Bonjour,
Seeing that Bastille Day, a French National Holiday, took place in July, I thought it only fitting to share more of my favorite French products for this month. These are the products from France that I have been loving for the month of July.
Le Petite Marseillais Shower Creams/Body Washes
What They Say: Le Petit Marseillais™, the #1 body wash brand in France, is a beloved bath and body line born in the South of France. Our body wash, lotions and soap are all inspired by the scents and sun-kissed ingredients of Provence.
Le Petit Marseillais™ Lavender Honey Body Wash gently cleans your skin. It’s smooth and easy to rinse foam reveals a sweet and romantic fragrance. Leaves skin feeling moisturized and nourished.
The extra gentle pH neutral formula makes this body wash suitable for everyday use.
Paraben free. Phthalate free.
My Review: First off, I love the size of these shower gels, especially because they are only $4.50 a bottle. The scents are lovely but not overpowering. I have the Orange Blossom, Vanilla Milk and Lavender. The Lavender scent is by far my most favorite.
They leave the skin feeling soft and hydrated without stripping and drying skin like most soaps do. I can’t wait to try these as a bubble bath since they lather up nicely in the shower. I’m sure they will make a lovely bubbly bath.
Mustela Hydra Bebe Body Lotion
What They Say: Mustela’s best selling daily-moisturizing Hydra Bébé Body Lotion provides immediate and long-lasting moisture for your baby’s skin.
Formulated with an elixir of plant-based ingredients including Jojoba Oil, Sunflower Oil, Vitamins E and F, Sweet Almond Oil, Shea Butter, and our signature Avocado Perseose, Hydra Bébé Body Lotion protects and strengthens the skin
My Review: I know, you’re probably thinking “A baby lotion?! Huh?” but hear me out. I used to work in a luxury beauty store where we stocked this French baby line. Many mothers would come in to stock up on this stuff and swore by this product for themselves as well. It’s 97% natural ingredients. If it is gentle enough for baby’s skin, why not ours?
This leaves the skin super hydrated, nourished and protected. It does have a slight baby powder smell but that dies away quickly as the product is absorbed and you are left with super soft skin.
Mustela Hydra Bebe Body Lotion
L’Occitane Hand Creams
What They Say: One of our best-selling Shea Butter Hand Creams is sold every three seconds around the world! Enriched with 20% organic Shea Butter, this super-creamy balm penetrates quickly to protect, nourish and moisturize hands. Honey, almond extracts and coconut oil are blended with Shea Butter to create this extremely effective formula. Considered a “beauty must-have” by many, this “life-changing” hand cream is essential for home, work and on-the-go.
My Review: The original L’Occitane Shea Butter Hand Cream is the number one selling hand cream in the world, so you know you can’t go wrong. I also really love the other scented ones. They are not as hydrating as the Original, but they still do an amazing job at leaving my hands super soft. I love that the scents are very light and not overpowering at all, so they don’t fight with whatever fragrances I’m wearing.
I love these so much that I have multiples and keep them everywhere; my bag, my car, in the living room and in my nightstand.
L’Occitane Hand Creams
Phyto Haircare Phytopaisant and Phytobaume
What They Say: Fascinated by nature, Patrick Ales decided to study the power of plants,
their history of use in traditional medicine, and the role they might play
to reveal hair’s natural beauty. It was finding ways to rescue his clients’ dry,
bleached-out locks in the sixties that inspired his first products. In 1967, he created PHYTOTHÉRATHRIE*, a ground-breaking concept of treating hair through plants,
and to this day inseparable to the brand identity.
My Review: Moving to Florida, my skin, hair and scalp freaked out and did a total 180 on how they reacted to the climate and products. I found my scalp had become very sensitive, irritated and dried out. I remembered that years ago, a salon I had worked at carried the Phyto Haircare products and I had loved them.
The shampoo, Phytopaisant, does a great job at cleansing my hair without drying out my scalp. In fact, my scalp has been less sensitive since switching over to this shampoo. The conditioner, Phytobaume, is very hydrating but light weight. It helps my hair to be soft and manageable without weighting it down. My hair has been shinier, smoother and my scalp less irritated since going back to using these. A true lifesaver.
Phyto Haircare
Givenchy Dalia Divin Eau de Toilette
What They Say: Like a Haute Couture gown, this fragrance envelops you in freshness and sensual softness that reveals the divine within you. Like a custom-made Givenchy creation, Dahlia Divin Eau de Toilette is an exquisitely refined, multi-faceted fragrance. The scent envelopes the skin with a fresh and soft sensuality, and like a golden haute couture gown, leaves you feeling divine.
Top notes of blood orange and peach, the heart is composed of rose and jasmine and the base notes are sandalwood, vanilla and musk.
My Review: I went in to try some other Givenchy perfumes but kept being drawn back to this one. It has all of my favorite notes: rose, jasmine, sandalwood, vanilla and musk. I don’t get the crispness of the fruit with this one though.
I find this to be a very sensual scent that is perfect for date night or a special event, or really just any time you want. It is warm and comforting. My only complaint is the wearability, because I feel like after a few hours I can no longer smell it. I might try this in the Eau de Parfum to see if the stronger version will stay on the skin a bit longer.
Givenchy Dalia Divin
Givenchy Rouge Interdit Vinyl Color Enhancing Lipstick
What They Say: Enhance your lip look with Givenchy’s Rouge Interdit Vinyl Color Enhancing Lipstick. This unique formula is infused with black rose oil, a rare and precious active ingredient that delivers extreme moisture and comfort to the lips for hours. It is combined with a silicone resin that forms a shiny, thin, and supple film on the lips’ surface for a second-skin feel. Lips are left with a “vinyl” radiance and a filling effect: lips instantly appear fuller, smoother, and denser. Each high-shine color blurs away all the lips’ tiniest imperfections and reflects the light, and its slick case features a metallic, satin ribbon design that’s inspired by the House’s fashion designs.
My Review: I love using this just by itself, so I can’t speak to it’s color changing effects when applied over other lip products. I love how hydrating it is for the lips. It keeps my lips smooth and plumped for a long period of time. It is black but goes on more clear and I haven’t noticed any color change to my natural lip color. Plus the packaging is just so chic. I carry this everywhere now and it has become my favorite moisturizing lip product.
Givenchy Rouge Interdit Vinyl Color Enhancing Lipstick
The Little French Bistro by Nina George
What They Say: Marianne is stuck in a loveless, unhappy marriage. After forty-one years, she has reached her limit, and one evening in Paris she decides to take action. Following a dramatic moment on the banks of the Seine, Marianne leaves her life behind and sets out for the coast of Brittany, also known as “the end of the world.”
Here she meets a cast of colorful and unforgettable locals who surprise her with their warm welcome, and the natural ease they all seem to have, taking pleasure in life’s small moments. And, as the parts of herself she had long forgotten return to her in this new world, Marianne learns it’s never too late to begin the search for what life should have been all along.
My Review: It has been my dream for decades to just sell everything and run away to live a simple life in France. Maybe somewhere by the seaside working in a cafe or owning my own business. Or maybe owning a vineyard, growing grapes to sell to the local wineries.
I would wake up and after having my coffee and croissant, travel through my small village where my neighbors are more than neighbors, they are family. A simple French life with good people, good food and good times.
This book is like someone took my dream and put it on paper. I read this book in one day because I was so in love with this wacky cast of characters. The way the book is written, it is like poetry, you can actually place yourself into each chapter and feel as if you are there. I love this one so much that I can’t wait to pick up more books by Nina George.
Netflix’s Documentary – Chef’s Table: France
What They Say: Sample the bold new flavors of France with chefs who are pushing the boundaries of fine dining and reinventing a rich culinary tradition.
My Review: This series ties into the book I mentioned above actually. I love seeing how these French chefs are evolving food as we know it. They find new ways to use food to create masterpieces that are pure edible art.
My favorite episode was on Alexandre Coullion and his restaurant Le Marine in the small seaside village, Noirmoutier-en-l’Île, France. The way he talked of food and used locally sourced vegetables and seafood was very reminiscent of the cafe in The Little French Bistro I mentioned above. I’m definitely adding a meal at Le Marine to my bucket list.
Suzy Salidor
Suzy Salidor was someone I discovered while looking for some French music on iTunes. But her rich history drew me in even more than her voice. Early in 1930, she became a popular singer and opened a chic nightclub, in Paris, called La Vie Parisienne. It was unheard of for a woman to own a nightclub but La Vie Parisienne was the most popular during the time.
She also lived a very daring life because she was openly lesbian. Salidor is also known as the most painted woman in history. During her life she was painted and collected portraits of herself by some of the world’s most famous artists including Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, Raoul Dufy, Tamara de Lempicka, Marie Laurencin, Francis Picabia and Kees van Dongen.
Her voice is beautiful and I really love listening to her sing some of France’s most popular jazz songs.
Let me know what you fell in love with for the month of July in the comments. And don’t forget to check out the video below to learn more about my thoughts on these items.
Au revoir,
