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Which European beauty favorites are actually worth knowing?
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items I got into European pharmacy beauty the year I ran out of moisturizer in Paris and just bought whatever the pharmacist handed me. Most of it cost less than what I was already using at home and worked better, so I kept hunting things down after I got ...
I buy the biggest bottle every time because everyone in this house ends up using it. It takes a full face off without stinging my eyes, which no drugstore version here has managed for me. It does leave a slight film, so I still cleanse after, and the...
16.9 oz Sensibio H2O Micellar Water Face Cleanser for Sensitive Skin
I bought this in a Paris pharmacy for about the price of a lunch and I have kept a bottle going ever since. It goes on my legs, the ends of my hair, and my cuticles, and it sinks in fast enough that I can get dressed right after. The scent is strong ...
NUXE Huile Prodigieuse Multi-Purpose Dry Oil
A pea sized blob does both my hands, so one tube gets me through most of a winter. My knuckles stop splitting within about a week of using it every night. It is a lot of money for hand cream, and the scent hangs around long enough that I will not put...
Hand Creams - L'Occitane
I used this straight the first time and wrecked my face for a week, so now it is twice a week over moisturizer. Four months in, my texture is smoother than any US retinol ever got me. The tube looks like something from a hardware store and it is grea...
A313 Vitamin A Pommade (Ointment) 200000 IU ...
This is what goes on my elbows, heels, and cuticles before bed all winter. It is thick and herbal and slightly greasy, and I have made my peace with that. I would never put it on my face, and if you have oily skin anywhere it is going to be far too m...
Weleda Skin Food Ultra-Rich Moisturizer Cream - 2.5 fl oz
Wanting a fancy toothpaste is a ridiculous thing and I keep buying it anyway. The mint is sharp without the fake sweetness I taste in most US brands. It costs about four times what toothpaste should, and my kids will not touch it, so this tube is min...
Marvis Classic Strong Mint Toothpaste
I use this as moisturizer under makeup and my foundation stopped clinging to dry patches around my nose. One tube does moisturizer and primer, so that is one less thing on my counter. It is not enough on its own in deep winter, and the tube is imposs...
Embryolisse Lait-Crème Concentré Moisturizer
Two spritzes after makeup and my face stops looking powdery in photos. I keep mine in the fridge from May onward and it genuinely wakes me up on hot afternoons. It smells strongly of mint and rosemary, which my sister finds medicinal, and it is a lot...
Caudalie Beauty Elixir Prep, Set Makeup, Glow Face Mist
This is the one Korean product in an otherwise European list and I am not sorry about it. It sits between a gel and a balm, so it calms my redness without the heaviness of a French night cream. It comes in a jar, so my fingers go in it, and it has al...
Dr.Althea 345 Relief Cream, Korean Skincare
Every European supermarket sells this for a few euros and it beats creams I have paid ten times more for. I warm it between my palms first or it just sits on top of my skin. It is far too heavy for my face, and the tin gets slippery the second your h...
NIVEA Creme Body, Hand and Face Moisturizing Cream Fresh
I bought this after a bad sunburn in Nice and now one lives in my medicine cabinet. It takes the sting out of sunburn and windburn faster than aloe ever did for me. Getting it in the US means paying import prices, and the tube looks like something fr...
Biafine Emulsion 186g
A pot instead of a stick means I can put a real layer on before bed instead of a thin swipe. My lips stop peeling within about two nights of doing that. Digging fingers into a pot is not hygienic and I know it, and it is too sticky for me to wear out...
NUXE Lip Balm Honey Shea Butter Vitamin E
I put this on as an overnight mask when my skin is wrecked from cold or wind, and the tight feeling is gone by morning. No US night cream has done that for me. It is genuinely thick and honey scented, so it is not a daytime product and it does transf...
NUXE Reve de Miel Ultra-Nourishing Face Balm
I switched to this because straight vitamin C always stung and smelled like it had gone off. The dark spots I got during pregnancy faded over about four months of using it daily. Four months is the honest timeline, so if you want fast results this wi...
Caudalie Vinoperfect Radiance Serum Vitamin C Alternative
This is my emergency tube for wind chapped cheeks, a spot I over exfoliated, or a kid's scraped knee. Things calm down within a day or two of using it. It is a repair balm and not a moisturizer, so do not expect it to replace your regular cream, and ...
Cicaplast Balm B5+ | Soothing Therapeutic Balm for Dry Skin Irritations
A makeup artist friend told me about this and now a tube lives on my nightstand. It fixes the cracked corners of my mouth overnight when nothing else touches them. It smells faintly medicinal and goes on thick and shiny, so it is strictly for bed, an...
Homeoplasmine XL 40g Magic Cream Dry Skin
My skin is dehydrated and still oily, which most moisturizers get wrong in one direction or the other. This is light enough not to sit on top, and it is the one thing I can use on a day when everything else stings. It is not enough in deep winter, so...
Avène Hydrance LIGHT Hydrating Emulsion