Micellar Water
A top-rated product for gentle cleansing and/or removing your makeup. It provides instant freshness and captures impurities, but doesn’t strip your skin!

Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair
A night cream that is widely used to help with aging skin. It repairs and renews cells and helps you wake up with younger, smoother skin.

Pâte Grise Creme Purifiante
A 70-year-old classic product for those pesky zits. This product unclogs your pores, reduces visible blemishes, and lets you wake up to clearer skin!

La Roche-Posay Cicaplast Baume B5 Balm
A multipurpose heal-all that you’ll definitely get your money’s worth out of. This is not only a fab lip balm – it can be used on your face, body, hands, and lips to soothe your skin and help with any dryness. It’s rich, but not greasy, and can even be used on babies!

Homeoplasmine Cream
Banish dry skin and chapped lips with this cream. Not only does it moisturize, but it soothes and protects as well. A little goes a long way and you can even use it to heal a popped zit!

Embryolisse Lait-Crème Concentré
Luxe moisturizer with a huge cult celeb following…perfect for dry skin and giving you that coveted glow and lit-from-within skin. It’s full of good-for-you, natural ingredients too!

Eau Thermale Avene Thermal Spring Water
This gentle spring water is a great choice for a light refresher. Calm, soothe, and soften your skin, all the while providing it with antioxidant protection too!

NUXE Huile Prodigieuse Dry Oil
This multi-purpose oil will earn a place in your beauty cabinet. With a blend of plant oils and vitamins, it adds a healthy shine to your body and hair…all the while adding much-needed moisture.

Darphin Intral Facial Toner
This gentle toner helps with irritated skin and redness. With chamomile being an ingredient, it soothes and calms the skin for an even skin tone!

Once your skin is cleansed and moisturized, then you can move on to makeup!

PIN IT

Makeup

PIN IT

Parisians typically view makeup as an option. It’s not something they *have* to wear every day, and when they do wear it, it’s usually very light and natural. This doesn’t mean they don’t like to have fun with makeup though! They just don’t have a 30-minute makeup routine starting with primer and finishing off with a setting spray as most Americans do. It would also be pretty rare to see a French woman contour and wear bold brows and/or fake eyelashes. French beauty standards embrace a woman’s real face and natural features.

The makeup products that French women do wear tend to complement and enhance their natural features. Thanks to a great French skincare routine, they don’t have to load up on products. In the United States, many times makeup is marketed as a solution to hide or mask features that you’re unhappy with. French women take a different approach. French beauty products highlight the natural beauty of a women’s face, with light mascara, neutral shadows, and a bold lip if they want to be a bit playful with their products that day.

Here are a few tips to keep in mind:

To cover dark circles/spots you want a light foundation or concealer. Skip the contouring. Don’t forget, you’re going for natural here! Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk Foundation is pricey, but a favorite product of French women. French girls use American brands too though! For a budget-friendly option, Sabina Socol recommends Glossier’s stretch concealer.

If you’re going to do eye makeup, go for natural shades – like a soft rose or brown for daytime. Keep it simple, too – no smokey eye routine necessary.

Do brows….but in a natural way! Try for a clear gel or a tinted gel instead of the whole brow contouring thing. Go for filled-in yet hardly there for the French approach.

You can’t forget blush! Cream blushes are especially great, melting into the skin to give you a natural look. Buff a tiny bit on the nose and chin too for a sun-kissed flush of colour across the skin. This is a great way to fake a holiday!

Even if you barely apply it, mascara makes a world of difference! It makes your eyes pop and will go a long way in creating that look of effortless beauty.

The “no makeup” look is a real thing and is a key part of the French girl beauty look. Sometimes they’ll opt for completely bare skin, but they usually do a light base of makeup to look put together…effortlessly! They know that sometimes less makeup is more.

At night and for special occasions, have more fun with your makeup and try out a smoky eye, or consider doing a bold lip color, but a bare face. Red lips are a secret weapon…and an accessory! Mac’s Ruby Woo is considered by many to be the perfect shade of red lipstick.

Hair

PIN IT

When it comes to hair, the French girl look is similar to their minimal approach to French makeup. French girl hair is simple – in fact, they often embrace their natural color and texture. This reinforces their effortless all-around look when it comes to style, makeup, and skincare.

If they do color their hair, they stick to natural shades. As for texture and styling, they embrace their natural hair. Whether they have wavy, straight or curly hair, they don’t use excess heat to try to change it. The positive side of this is that it usually means their hair is much healthier than it might be otherwise with excessive use of hot tools.

If they do choose to style their hair in any way, it’s usually in a simple way. Loose buns, air-dried curls, chignons, French pins or a simple half-up style are all popular. As for haircuts, the French bob got its name for a reason. A bit of fringe, long layers, or blunt cuts are all popular on the streets of Paris.

PIN IT

Last but not least, don’t forget about your signature fragrance! This is the finishing touch to any French girl beauty look.

Iconic French Perfumes

1. Chanel No. 5

Chanel No. 5 may be one of the most well-known perfumes in the world. It’s often referenced in pop culture and has proved that it has staying power as one of the most classic scents for women inside and outside of France. It features notes of May rose, jasmine, citrus, aldehydes, and bourbon vanilla.

2. Chloe Eau de Parfum

The Chloé Eau de Parfum was created in Paris over 60 years ago and has lived on in the fragrance world since then. The floral scent features notes of pink peony, lychee, and freesia, on top of rose, magnolia flower, lily of the valley, cedarwood, amber, and honey.

3. Chanel Coco Mademoiselle Eau de Parfum

Chanel’s Coco Mademoiselle fragrance is imagined after the young life of Coco Chanel herself. Its top note is orange, with middle layers of jasmine and rose, layered on top of patchouli and vetiver.

4. Miss Dior Eau de Parfum

Miss Dior is described as a “bouquet of sparkling colors.” It’s a floral scent, perfect for spring with notes of lily of the valley, rose, and peony.

5. Guerlain Shalimar

If floral-forward scents aren’t your thing, you might enjoy Shalimar by Guerlain. Shalimar leans more toward warm and spicy, with notes of lemon, bergamot, jasmine, rose, tonka bean, opoponax, vanilla, incense, and benzoin.

Favorite French Girl Beauty Brands

Bioderma

Caudalie

L’Occitane

La Roche-Posay

Klorane

Avène

Chanel

Guerlain

Dior

Nuxe

Payot Paris

Spring Clean Your Beauty Routine

Now is the perfect time to spring clean your beauty routine. Take inspiration from the French girl beauty approach to getting ready if you want to simplify your everyday look with clean, quality products. Their approach is simple – if you have a great skincare routine, you don’t have to spend unnecessary funds on a 30-minute makeup process. Sometimes simple really is best! The nice thing is that can be said for your wallet, your time, your bathroom counter space, and of course, your skin itself. Try out the French beauty routine this year and see the difference that it makes for your confidence and effortless look.

To learn even more about French girl beauty, check out the 7 Key Differences Between American and French Beauty

Share: