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11 Iconic French Pharmacy Brands
By Carly Cochrane
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From A-beauty, to J-beauty and K-beauty, it seems like we can’t get enough of alphabet-inspired formulas. But, whilst the newbies enter the limelight, one letter remains at the forefront: F-beauty.
French beauty has been a pioneer in the industry for quite some time now, and trust us, it hasn’t gone unnoticed. French-born products have continuously been a backstage favourite at the likes of fashion week, with both makeup artists and hair stylists swearing by them.
Luckily, the goods have now made their way across the channel and are much more accessible to all beauty enthusiasts. Before now, you would have to splash out on a Eurostar ticket if you wanted to get your hands on the epic skin care and feel-good formulas.
To help you be the first to snap up the best of the bunch, we've rounded up a list of iconic French pharmacy products.
Avène
Avène's story began in 1763 in a small, rural village located in the South of France. Today, they are one of the biggest beauty brands across the globe, renowned for their iconic Thermal Spring Water. With each product specially designed to naturally soothe, comfort and protect sensitive and irritable skin, you can trust Avène to heal any skin concern.
Avène Thermal Spring Water
£10.00Ask a French girl if she's used the Thermal Water as part of a skin care routine and the answer will almost always be yes. It's Avène's famed formula, as it boasts a magnitude of beautifying benefits. Whether you use it to set makeup, calm redness or as a hydrating pick-me-up, you can guarantee skin looks and feels healthier.
Avène Cleanance Cleansing Gel
£14.25This cleansing gel flies off the shelves thanks to its ability to purify and regulate oil production without the use of soap. Ideal for blemish prone skin, it’s a gentle formula that’s good to use on both your face and body.
Embryolisse
The Embryolisse journey dates back to the 1950s, when a dermatologist in a Parisian hospital created a formula that would keep the patient's skin hydrated. Now, it's a staple name in not only French households, but homes across the world. Even the likes of Karlie Kloss, Kim Kardashian and Scarlett Johansson are firm fans.
Embryolisse Lait Creme Concentre
£11.10 £13.99 (21% off)The Embryolisse Lait-Crème Concentre is nothing but an all-rounder. Boasting a three-in-one formula, it can be used as a moisturising lotion, primer and makeup remover. No wonder it's a best-seller.
Embryolisse Radiant Eye
£15.95 £18.95 (16% off)The Radiant Eye is another fan-favourite of Embryolisse. The clever cool-effect stick gives tired peepers a genuine radiance boost, leaving them much brighter and more refreshed - perfect if you've had one too many late nights.
NUXE
Ahh, Nuxe. This is a French skin care brand that we are high-key obsessed with. From their eco-friendly ingredients to their innovative formulas and sweet-smelling scents, the French are really on to a winner with this one.
Nuxe Huile Prodigieuse Multi Usage Dry Oil
£13.48 £17.08 (22% off)It’s a cult-classic and the multitasker that French women swear by. Made from entirely natural ingredients, the NUXE dry oil laces hair, skin and body with an unmatched moisture and a scent that screams summer.
Don't believe us? Check out our NUXE Dry Oil Review and see how it transformed a temperamental complexion.
Nuxe Reve De Miel Ultra Nourishing Lip Balm
£13.00 £13.23 (2% off)Looking for a lip balm that actually works? Allow us to introduce you to the Nuxe Reve De Miel Ultra Nourishing Lip Balm. This hardworking formula can restore and revive dry, sore and chapped lips in no time at all.
Filorga
The secret behind French women's youthful looks has been revealed. Filorga is the line of products that kept signs of premature ageing and sagging skin in check, way before botox was a thing. With hyaluronic acid powering their formulas, it's your one-stop-shop to keeping a young and plump complexion.
Filorga Meso-Mask
£18.38 £55.00 (67% off)Keep your complexion youthful, as anti-ageing experts Filorga bring you the ultimate formula. Inspired by the latest, innovative medical techniques, this face mask smooths, plumps and lifts skin to reveal a younger and more radiant complexion.
Filorga Global Repair Serum
£50.72 £99.50 (50% off)Whether its deep wrinkles, pigmentation, age spots, sun damage or expression lines, this high-powered, perfectly balanced serum has been expertly created to revive dull-looking skin. Inspired by renowned aesthetic medicine techniques, it delivers a visible and intense youth-enhancing effect.
Bioderma
Bioderma are one of the most popular and recognisable brands in the industry at the moment. Home to one of the best micellar water collections plus other skin-loving formulas, such as sunscreen, it's a French favourite that deserves a place in your every day routine.
Bioderma Hydrabio H2o Micelle Solution
£5.06 £6.50 (23% off)It’s the veteran of all micellar waters and our favourite for makeup removal that’s mess-free. Its ability to dissolve all traces of build-up whilst soothing skin is what makes this a hit backstage at fashion week.
Bioderma Sensibio DS+ Cream
£18.50Give stressed out skin a break with a smothering of the Bioderma Sensibio DS+ Cream. Developed to calm and soothe red, dry and flaky skin, the cooling cream utilises gentle ingredients to provide ultimate comfort and care.
Erborian
When French luxury is combined with Korean innovation, the result can only be ground-breaking. Erborian is a skin care line that utilises both Korean technologies and high-end ingredients in order to create makeup and skin care hybrids that are truly unmatched.
Erborian CC Cream SPF 25
£16.95 £20.50 (18% off)Korean intelligence combines with French beauty to create this epic CC cream. A few swipes of this velvety-soft formula will leave you with skin that’s perfected and radiant. If you want to know more, check out our guide to CC cream.
Erborian Ginseng Elixir Serum
£51.95Supercharged with ginseng, a powerful antioxidant ingredient, this serum packs the ability to turn back the clock on ageing. Skin is given a 'shot' of youth, whilst the appearance of dark circles, fine lines and wrinkles are improved for a radiant visage.
Vichy
Vichy is the French-born brand that caters to even the most sensitive skin types. For 80 years and counting, they've been providing formulas that are rich in minerals and help to soothe, calm and clarify skin.
Vichy Aqualia Thermal Rehydrating Serum
£22.40 £31.00 (28% off)Vichy's Aqualia Thermal Rehydrating Serum is enriched with mineral salts known to lock in moisture and naturally sourced hyaluronic acid. It's the ultimate hydrator for parched and sensitive complexions and delivers intense refreshment after just one application.
Vichy Liftactiv Supreme Eyes & Lashes Serum
£22.46 £29.95 (26% off)Longer, stronger, healthier lashes are coming your way with the Liftactiv Serum. As well as strengthening the feel of lashes, the serum also illuminates the skin around the delicate eye area for a bright-eyed and bushy-tailed finish and targets signs of ageing around the eye contour.
La Roche-Posay
The French swear by their products, A-listers swear by their products and we swear by their products. La Roche-Posay has been offering highly effective skin care solutions for all concerns for the last 30 years. Whether it's redness, acne, oiliness, ageing or dryness, there is a formula here that will transform your skin for good.
La Roche-Posay Effaclar Ultra Concentrated Serum
£34.81 £40.00 (13% off)Calling all oily-skinned beauties, this is the serum you never knew you needed until now. Once applied, the lightweight formula works overtime to balance sebum production, shrink pores and minimise blackheads and blemishes. Skin is left purified, clarified and fresher than ever before.
La Roche-Posay Anthelios Invisible Spray SPF 50+
£17.93 £23.90 (25% off)The Anthelios suncare range is one of La Roche-Posay's most sought-after collections, especially among acne sufferers. Here's why: it protects skin from harmful UV rays, all whilst leaving the skin clear, calm and comfortable. Now you can break up with bad skin for good!
Darphin
Pierre Darphin was a Parisian kinesiotherapist that brought together some of the world's best cosmetologists, massage therapists, manicure experts and other professionals to create a line of never-seen-before skin treatments. Today, Darphin serves up everything from day creams to face oils and serums, all of which keep your skin in tip-top condition.
Darphin Hydraskin Serum
£32.18 £60.00 (47% off)This serum is the perfect pick-me-up for skin that has had a long day. Powered by botanical extracts, the serum injects hydration into the deepest layers to transform tired, lacklustre skin into a brighter, healthier appearance.
Darphin Ideal Resource Perfecting Smoothing Serum
£38.06 £70.00 (46% off)Enjoy the benefits of this multitasking serum, designed to help you feel confident in your complexion. Crafted to restore skin to its ideal beauty, it's infused with clary sage and Darphin’s own key ingredient: Line Polish Complex. Together, they help bring light back to skin and fade the appearance of imperfections.
Institut Esthederm
The Parisians really do know a thing or two about skin care, don't they? Institut Esthederm is an innovative skin care and sun care brand that supplies nothing but skin-friendly formulas. Their products only ever work to boost your natural beauty and help to prolong it, so that you can flaunt youthful and healthy skin for years to come.
Institut Esthederm Intensive Propolis+ Purifying Mask
£25.67 £43.00 (41% off)Introducing a super face mask that is nothing but a household favourite amongst the French. Working to balance and treat acne-prone skin, this high-potency formula unclogs pores, regulates excess sebum and stimulates cell production.
Institut Esthederm Bronz Impulse UV Incellium Face & Body Spray
£56.00 £57.52 (3% off)This luxury body spray from Institut Esthederm helps prepare your skin for sun exposure by activating your skin's pigmentation process. It's a great holiday companion to strengthen your skin and prevent photo-ageing.
Caudalie
Caudalie is the French brand that brings you spa treatments from the comfort of your own home. The skin care line was established in Bordeaux, France, and was the first to combine the revitalising effects of the hot springs water with homegrown vine and grape extracts. It soon found itself on the shelves of many French pharmacies, which then led to its global success today.
Caudalie Vinosource Moisturising Matifying Fluid
£18.89 £25.00 (25% off)Caudalie Vinosource Moisturising Mattifying Fluid utilises the power of grape water and flax seed powder to combat an oily T-zone whilst also deeply hydrating skin. Wave bye-bye to mid-afternoon shine and welcome a fresh-faced complexion.
Caudalie Vinoperfect Dark Spot Correcting Glycolic Night Cream
£27.82 £37.00 (25% off)A best-seller and global favourite, Vinoperfect Dark Spot Correcting Glycolic Night Cream is loved by millions of women as it corrects dark spots with minimal effort required. Saturated with the Caudalie patented Viniferine (which is 62 times more effective than vit C), it effectively boosts radiance and evens skin tone and texture.
Now that you're fully stocked up with French pharmacy product favourites, why not check out The Best Hand Cream for Dry and Cracked Skin?
Written by Carly Cochrane
As the Senior Content Editor for Cosmetify, Carly is the go-to for all the latest (and greatest) beauty tips, tricks and trends. With over six years of experience in the industry, she knows all the ins-and-outs when it comes to health, beauty and wellbeing.
