French Pharmacy Haul

There’s no trip to France without a little skin care shopping at the French pharmacy. I don’t live that far from the French border, so I often make a little trip to Lille to stock up on some French skin care since it’s fairly cheaper there and the range of high-quality brands they offer is incredible. Let’s see what I got!

Bioderma Sébium H2O micelle solution for combination & oily skin
Does this even need an introduction? The Bioderma micellar water is one of the brand’s most famous products out there and is loved my many makeup artists, bloggers and journalists (red version for normal to dry skin). I have the normal one as well and I just use these two (depending on the condition of my skin that day) to remove the last traces of makeup. As the green one is very strong, I recommend to not use this on your eyes.

Bioderma Sébium Pore Refiner
This is something new I wanted to try out. It’s a cream that you apply before your daily moisturizer and is supposed to tighten the pores. A lot of products claim to do this but I haven’t seen a lot that really work. Fingers crossed this one does!

Klorane Dry Shampoo with nettle
I picked this up after trying and totally loving the sample size from the Deauty box. I’m almost out of my Batiste stash, so I look forward to giving this another go. Not sure what’s causing it, maybe the nettle, but it makes sure my hair stays clean for a longer period of time.

Manouka Baby anti-mosquito room spray
An anti-mosquito spray is a must for me during summer. I’m one of those people that always gets stung or bitten by something. But I’m not a big fan of wearing that typical citrusy scent that those products have. That is why I picked up this room spray instead. It’s developed to use in nurseries, so I figure it would be gentler too. Like most sprays, it only lasts 6 hrs, so spraying often is necessary. A bit difficult when you’re sleeping..

La Roche-Posay Effaclar Purifying Foaming Gel
This strips the face of every bit of oil and dirt. After using this together with the lotion I need a good moisturizer to keep everything in balance.

La Roche-Posay Effaclar Pore-Refining micro-exfoliating lotion
After the gel I use this lotion to get rid of any leftover foam. This is also said to help to refine the pores and exfoliate the skin. I haven’t been testing this for too long so I’ll have to keep you posted.

La Roche-Posay Effaclar Duo cream
This is a must-have for anyone that has an occasional breakout. I use this in the evening and by the time I wake up my acne will be gone or a lot less visible. I’m curious to try the new Duo+ too and see how they compare but it wasn’t in stock at the time unfortunately.

La Roche-Posay Effaclar Mat cream (not in photo) and La Roche-Posay Hydraphase UV Intense cream
Lastly, I also got 2 moisturizers. One specifically to keep my face looking matte during the day (and I apply this after the Bioderma pore refiner) and one to give an extra boost of hydration when my skin needs it (and at the same time its a light formula to match oilier skin types).

So that concludes my ‘little’ French pharmacy haul. I’m currently testing a couple of these to see how they fit in my routine. For now I can say using the entire Effaclar range is a little too drying for my skin because it’s not as oily as it used to be. I like to switch the foaming gel and lotion up with moisturizers that are heavier. And when I want to use the LRP pore refiner and matte moisturizer I tend to go for Sebamed anti-bacterial soap to wash my face and continue with the Philosophy Total Matteness lotion.

Let me know if there’s anything you want a review on
or if there are any products you would recommend to me?

Pssst.. want to get some French goodies yourself? Farmaline is celebrating its 6th birthday and is offering a 6% discount! Use the code ‘HBFL14’  (until August 15th).

Disclaimer: The products in this post were purchased by me. This post is not sponsored.