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Friday, June 6, 2014

French Pharmacy Magic

I'm finally starting to recover from an enormous case of jet lag.  It didn't help that this week involved delivering a high-intensity program for a client.  Nothing like a hard re-entry to get you back up to speed.

Anyhow, I had a great time on vacation, and made a bit of a discovery.  The French Pharmacy.  I had NO idea how great they were.  I suppose I hadn't really thought about going in to look for beauty products before--it just never crossed my mind.  But after a quick internet search, I soon learned about what I was missing!  French women typically look great and polished, but not "overdone" with makeup.  Skin looks fresh and healthy.  Well, clearly because they have some good stuff going on at the pharmacy to help.

I stocked up on some products to try, based on some suggestions and research.  I've used a bit of all of them at this point, so thoughts below.


Avene

Thermal Water:  This stuff is great--I know, I know, just spray water?  Seems to moisturize and refresh and will be great in the summer.

Cold Cream:  high quality, thick hand cream.

Eluage eye and face:  Night creams for both eye and face from their anti-aging line.  Thick, but not heavy.

Some random sample:  no idea what this is or what it does.  We'll see.


Vichy

Cellu Destock:  Vichy cellulite ads are all over pharmacies in France.  This one has ball rollers and caffeine to reduce the look of lumps and bumps.  We'll see.

Normaderm:  the anti-acne line, a mattefying lotion and scrubbing cleanser (although those beads are supposed to be bad for water supplies!)


La Roche-Posay

Serozinc:  I love LRP sunscreen, so I picked up a random spritz cleaning solution (no idea) and Cicaplast, which is apparently a healing cream for "post procedure".  Probably should have read the box better, but I was excited.  Side note, I also just got back from Toronto and picked up more LRP products to be discussed later.


Klorane

Dry Shampoo:  Highly recommended by bloggers, I picked up the spray and the powder (which I haven't yet figured out how to use).


Bioderma

Crealine:  Holy cow this is really good to remove mascara...especially if you have sensitive eyes.  Awesomeness.

A travel pack with Atoderm:  It was a slickly-packaged travel pack.  I'm a sucker.  Shower gel is nice so far, and can't go wrong with a mini lotion.


Nuxe

Huile Prodigieuse:  Last, but certainly not least, this stuff is AMAZING.  Goes on face, body, hair, wherever, and leaves it softer and smelling nice.  We stayed in a hotel with a Nuxe spa and it was awesome, so I had no doubt.

Reve de Miel lip balm (not pictured): Wow.  Creamy awesomeness in a container.  Spendy as it is, it's the best lip balm ever--matte, rich, feels like it actually WORKS.  I dig it.  I also bought it in stick form in Toronto.

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