11 French Skincare Products A Beauty Editor Swears By & Lusts After

You can’t scroll through French skincare product roundups, Reddits, or social media threads without seeing this very unassuming tube recommended. It’s highly regarded as a cure-all product, a cream with Vitamin A actives (retinoids) that plump up fine lines, reduce breakouts, fade dark spots, and smooth imperfections. The reviewers say they can see a major transformation in their skin after just a week of use. Personally, I’m sold.

This is a product I actually own and love. The set comes with a firming peptide cream and five silicone patches. You apply the cream to the expression lines in your forehead, your crow’s feet, and smile lines, and place the patches over top to really press the product into the skin and boost efficacy. After 10 minutes, you remove and rinse the patches, and you can use them again and again. There is a noticeable difference in how visible my fine lines are after using this; it’s a great pre-event skincare ritual.

Contributors to both Allure and Wirecutter recommend Embryolisse moisturizers, and I’m specifically drawn to this one that supposedly has a gentle, retinol-like effect without the harsh drying effects of the traditional stuff. They say a pea-sized amount is all you need so one tube goes a very long way, and that it helps prevent creasing and caking when applied before makeup.

My eyes are very sensitive, so I’ve tried a lot of cleansers, cleansing balms, oils, wipes, and micellar waters to find one that can remove my eye makeup without stinging. Bioderma’s is far and away the best. It swipes away even the darkest, most waterproof mascaras without me having to rub at my eyes, and the product itself doesn’t sting one bit. I love when I can find a giant bottle of this at Costco because they have a convenient pump top — just press your cotton round on it a few times to saturate and move on with your routine.

La Roche-Posay is one of my favorite skincare brands period, and a shining example of all that’s good about French beauty. Their formulas are simple (and therefore gentle), don’t strip the skin, and still somehow make a noticeable difference in skin health. Their hydrating cleanser is one I’ve purchased numerous times over the years to keep in my shower as a daily driver, old faithful sort of product that just plain works.

Dry skinned readers, I am one of you, and trust me when I say this is the heavy duty moisturizer you should use in the wintertime. When my usual routine is not enough to stand up to the winter flakies, I put a thin layer of this on at the end of my nighttime routine. When I wake up, it’s like I have baby butt skin again — could be because this product can literally be used to heal diaper rash.

Raise your hand if you didn’t know Bio-Oil was a French brand! Their iconic Skincare Oil is designed to be used all over the body to reduce the appearance of (and increase the elasticity of) scarring and stretch marks. It’s also just a fantastic boost of moisture on especially dry areas, like elbows and ankles, thanks to all the nourishing oils inside.

Products from Caudalie’s Vinoperfect line come up often in articles about French skincare products, but the serum specifically is what skincare fanatics on Reddit are reaching for. According to them, it really does reduce dark spots, scarring, and hyperpigmentation over time, and just generally makes your skin look...better.

Apparently Biafine is to French households what Neosporin is to American ones — check under the bathroom sink, and you’ll probably find a tube. Redditors and beauty writers say it works beautifully as a deep moisturizer, a salve for curling iron burns, a sunburn aftercare cream, and so much more.

I own this product in the shade Black Cherry, and it’s what I reach for when I want a lightweight wash of color and shine on my lips without having to wear a thick or sticky gloss. It’s loaded with nourishing ingredients like squalene, vitamin E, plum and jojoba oils, so it really works to hydrate your lips rather than just sit on top masking dryness.

This product sounds absolutely fascinating, and if you’re someone who hates greasy sunscreens, you’ve gotta try it with me. As Wirecutter explained, Europe has 34 approved sunscreen ingredients compared with the 16 that are approved in the United States, which means they’ve been able to develop lighter weight formulas for their SPF products. Apparently this spray is closer in feel to contact lens solution than the sunscreens we’re used to. You’ll need to make sure you evenly coat your skin and rub it in well, but supposedly it just absorbs and feels like nothing — revolutionary.