For me French beauty brands have it spot on when it comes to products with both quality and packaging second to none. I mean have you ever seen an un-chic French beauty line? And yes, un-chic is a word.
So many of the brands in my makeup collection are in fact French so I thought I'd create a run down of my top 5 favourite brands that impress me and I will always use. Most of these products are available in the UK so you can always have a little Parisian beauty chic in your life!
First up what I like to think of as the original French beauty brand. Bourjois has been around such a long time and in fact longer than Chanel and if you didn't know Bourjois and Chanel are owned by the same company! From the packaging to the type of products they keep coming out with I'm continuously impressed by the brand.
My first ever favourite product from them was the Bourjois Bronzing Powder and still to this day (I'm thinking it's been 10+ years now!) I love to use it, it's just such a great soft everyday bronzer. But for new products I'd highly recommend the Rouge Edition Velvet Lipsticks as they are such amazing quality and the velvet matte finish they give is just perfect. I also adore the compact cream blushers and nail polishes; the recent La Lacque nail polishes are such a dupe for Nails Inc ones.
On to a more luxury French beauty brand now with Clarins. For me Clarins is a perfect example of how the French just get it so very right; I mean just look at that packaging! Clarins was a brand I only start to explore in my 20's as before then it did have a more mature image, but gone are the days where they mainly focused on anti-aging skincare (though they still do skincare very well) and now much more attention if given to their wonderful palettes and lip products.
Personally I love Clarins for their gorgeous lip products with the Rouge Eclat Lipsticks being my favourite, along with their Instant Light products for the lips which are so comfortable and that perfect touch of colour for. But for a real treat you can't get much better than their Eye Quartet Mineral Paletters, now these do retail for £33 however everything is just perfect about them, with such wearable buttery soft shades and beyond luxury packaging... I mean they come in a velvet pouch?! Clarins truly says luxury to me.
Though L'Oreal doesn't scream French beauty brand to me as it's evolved into such a huge brand I still find the products to be pretty damn amazing. For me it really is more about how well the products work here than the aesthetics are L'oreal is a mish-mash of styles when it comes to packaging - I can't stand the Miss Manga mascara packaging, though I love it as a volumising mascara.
I have so many favourite products with this brands that I don't know where to start! Foundations of course needs a mention as bar the odd one or two I have been so happy with them all - I can't get enough of both the True Match and Lumi Magique foundations. I also find the concealers to be really great with the Lumi Magique Concealer being one of the best highlighting concealers I've come across after YSL's Touche Eclat. As for eyes the Super Liner Perfect Slim Intense is my jam for an easy winged eye, the pen offers so much control and it's just so pigmented.
I also truly love L'Oreal's haircare range with the Extraordinary Oil replacing my much more expensive Moroccan Oil - it's just a multi-tasking dream! And I of course couldn't not mention my love of the L'Oreal Ever- Shampoo range which are SLS-free and really amazing for the hair - if you often have a dry scalp, colour your hair or react to other shampoos then I recommend giving the range a try!
On to French skincare now with a brand I've been using for a few years that has totally changed my skin for the better and even changed by views on skincare - by that I mean I've come to realise that spending a little more on skincare products is worth it to get a targeted treatments for your own skin issues/concerns.
Whatever your skin type La Roche-Posay will have a solution for it and that's what I love about the brand, along with the gentle yet effective ingredients they use in all of their products. With my oily/combination skin I absolutely love Serozinc, a spray to help mattify the skin which I make sure to use pre-makeup every day. I also couldn't be without Effaclar K which is similar to the popular Effaclar Duo, though it targets uneven skin texture that comes with having an oily skin type, this have improved how my skin looks no end! Lastly I feel La Roche Posay's sun care range deserves a mention as again every skin type is catered for which is often overlooked yet so important if you want to keep your skin in good condition. For me the Anthelios XL Ultra Light Fluid SPF 50+ is perfect for both my fair and combination skin.
Last but not least, though not really a beauty brand as such, I just had to include Sephora. This is beauty mecca at it's best. With both high and low end brands and of course the wonderful exclusive beauty gift sets they do it really is a beauty lovers paradise. If you are heading to Paris then it's certainly worth a visit!
Talking of Paris I also wanted to share a great competition with you to win a trip for two to Paris. The prize includes a weekend away including flights, accommodation, and a Michelin starred meal - much deserved after a busy day of sightseeing and shopping around the wonderful city! To enter this amazing Parisian weekend away competition, simply enter here and you could be jetting off for a festive weekend or even an amazing first trip of 2016. However if you do win I may have to email you over my Sephora shopping list!
I'd love to hear what your own favourite French beauty brands are in the comments.
Fee xo.
*This is a sponsored post in partnership with Leisure Jobs
I'd love to hear what your own favourite French beauty brands are in the comments.
Fee xo.
*This is a sponsored post in partnership with Leisure Jobs
