I think it’s safe to say, most American women are constantly searching for the next quick fix or the ultimate beauty product that is going to promise no more wrinkles or delayed aging process. But is this the habit of women internationally? French women practice different habits and beliefs when it comes to beauty.
Beauty Juliette Binoche
Juliette Binoche, 46, and Isabelle Huppert, 57 are a few mature French figures that have a natural beauty – what is their secret? Do these women really have the answers when it comes to delaying the aging process?
According to Ann Morrison from Life & Style, Sydney Morning Herald, she states that genes have much to do with the aging process however; lifestyle habits can wreak havoc on fine lines and wrinkles. “The women I know, regard pampering the skin, hair and body as an enjoyable, gratifying ritual.” Women who smoke habitually or spend time in the sun without proper SPF can expect a more rapid decrease in collagen and a dull appearance to the skin. Some may disguise this process with Botox or lip-plumpers and many other procedures that convey a youthful look – or maybe just throw in the towel all together.
For the French, maintaining your image is comparable to wearing the perfect pair of heels to match your outfit – the basics. Beauty is a lesson that is learned and passed down through generations, “Never neglect yourself, not even in the tiniest details.”
The French star Leslie Caron, 79, told Ann her favorite saying, “Women’s skin is too fair to go bare.”
A survey by the market-research company Mintel found that 33% of French girls between the ages 15 – 19 are already using anti-ageing or anti-wrinkle creams. This may seem extreme for Americans but beauty is a well-known lesson and often kept private in France. Women do not discuss their personal beauty rituals to men, not even their husbands.
The study’s number one response to the survey of French women about the secret of magical ageing is not gaining weight – ever. If a French woman happens to see an additional pound or two on her bathroom scale, she will do whatever is necessary to force the needle back where it belongs. French women do not starve themselves or take drastic measures when it comes to losing weight, they simply practice moderation. Exercise? Nope. French women believe gyms and health clubs are a form of torture. Women simply walk off the pounds when necessary. If walking doesn’t do it, a pill or treatment will!
French pharmacies have counters full of dietary supplements and figure-improving remedies. One cream promises “accelerated reduction in the areas resistant to diet” (hips, thighs and buttocks). Capsules assure a flatter stomach in four weeks.
French women also recommend facials, massages and spa treatments in their ploy against wrinkles, cellulite and saggy bottoms, bellies and breasts. Make-up is also kept to a minimum, no heavy foundation which emphasizes wrinkles and enlarged pores. The idea is to look as natural as possible: a little color on the eyelids, mascara, maybe a bit of eyeliner and lip gloss.
Of course, it’s easy to look natural if your skin is great. And that may be where the French secrets really are. According to a 2008 Mintel report, French women spend about $2.5 billion a year on facial skincare - as much as Spanish, German and British women put together.
If you happen to use the bathroom in a French home – something that is not considered polite, by the way – you might see a line of skincare products. There will be day creams (with sunscreen), night creams, serums, moisturizers, cleansers, toners, anything from orange-peel skin to varicose veins.
Some women in France turn to dermatologists for their skincare, and their visits are likely to be covered by health insurance. Yet even the generous French system doesn’t pay for Botox, collagen or hyaluronic acid injections (Restylane), nor for “lifting” or most other cosmetic surgery. But that doesn’t stop French women from having something done.
The objective of plastic surgery in France, according to Dr Michel Soussaline, a Paris surgeon with more than 30 years’ experience, is “to keep the natural beauty and charm of each individual woman, not to fit some current ideal of beauty”. In the United States, he says, women who spend a lot of money on facelifts want to show off their investment.
By contrast, French women prefer results that look as natural as possible. In France, I have only one friend who has confessed to having had surgery, a discreet operation to firm up a sagging chin and flabby neck. She was thrilled with the result: no one noticed.
For French women, aging seems to be a matter of mind over make-up. If women feel good about themselves, right down to their $150 La Perla underwear, they look good, too.
Françoise Sagan once wrote, “There is a certain age when a woman must be beautiful to be loved, and then there comes a time when she must be loved to be beautiful.” And many French women seem to be well loved as they get older – by their tight-knit families, their friends and, perhaps most importantly, themselves.
For more information on how to learn more about cosmetic procedures, contact us or view our esteemed medical team of plastic surgeons and doctors.
*Quotes an statistics from: Ann Morrison from Life & Style, Sydney Morning Herald
