French girl rules of beauty
Rule #1: Prep (Donβt Primp) βFrench women treat their βbaseβ as best as they canβso we try to have amazing skin, and an amazing body, and amazing hair, so we donβt have to do too much else,β says Violette. Her complexion routine happens to be fairly involved, but weβd expect nothing less from a disciple of the school of JoΓ«lle Ciocco, the legendary Parisian facialist whom Violette calls βa skin god.β After massaging away all of the dayβs impurities with La Roche-Posayβs cleansing milkβalways with her fingertips to increase circulationβViolette rinses with water and follows with the brandβs calming cream. βThen, in order to make my skin drink, because it needs nurturing, I use these little glass capsules that you break open. One is called βgranions de manganΓ¨se,β and the other is βgranions de sΓ©lΓ©nium.β I get them from the pharmacy,β she explains. As a final step, Violette slathers on a gel cream called Oxelio Topique, another French-pharmacy staple. βIt helps my skin fight aggression, like stress, pollution, and bad food.β Rule #2: Practice Everything in Moderation βThe way to have good skin is not actually about what you put on your skin,β Violette admits, in spite of her multistep facial routine. βItβs about what you eat. French women try to eat organic as much as possibleβand as little sugar as possible. Weβre more concerned about sugar, not so much low-fat.β Rule #3: Only Go to the Gym If You Feel Like It βA French woman is like a wild horseβshe is very rebellious, and sheβd rather kill herself than go to the gym!β Violette says with a laugh, before admitting that the workout trend is starting to pick up steam in the City of Light, even though it was nearly nonexistent a decade ago. βWe need to take pleasure in everything we do,β she continues, explaining that even newly popular classes, like the barre method, should be funβthe philosophy being: βNever get stuck in a hardcore, rigid habit.β Rule #4: Forget About Blowouts βFrench women want amazing texture with their hair,β confirms Violette, referencing that coveted lived-in look commonly seen on the likes of Caroline de Maigret, Constance Jablonski, and Aymeline Valade. βWe like to shampoo our hair, air dry, then wait a day. When you wash your hair the first day, you donβt know what to do with it. The second day, it looks much better,β she says. (If and when Violette does get a blowout, she is careful to plan her appointment for the day before she actually needs to look good.) Rule #5: Commit to Regular Cuts βFrench women like their hair to be very healthy and shiny, so when they wear it messy, it doesnβt look dry and damaged,β according to Violette. βWeβre much more about looking for a good haircut than a good styling product,β she continues, pointing out that most French women like short or shoulder-dusting cropsβwhich, admittedly, puts her own chest-length hair at odds with her countrywomen. βI actually get my hair cut at Eva Scrivo in New York,β she admits. βI find that American hairstylists understand the long-hair culture more than the French!β Rule #6: Say Yes to a Red Lip Bardot and Deneuve might be best remembered for the black, feline flicks they scrawled onto their upper lash lines, but French women donβt really use eyeliner, says Violette. βI think weβre more about red lips,β she claims, listing MACβs cult-classic lipstick in Ruby Woo as one of her all-time favorite bullets. βThatβs the identity of a Parisian woman.β Itβs how you wear a crimson or scarlet shade that makes it fully French, though, she insists. βRed lipstick is a fashion accessory. So we wonβt wear any other makeup with it. Then our hair has to be messy, our skin has to be perfect, and weβll just wear jeans and heels because the lipstick makes the statement.β Rule #7: Bring Light (Not Shadow) to the Face βWe never contour,β Violette says of an inherent dislike of brownish shading powders or creams. βFor French women, contouring is very scary, because it changes the sculpture of the face. Itβs much more about adding highlights,β she explains. βThey catch the light on the cheeks, and on the Cupidβs bow of lips so you donβt really need contouring.β Rule #8: Make Your Smoky Eye a Little Bit Messy βThe other makeup that is really French to me is the smoky eyeβbut itβs a messy smoky eye with a creamy texture,β contends Violette, who points out that dΓ©gradΓ© lids, βsparkly effectβ shadows, and perfect lashes are the opposite of chic, as far as French women are concerned. βWeβre very lazy! Weβll just use one product, put it all over, and blend it with our finger. Then weβll [groom] our eyebrows, put on a bit of blush and concealer, and go.β Her personal favorite is Diorβs black eye pencil, which she applies at the roots of her lashes to make them appear darker, before scribbling it across her entire lid, βlike a kid would,β and smearing the pigment with a tiny bit of pharmacy-procured calendula lip balm. βJust a little bit so you have dewiness. French women donβt like powder shadows,β she adds firmly. βTheyβre too complicated.β












