Lessons in French Beauty

Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité: Lessons in French Beauty

By: Jill Monteleone

The “French Girl” is one of the most common clichés in makeup, hair, and skincare. If you’re blessed enough to be unfamiliar with this atrocity in cultural generalization, here are the SparkNotes. The French Girl is chic, understated, and despises all indicators of effort. She wears stripes, Burberry trench coats, red lipstick, and pouts to Françoise Hardy all day long. She is the polar opposite of her excessively glamorous, loud, and proud American counterpart.

In actuality, this illusion of an effortless, free-flowing look and lifestyle involves a great deal of effort (and cash) and is also extremely exclusionary. If you comb through the significant beauty and fashion influencers modeling this lifestyle and aesthetic, you’ll notice they have some things in common. White, wealthy, waifish Parisiennes (or worse, wannabe Parisiennes) profiteering off of a monotonous, dated, fetishization of what life on the continent must be like.

However, this doesn’t mean there is nothing to learn from France and its beauty trends. The diversity of peoples, cultures, and regions in France led to a unique and compelling perspective on beauty, and it isn’t a Paris-centered one. Here is a glimpse into the real-life beauty philosophy of France, through the values from which their Republic was found upon: liberté, égalité, and fraternité.

Liberté (Liberty)

Freedom of choice in beauty is essential to French women. Given France’s diversity, not every product or style is going to be suitable for every woman! While France is well-known for its top-of-the-line pharmacy beauty brands, and newer international products such as BB cream from Asia are becoming more popular. French women are taking beauty into their own hands as well. Homemade and DIY beauty is increasingly popular in France. The freedom to decide how you present yourself to the world and what tools you will use to do it is empowering and exciting. You don’t need to feel chained to a particular product, lifestyle, or aesthetic. You have the freedom and options to choose what you like, as you want it, and that’s cause for celebration.

Égalité (Equality)

Equality is a priority we should strive for in every area of life, including in our beauty standards. A growing number of influencers and models in France represent different ethnicities, body types, beauty philosophies, and styles. This is a welcoming change and is more representative of the country as a whole, and seeing the pride and confidence in these influencers is inspiring. Embracing and celebrating our identities for all of their goodness, even our flaws, is such a beautiful thing. This is not to suggest that confidence is easy or required because we all have days where we don’t feel sexy or beautiful at all. This feeling is valid, and recognizing the need to present acceptance of confidence but also struggle is a great way to level the playing field and make all people feel welcome and beautiful in this world.

Fraternité (Fraternity)

Coming together to love and live is not a uniquely French goal, but as a nation, they have defined themselves through a mission to uplift the masses at whatever cost necessary. In this way, the French celebrate their beauty in solidarity with their fellow women. Advocacy for women and their success is vital in France and has been for some time. When women support each other, they thrive. And there’s nothing more beautiful than a woman living her life as she desires, without apology.

The French beauty philosophy isn’t to purchase a specific product or adopt any particular way of life. I know that seems like a cop-out answer, but to define French beauty in any other way would be a misrepresentation. France and its culture emphasize individuality and choice, and in beauty, you can exercise both of those things in an infinite amount of ways. So as you go forward in your quest for your next look, seek what brings you joy because satisfaction and confidence are always on-trend in beauty.

BEAUTY

FASHION