Fabulous French Pharmacy Finds

Bonjour! If you follow me on Instagram you’ll know I squeezed in a gorgeous little trip to Paris last weekend. J’Adore the Parisian beauty ethos – it’s all about being a better version of yourself! Skincare is such a big deal and there really are pharmacies on every corner, but the top destination for beauty junkies is City Pharma. It’s the stack em high, sell em cheap kinda pharmacy, I wrote about it last year. It’s not for the faint hearted but this time round I went prepared with an alphabetised list. Although you can buy most Parisian brands over here now, Escentual has a fantastic range of French Beauty and for the month of March is offering up to 1/3 off, but there’s nothing like shopping in Pareeee plus with the strong pound it’s so much cheaper.

Bioderma Crealine H2O Micelle Solution 8.90 Euros/500ml (£10.29/250ml Escentual)

The Rolls Royce of cleansing waters! Although you can buy Bioderma in the UK now, it's still loads cheaper in France. I stocked up with two big bottles and a cute dinky bottle for travelling.

Bioderma Crealine H2O Face and Eye Wipes 4.99 Euros (Not available in the UK)

Luxuriously thick wipes, powerful enough to remove eye makeup yet gentle enough not to irritate the skin, also reassuringly moist.... and as far as I can tell, not available in the UK.

La Roche-Posay Lipikar Hand Cream 5.78 Euros for 2X50ml (£4.50 Boots)

City Pharma was stacked with cheap hand creams so I picked up three!  This one promised daily care for dry, very dry chapped hands.

Avene Hand Cream With Cold Cream 3.90 Euros/50ml (£6.50 Escentual)

Skin is instantly relieved and hydrated thanks to intensely nourishing White Beeswax, and is soothed with the healing capabilities of Avène Thermale Spa Water.

Bioderma Atoderm Hand Cream 1.50 Euros/50ml (£6.50 Amazon)

An intensely nourishing treatment for damaged hands.

Caudalie Vinoperfect Radiance Serum Complexion Correcting €37.90/30ml (£45 Lookfantastic)

After receiving a sample in my Birchbox I had to have this amazing radiance serum but I didn’t fancy paying £45. Thanks to the exchange rate this one set me back around £26 - I can live with that.

Caudalie Beauty Elixir €7.99/30ml (£11.50 Feel Unique)

My holy grail! How I love this aromatic mist. Moisture in a spray and radiance every time. I have a large one on my dressing table but picked up this mini one for on-the-go.

Klorane Floral water eye makeup remover €4.50/100 (£6 Feel Unique)

When I saw this on Lisa Eldridge's list of French beauty buys, on my list it went. Enriched with soothing and decongesting cornflower, it effectively removes all traces of panda eyes and helps prevent the puff.

Klorane Nettle shampoo oily hair €5.95/200ml (£7 Escentual)

In my first French haul I picked up the Klorane dry shampoo, decent enough, but it didn’t surpass the power house that is Batiste so this time I thought I’d try a wash-in shampoo. I’m all over anything that offers to combat greasy roots. I’ve used this twice this week and I’m very impressed. Seems to really give my hair a good clean without weighing it down.

La Roche-Posay Effaclar duo plus – spot treatment €8.78/40ml (£15.50 Escentual)

This appears on everyone’s French beauty wish list so I had to see what all the fuss was about. A targeted treatment for oily, blemish prone skin.

NUXE Reve de Miel Baume – 6.90 euros/15ml (£9.50 Escentual)

The ultimate lip balm! It has a natural matte finish, lasts for hours and smells like lemon curd... yum! Already kicking myself for not buying more!

And finally, I picked up these completely unnecessary but extremely cute bamboo cotton buds €1.30, simply because I knew they'd look the part on my dressing table.

Total Spend €104 = £77

City Pharma 26 Rue du Four, 75006 Paris (St-Germain Quarter)