Tuesday, March 17, 2015

French Pharmacy Brands: Why They're Worth The Hype (And My Skincare Sob Story)


So, this isn't a "usual" post for me,  but I've got a story to tell (and it's kind of related to being an expat), so don't run away yet!

As "no make-up" selfies exploded on Twitter and Instagram a few years ago, I was thinking of another kind of skin explosion:

Acne. Not a glamorous topic (nor one that bloggers would readily admit to), but something I've dealt with nearly every single day of my teen and adult life. Yes, even now. Any acne-sufferer would know just how "brave" leaving your front door without a single drop of foundation, concealer or tinted moisturiser actually is.

Because I was once emotionally-crippled by acne.

As an acne-ridden teen growing up in Small Town, western Washington (that's State - not D.C.), my skincare choices were limited to drugstore brands like Neutrogena, Clearasil, and sometimes Clinique, if I ventured to the mall. Then, ProActive came along and my parents shelled out so much money on the subscription skincare service for me.

Unfortunately, the harsh ingredients in these cleansers, astringent pads, toners, and moisturisers only seemed to aggravate my combination skin and make it worse: dry patches continuously peeled and became scaly, while my acne flared up more than ever. We're talking on the scale of volcanic eruptions here.

Attractive, right?

Try being a 14-year-old Chinese-American in Small Town, western Washington with acne and I'll show you how "self-conscious" feels. I'd be laughing, having a great time with my friends - then I'd catch the sight of myself in a mirror, or even in a photo, and immediately stop smiling.

Yes. That bad.

By the time I reached college, my acne hadn't really subsided. I'd tried Chinese medicine. Western medicine. Changing my diet. Facials. Peels. Everything. My mom would spend mornings looking at me sadly over the breakfast table, slowly shaking her head and saying, "Your skin is just ... so terrible. Isn't there anything we can do?"

Visiting my Chinese relatives was the worst: over lunch, my aunts and uncles didn't mince their words, pushing bowls of "skin-clearing" soups toward me and chastising me when my chopsticks even dared enter into fried-dumpling territory saying, "That's just going to make your acne worse! Have some watermelon instead! We're only trying to help!" On such occasions, I'd bite my tongue and smile appreciatively, even though I felt mortified as the tears welled up in my eyes.

Then, during a life-changing trip to Hong Kong, my mom made an appointment for me with my cousin's aesthetician, who specialized in light and laser therapy for cystic acne. I say life-changing because, over the course of the sessions, my life changed. The scars and bumps I had slowly disappeared, and I was introduced to Dermalogica products, which were much gentler and effective on my skin.

I no longer cried when I looked into the mirror every morning (yes, I did this nearly every day when I was studying for my MA at York). Instead, I cried for different reasons: a co-worker complimented me on my skin and after saying, "Thank you!", I ran into the bathroom, locked myself in a stall, and cried because I never thought I'd ever hear those words in my life.

Thanks, Mom.

Okay, story's over - you can go now (unless, of course, you'd like to hear the role that French pharmacy brands have played in all of this!).


It wasn't until I moved to the UK that I discovered French pharmacy skincare products from brands that have been revered by the French for years: Avene, La Roche-Posay, Vichy, Nuxe, and Klorane were brands that nearly all my girlfriends here already incorporated into their beauty regimes.

So now, while I like to swap between Dermalogica and Liz Earle products, I also love having the option of using La Roche-Posay and Avene for my face (I find Vichy products to be a little too harsh, but that's just me). In the mornings, I'll use the Physiological Cleansing Gel followed by the Effaclar Duo+ on my chin, where most of my cystic, hormonal acne appears. I use the Avene TriAcneal in the evenings on the same area. So far, they've helped improve the texture of my skin (it looks visibly smoother) and helped to quickly stop breakouts.

Avene's Eau Thermale Thermal Spring Water spray is my secret weapon for long-haul flights - even John loves to use it. It's so refreshing and moisturising to use mid-flight, particularly as cabin air is so drying. It's kept me from breaking out post-flight too. Truth (although some might say, "Why don't you just bring a spray bottle of tap water?" Touché, though I still like to believe that the thermal spring water has super-human healing qualities. But that's just me.).

At work, I keep the La Roche-Posay Lipikar Xerand hand cream on my desk. It's paraben-free, has a lovely, light scent, and keeps my hands beautifully moisturized in the winter.

And the best part? They're so affordable! (Actually, Escentual is offering 1/3 off all French pharmacy brands for the entire month of March, which is where I stocked up.)

Other non-French products that I love? Trilogy's Rosehip Oil - my mom's also a convert. It does wonders for scars and fine lines, and is amazing for leaving my skin feeling plumped and hydrated in the morning. Dermalogica Daily Microfoliant and Overnight Clearing Gel.

What about you? If you're a fellow acne sufferer, I'd love to hear from you. All of my friends (and I mean all) were blessed with blemish-free skin. Not so much for me.
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29 comments

  1. I've been meaning to try rosehip oil for a while but haven't been able to find any of the brands that I've been recommended over here - will have to check that one out.

    I will never buy proactiv - had an experience with a rude lady who worked at their counter about 10 years ago and I still have not forgiven them. I had finally managed to get my acne under control a bit and the witch stopped me and kept going on and on about my horrible skin. I nearly burst into tears in front of her because she was so awful and tactless. Not sure where she got her customer service training.

    I've not really found anything that works long term, except for Cetaphil as a cleanser. I've just started using a homemade toner with diluted apple cider vinegar and I'm crossing my fingers that it will do something good. We'll see though... :-)

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    1. Jen, that sounds awful re: the Proactiv salesperson. Using their products was one of my biggest regrets, as they did much more harm than good - and were so expensive.

      I used to use Cetaphil too. The La Roche-Posay Physiological Cleanser is very similar and is super gentle.

      Trilogy is the best rosehip oil I've ever used. You can buy it in store at John Lewis or online at a number of beauty retailers too.

      I've heard that the apple cider vinegar toner works wonders!

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  2. As a teenager I got the odd blemish here and there but never anything more than that until I was around 25 and then all of a sudden my skin broke out in horrible acne. I have no idea why it happened but the skincare I had been using for the last few years no longer worked and I tried a range of acne solutions but nothing would improve it. After a few months I went to a GP and they prescribed me a cream (I can't remember the name but it contained salicylic acid) and then later I switched to a form of contraceptive pill to treat the acne. It did clear up eventually and my skin is fine now although I do still have a bit of scarring left. I don't take that pill anymore and when I stopped I was so scared that it might trigger the acne to return but thankfully that didn't happen. I have the same fear with skincare - I'm trying to experiment with it a bit at the moment but will only swap out one product at a time just in case something triggers a bad breakout. I haven't tried the French products you've mentioned but I am curious. The rosehip oil you mentioned sounds promising too!

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    1. Hi Stacey, thanks so much for sharing - it's really interesting to hear how your skin issues didn't develop until later. What skincare do you use now? I can totally relate to your hesitation of trying something new. The Physiological Cleansing Gel is very gentle and is a safe bet, I think. The rosehip oil is really the one product that has made a clear, visible difference in my skin. I'd highly recommend it to anyone - regardless of your skin type, but particularly if you have any acne or acne scarring.

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    2. I'm using a bit of a mix at the moment. I was using Proactiv for a long time but I started phasing them out of my skincare routine a while ago. I still have some of their products left that I am trying to use up before purchasing alternatives (the toner and repairing lotion). For cleansers I am using The Body Shop's Tea Tree Squeaky-Clean Scrub once a week and their Tea Tree Cool and Creamy Wash on the other days. They do the job but I'm not blown away by them so I may try something different when I run out. The moisturiser I'm using is by Simple, I think its the Hydrating Light Moisturiser. To remove makeup I use the Camomile Silky Cleansing Oil from The Body Shop - love this product but sometimes the packaging leaks so I never take it travelling.

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    3. I used to love The Body Shop tea tree range! It smells so nice (I still occasionally use it because of this) but found it to be too drying for my skin as it contains Sodium Laureth Sulfate, which is the main culprit. I have heard amazing things about the chamomile cleansing oil ... I will have to try it at some point! Thanks for sharing.

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    4. I know what you mean, I don't find them overly drying but sometimes my skin does feel a little tight after using the creamy tea tree cleanser (using moisturiser afterwards fixes this for me). I had more problems with Proactiv in that regard - it used to dry out my skin terribly sometimes. And yes, the tea tree products smell so good!

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  3. I definitely had (and still have) breakouts as an adult but the worst seemed to be during transitional phases in my life. I totally know the feeling of being singled out for having blemishes or bad skin by family. I got used to saying, "my skin is bad because YOU are stressing me out by pointing out my bad skin!". I do think (for me at least) good skin is correlated with happiness and life satisfaction. thanks for sharing the skin products!

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    1. I know it's something we've talked about before, but Asian families are the most critical and they don't hold back with their comments! I agree that, to some extent, clear skin is often correlated with happiness/relaxation, but it doesn't really seem to matter for me as I always get hormonal breakouts around my chin, regardless of how happy and relaxed I am haha! But it definitely gets worse when I'm stressed/eating badly.

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  4. Well done for sharing this Jaime, I know it must have taken a lot to show this level of candour. I am very fortunate to not have experienced acne myself, but I know well from others close to me how much of a life-changing (and shattering) impact it can have.

    Just as an aside, I was interested to read your references to quality brands highlighting the use of natural ingredients, as this is something I've been experimenting with myself. From my quest to discover quality, vegan and cruelty-free beauty products I started looking into natural alternatives that I could develop myself for skin and haircare that are free of parabens and sulfates etc. The craziest thing I've found is that I've been able to ditch using hair conditioner completely for a combination of apple cider vinegar, tea tree oil and water! And, thankfully, my hair doesn't smell like a chip shop afterwards...

    But it has made me realise how much we are used to being marketed to for the latest advances in technology, when really for a lot of our basic daily skincare needs we can go back to essential oils and natural ingredients. Anyway! Apologies for that tangent... Well done again, this is a great post. xx

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    1. Thanks so much, Laura.

      The water is so hard in London, that my already-dry skin reacted badly to it after I moved here. I started using the Yes to (especially Yes to Carrots) range, which I believe is cruelty-free and sulfate/paraben-free and saw a huge improvement to my skin (for showering). I've heard the apple cider vinegar and tea tree oil trick before and will have to try it myself!

      Thanks so much for sharing your comment ... I agree that for our basic daily needs we need to strip everything back and go as natural as possible (though I am sure that a lot of the products pictured above still contain chemicals!).

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    2. Ugh, the water is terrible! Between that and having the heating on all the time I have always suffered from dry skin and eczema problems. I haven't used the Yes to range, but I'll definitely take a look!

      Oh, and I'm certainly not an 'all one way' person with things like this - I've found some natural products that are great for me, but I still use shop-bought products on the whole, although organic where possible. I'm not at the stage of diy toothpaste just yet, ha! ;)

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    3. And... just a tiny recommendation of a small company that makes lovely products - some of which might be suitable or of interest to you: http://www.heavenly-organics.com/

      I'll stop now! xx

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    4. Thank you so much for the recommendation!!! I'm especially interested in the soaps ... lavender and tea tree sounds heavenly. I really like the Yes to range ... would be interested to know what you think!

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  5. I gave Proactive a try as an undergraduate. It worked at first, but then, like you experienced, the ingredients started to irritate my skin and make things worse. The best products I've found so far have been The Body Shop brand tea tree oil facial wash and toner. Both products cleanse the pores. The skin on my face immediately looks and feels better. And it was inexpensive, which is always great :)

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    1. Hey Gianni - the tea tree range from The Body Shop seems to be a lot of peoples' favorite! Stacey (above) is also a fan. I love it because it reminds of when John and I first met ... he had it in his shower when we lived in the same staircase (dorm/hall) at Oxford! As I mentioned to Stacey, they are both a little too drying for me, so I've stopped using the range, but I know that a lot of people swear by it.

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  6. I never had acne until I lived in Asia. I really chalk it up to the pollution. . .but who knows. I was really glad I didn't have to deal with it as a teen though! That must have been awful. I ended up switching to all natural products since my skin also became highly sensitive. These days, I use some Lush products and grapeseed oil.

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    1. Hi Kelly Marie - thanks for stopping by to read and to comment! I definitely agree that pollution has a huge effect on your skin. I'm interested to know more about the Lush products though, as I've seen them pop up in a few friends' Instagram feeds. Do you find them heavily fragranced at all? Or does the skincare line contain less perfume?

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  7. I know this post has a serious element but reading cosmetics described in detail and lovingly put a smile on my face as it reminded me of one my favourite books Douglas Coupland, Shampoo Planet: "Hair is important.Which shampoo will I use today? Maybe PsycoPath®, the sports shampoo with salon-grademicroprotein packed in a manly black injection-molded plastic motor-oil canister. Afterward? A bracingenergizer splash of Monk-On-Fire®, containing placenta, nectarine-pit extract, and B vitamins. And tohold it all together? First-Strike® sculpting mousse manufactured by the pluTONium™ hair-care instituteof Sherman Oaks, California. It’s self-adjusting, with aloe, chamomile, and resins taken from quail eggs.Gloss, hold, and confidence. What a deal. Page 2
    Page 3
    Figuring out your daily hair is like figuring out whether to use legal- or letter-size paper in a copymachine. Your hair is you—your tribe—it’s your badge of clean. Hair is your document. What’s on topof your head says what’s inside your head. Wash every day? Use Compulsion®, with marigold and beer.Hormone-hair changing texture every five minutes? Use MOODSwing®, the revitalizing power tonerfrom Sweden with walnut leaf for self-damaging hair. It’s hot—nuclear—bust the needle on my scorchmeter." (http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:C92nc57AEEEJ:www.lunsfordnet.com/get/pdf/Shampoo%2520Planet%2520-%2520Douglas%2520Coupland_19128.pdf+&cd=8&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk)

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    1. Too funny, Tom! Strangely, after reading your comment, I tidied away a Douglas Coupland book sitting on our coffee table (my friend contributed to one of his titles).

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  8. Oh man, having acne as a teen must have been horrible. I had perfect skin until my mid-twenties when I started breaking out all around my jaw, forehead and back. They're still trying to get it under control three years later but I am ever hopeful! La Roche-Posay definitely used to be a staple of mine but I haven't tried it for a while - I should pop to Boots and stock up.

    Sorcha x Bright Field Notes

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    1. Really interesting that your skin problems flared up in your 20s as well, Sorcha! It must be a hormonal thing, since other people have experienced this as well, though it doesn't make much sense to me. What products do you use now?

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  9. I clean my face with extra virgin olive oil at night, but I'm on the hunt for an 'old lady' face cream: super moisturizing, keep away wrinkles. Any suggestions? You should be my life manager...I love reading about yours!

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    1. Kendra! Yes, lots of suggestions ... Dermalogica's Skin Smoothing Cream is a great one that isn't greasy, but super moisturizing. A rich one that I love to use at night is Liz Earle's Skin Repair Moisturiser. I use this over a few drops of Triology's rosehip oil warmed into my palms and it feels so luxurious! Also a fan of the Elizabeth Arden Gentle Hydrating Cream, which has a lovely texture to it. NOT a fan of Clarins Beauty Flash Balm no matter how popular it is! Also did not like the Bobbi Brown moisturiser which doubles up as a primer. Hated that stuff and couldn't wait to finish it.

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    2. I'm thinking about that Rosehip oil...it sounds fantastic and has great reviews. Thanks!

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  10. Ergh acne is the worst! I've recently discovered that my bad skin is related to consuming dairy, after years and years of bad skin. I've tried all kinds of facial washes too and the Avene was definitely one of the better ones, but looking at my diet has been a turning point. Although I can't totally give up dairy...who can't live without cheese, chocolate etc?!?

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    1. Dairy is so hard to give up, Em! I'm pretty much lactose intolerant (though I've been indulging in ice cream lately, oops!) so I don't eat too much dairy on a daily basis, but I do think that diet has a huge effect on hormonal imbalances/changes. It's frustrating to try to pinpoint all the different causes.

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    2. Isn't it just! Have you tried the Booja-Booja icecream? It's a little pricey but it's dairy free and I think it tastes pretty good!

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    3. Um, NO! Writing this one down for next time! Thanks for the recommendation. :)

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