Last Thoughts About Paris…

 Guerlain, Paris  13 Responses »
Jul 132012
 

Over the next few days, I’ll be busy packing for the long flight home. I had a few thoughts about some products before I leave:

First, on my flight over Air France had full bottles of Clarins One Step Facial Cleanser ($32.50/6.7 fl. oz.) in the restroom.  In the blur of the overnight flight, it felt nice to have a high end beauty product available. I bought one after I arrived. According to Clarins, the product is a toner and cleanser in one. It’s intended to remove everything with no need to rinse.

This cleanser is very, very gentle. It does remove makeup and mascara. However, I’d ignore the  ”no need to rinse” advise. It left my skin feeling oily, so I rinsed most of the time. When I didn’t rinse, I had a few clogged pores the next day. Unlike my DDF 10% Glycolic Toner, this Clarins doesn’t appear to be exfoliating. I probably should have gone with the Toning Lotion with Iris, made for oily skin, instead.

Second, Klorane Gentle Dry Shampoo with Oat Milk ($18/3.2 oz (150 ml)) quickly became my best-loved dry shampoo. The scent is the lightest and most pleasant of any dry shampoo that I’ve tried. It does come out a bit white, but brushes away neatly without a trace.

Best of all, Klorane Gentle Dry Shampoo ($18/3.2 oz.) left my hair with plenty of body, life, and manageability. It had a nice shine, looked polished, and took care of any oilies. Wonderful. This is available in the U.S. from several sources. The only drawback is that I seemed to go through it a little more quickly than some others that I’ve tried.  Overall, I believe I’ve found my favorite–thank you to all of the commenters who suggested it!

Third, in my quest for a multicultural beauty experiment, I went to Guerlain’s main store on the Champs Elysee to find a perfect red lipstick. My advice to everyone traveling to another country (or even region) is to ask for local makeup advice. You will be surprised to find how different makeup artists and sales associates “see” you through their eyes. I always learn something.

Those familiar with the Guerlain Champs Elysee store will note that, on the left, Guerlain has opened up a little pop-up store to celebrate Guerlain La Petite Robe Noire, as well as a few other perfume and beauty products. It’s more inviting than the more formal main store–it’s street level so you can just wander in. (As is typical of many French boutiques, the door guard told me not to take pictures inside.).

For this experiment, I went into the main store. I found a delightful (and patient) Guerlain expert to help me. After several tries and swatches, we decided that Guerlain Rouge G Gala (#21) was my perfect red (swatched here by Temptalia). This is much more vibrant and bright than I typically wear, but why not? When in Paris….

Anyway, thank you for indulging me in my Parisian adventures over the past few weeks. Hopefully I’ll be back next week with some reviews of some Fall 2012 collections. See you then!

More Random Pictures of Paris

 Paris  2 Responses »
Jul 122012
 

 Foyer of the restaurant at Laduree, Rue Royale, Paris.

Window display with stuffed white peacock, Palais-Royal.

Chanel vintage cuff, Didier Ludot, Palais-Royal. I’m guessing 1980′s era.

Door handle, 7th Arrondissement.

Colette Paris Beauty Bar

 Paris  3 Responses »
Jul 032012
 

I made a fast stop at Colette, an eclectic Parisian store–here’s a link to their website (warning, music will start to play if you click, usually French pop or chill). This store goes “on” and “off” the cool list so often than I (as a non-Parisian) cannot hope to keep up.

The store is full of art books, t-shirts, Celine and Lanvin. There is everything from the ridiculous to the sublime. Apparently, Karl Lagerfeld drops by for books and CD’s. Sometimes Colette stocks little Karl dolls and t-shirts. As it is couture week here, I saw more than a few fashionistas and I believe one prominent fashion journalist.

Current Front Windows at Colette (Fendi Bag Variations)

Colette does have a very tiny, well-curated Beauty Bar on the second floor. The store tends to carry niche beauty brands, usually exclusives. Their mainstays are RMS Beauty and Uslu Airlines.

This time, I picked up a few more Less is More travel sized hairbrushes (7 euros each). They come in fun colors, and they are small but mighty. They pull through my thick hair and take up about as much room as a cell phone in my purse. Seriously, you can tuck one of these anywhere. And they work.

I also picked up an Ilia Lipstick in Arabian Nights (22 euros). Ilia a line I’ve never heard about. But that’s why one goes to Colette-to find things that one’s never heard of. The lipsticks seem very moisturizing but pack a nice, modern color. Also, I liked the stainless-steel tube.

Third, I got a pretty little white handkerchief (well, a few as gifts) that has “Fix Your Mascara–You’re Amazing” (19 euros) in bright pink from Helpful Hankies. Because really, those are five words that I cannot hear enough.

Plus, Colette thoughtfully provided a Diptique skin care sample in the bag. Cute, right?

Colette has a very small and well curated perfume section. Here’s The Nonblonde’s trip report from her walk through the Colette beauty bar in search of gorgeous scents.

Paris and the Summer Sales

 Paris  9 Responses »
Jun 272012
 

As the famous line from The Devil Wears Prada goes, “Gird your loins!” The French government authorizes only two sales per year. No, I’m not kidding. Today was the first day (except for store cardholders who got to first pick over the past week). It can be an absolute madhouse. If one is serious about these sales, one is waiting at the door at 8 am. This year, I was not one of those people.

By the time I arrived mid-afternoon, the aisles were packed with shoppers. By the way, why are some rolling suitcases behind them? Does any one know? Are they buying so much? Some of the major couture houses had lines outside the door. Guess which line I was in?

As I expected, only very trendy/seasonal items had been marked down and the selection had been whittled down to the unappealing by the time I arrived. Even a discount isn’t really a discount if you’ll never, ever wear it. On a happier note, I did find some patent red Lanvin flats for 30% off at another store.

 Now to figure out how to get that gorgeous box home in my already-overstuffed suitcase. The sales will run until July 31st, consisting almost entirely of the spring and summer items. In the meantime, the stock shrinks, the discounts get deeper, and lines start to put out their Fall 2012 merchandise to tempt you into paying full price for the newly-released items.

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