Two-hundred-and-thirty-six years ago the modern French Republic was born in the 11th arrondissement of Paris. Fed up with exploitation and mistreatment by the monarchy and the Catholic church, as well as the lack of due process for prisoners detained in inhumane conditions, the masses stormed the Bastille. It was a bumpy road to a liberal democracy, but eventually a government and civic identity dedicated to “liberty, equality, fraternite” prevailed. In our quotidian routines, we assume that political movements have nothing to do with beauty but recent events and controversies – punishing tariffs for skincare powerhouse South Korea and the unlawful deportation of a makeup artist because of his ink – have reminded us anything but is the case. While our rights and standards of living are under attack, this year’s celebration of French democracy hits harder.
Paris Fashion Week, the fantastic shopping in the Marais, and the exported skin care, makeup and perfume would be unthinkable without the events of 1789. It’s a tradition that the French take seriously. Their beauty and prestige exports are as central to their national identity as “La Marseillaise.” To honor the French revolution that birthed so many things we take for granted, let’s celebrate Bastille Day with iconic French beauty and lifestyle brands that lend that effortless Paris It Girl vibe.
Skin Care
The first thing one notices about women in Paris, from the ultra chic to the low-maintenance, is their effortless beauty routines. Not too much make-up, not shimmering glass complexions, just great skin – healthy and hydrated. Their secret: targeted professional skin care that nourishes with clean simple ingredients and professional formulations.
The simplest of simple ingredients – spring water from mountains in the South of Paris – can be found in every Parisian bathroom. Avène’s postbiotic-rich thermal spring water is rich in minerals that enhance and treat all complexions. In addition to a soothing, balancing spritz of Thermal Spring Water, Avène’s Cicalfate is a hero product for sensitized, post-procedural skin, and to treat burns and abrasion or any conditions when restoring the skin barrier is a priority.
Lighter skin-barrier protecting and soothing options include Tolerance Control Soothing Skin Recovery Cream, Cicalfate+ Hydrating Skin Recovery Emulsion, and reparative Cicalfate+ Scar Gel. Oily and blemish-prone complexions can take advantage of the healing mineral water ti cleanse sebum and mattify, minus the stripping, with Cleanance Mattifying Aqua-Gel and Cleanance Cleansing Gel.
For Bastille Day – Save 20% on all Avene products with code BASTILLE.
One will also spot a bottle of the infamous stinky toner in the average Parisian shelfie. While Lotion P50 1970, the legendary pore-perfecting, stinky elixir, is banned stateside, Biologique Recherche is known for dozens of other toners, treatments and masks that offer professional-level, botanical-based purification, exfoliation and plumping. Equally effective Lotion P50 toners for oily, hyperpigmented, and Lotion P50 W for sensitive skin can, as well as salon-level hair care, can be found at Paul Labrecque Salon and Skin Care Spa.
As the first purveyor of the prestige French brand in NYC, it also offers a variety of Biologique Recherche spa facials for snatched, refreshed complexions and salon treatments for purified scalps and glossy hair that bring a little bit of Parisian beauty to New York City.
A complete skin care solution – one that tackles plumpness, hydration, brightness, and age-disruption – was born at a modest Parisian spa in the 17th arrondissement. Clarins was the first brand to pioneer the use of pure botanical extracts in a major skin care line. Since the 1985 launch of Double Serum, millions of bottles of the dual oil-and-water solution have been sold. Enriched with 22 botanical extracts to treat both chronological and environment aging, a new, lightweight version for oily skin and hot, humid climates has launched this summer after 5 years of research to ensure French it Girl lit-from-within complexions for all.
The second signature of perennial Parisian beauty is an effortless red lip. Neither overlined, nor glossy, nor matte, it’s a simple, pout-perfecting pop of color. It’s fitting that the summer of 2025 is also the 10th anniversary of Lip Comfort Oil 54 Iconic Red launched this spring at the Clarins Soho pop-up. In a limited time revival, this multi-tasking plant oil-based balm drenches the lip in moisture and subtle blue-red pigment for a no-makeup makeup look that flatters all skin tones.
While Parisians are as city-locked as New Yorkers, they still revel in bucolic beauty and bounty from the South of France whenever they can. Home to farms, vineyards, and perfumeries, Provence, in the South just off the coast of the Mediterranean, smells heavenly. Notes of lavender, rose, fig, citrus, sea salt, basil and olive oil forever permeate the air.
Maison France Luxe incorporates these scents in centuries-old recipes for eco-friendly, small batch, olive-oil-based bar soaps, hand wash, laundry detergent, dish soap and household cleansers. In Unscented, Ginger, Parisian Garden, and Corsican Wind, the detergents for daily use and delicates gently remove dirt and debris for longer-lasting garments that smell of a seaside vacation.
Clean and sustainable, Maison France Luxe products elevate washing the dishes and laundry into an olfactory treat.
A roundup of French-inspired living would be remiss without the slightly less practical, more indulgent, and thus an obligatory way to fill an apartment with magical scents: candles. At a price point significantly more affordable than beauty-editor favorites, Ryan Porter Candles are hand poured with soy wax to endure longer burns.
For traditional sensory fantasies of strolling and flirting in the lushness of the Versailles garden, La Fleur Coquette Bow Candle perfumes the air with top notes of juicy peach, grapefruit, and crisp apple, with mid and base notes of cherry blossom, hydrangea, and comforting vanilla.
If your Parisian fantasies steer in the culinary direction, animated by endless patisseries and show-stopping confection production, the Chocolate Croissant Candle may be the next best thing to running to a boulangerie when the baked foods are still warm from the oven. Fully gourmet and appetite-igniting, the scent of buttery pastry layered over dark, oozing chocolate, dusted with freshly grated vanilla bean will transport you to Paris and motivate you to storm the culinary hotspots, the quaint shops, or even the Bastille.
No mention of French or Parisian style would be complete without a nod to our favorite libation – wine. Whether white, rosé, or red, fruity or dry, tannic or citrusy, all tomes written about the grape output from the South of France are insufficient praise, as well as all the hype about rosé. After a trip to Provence and a few life-changing sips of a local rosé, London TV personality Kavita Channé, came up with the wild idea to import wine with clean beauty and wellness-based modifications.
Both Sip Channé wines are free of sugar, sulfites, and tannins for a cleaner, crisper finish, as well as fewer calories and hangovers. The Channé Rosé is a traditional Cotes de Provence blend of Grenache, Cinsault, and Mourvèdre grapes with 13% alcohol, notes of apricot, cherry, passion fruit and white flowers that invoke the French Riviera. The zesty citrus finish of Channé Blanc will wow all Sauvignon Blanc lovers without any hint it’s a “healthy wine.”
Happy Bastille Day!!!
