Becca Ireland-Silva: What I Bought in Paris

I had a very specific plan when I visited Paris last month: find the nearest French pharmacy and completely raid it! While I bought many clothes in Paris the first time around, I had a completely different mindset for this trip. I have seen countless reviews, hauls, and Youtube videos about specific French skincare brands and there were some products I absolutely needed to try.

As you can see, I didn't actually buy that much in my opinion. Much bigger damage has been done in the past, trust me. Still, I'm really glad with the items I bought, as they have quickly found themselves with a spot in my daily routines. It's a mix of skin care, beauty, and even lifestyle bits.

First, I popped into the first French pharmacy I could find - this wasn't difficult as Paris is absolutely crawling with them. While I was really keen on visit the motherland: Cité Pharma, I settled for a Pharmacy on Chamsp-Elysées. It wasn't too big, but it had everything I needed! I went a little crazy on the moisturizers and actually bought three. One from Laroche-Posay for oily skin, one from Diaderme for normal/combination skin (bought at Monoprix - the Target of France, in my opinion) and one from Avène for redness.

I've been using the Diaderme one every day since my trip, and it's been really great at keeping my oily skin at bay. It's kept my skin hydrated without me looking like an oil slick at the end of the day. While I was going to pick up the Nuxe Rêve de Miel lip balm in the little pot, I decided to go for the stick one because I hate getting my finger messy. I got two for the price of one - deal!

At the pharmacy, I also got a rather large face wash from Laroche-Posay. It's been great as a daily cleanser, and I've been using it about once a day. It's a lot less drying than the Efflaclar Duo + one I tried a few months ago. I also got my hands on the beloved Bioderma makeup remover. I never realized how many variations of this product there could be! I haven't been using this as much, mainly because I'm trying to get through my Garnier Micellar Water before moving on to this.

As any good beauty blogger would, I went to Sephora and... was a little disappointed? European Sephoras have nothing on the ones from North America, I'm sorry. I didn't see the point in buying anything that I could readily buy in the UK, so I settled for a sheet mask from Sephora (already used it, it felt very refreshing on the skin but nothing mind-blowing - it did scare the boyfriend a bit!) I also bought a BB cream from a brand called Erboarian. While I like it very much, I think it'll be better suited in the summer. It comes off a little too golden at the moment, and my face is currently a nice shade of ghostly white.

Beauty bits! I got two items from a Kiko store we found in the middle of nowhere - their new Universal Fit Hydrating Foundation (absolutely love this, and the colour was actually a great match) and Unlimited Stylo Long-lasting Lipstick in Pearly Vintage Rose. The lipstick is surprisingly matte and while I wish I had picked another colour, the quality is great. It slides on super smoothly and the colour payoff is amazing.

At Monoprix, I looked around the makeup stalls for a moment and found this adorable quad palette from Biguine Makeup. I'd never heard of this brand, but the colour payoff is pretty good and this was very affordable. I actually couldn't make up my mind between a brown or purple palette, but decided I have too many neutral eyeshadows already. I also got my first MAC lipstick at the duty-free before we left, and splurged on the Viva Glam Miley Cyrus Lipstick. I absolutely loved, loved, loved this lipstick and I'm sad to announce that it got smashed during a night only only weeks after I bought it. I think I only wore it about three times before it got completely destroyed! Gutted. I'm still debating whether or not to spend another £15 on a new one.

Finally, I got this adorable colouring book in the Shakespeare & Company store. I had spotted similar "adult colouring books" in Waterstones, but when I saw this Parisian-themed one in a Parisian shop, I knew I had to have it. The imagery and detail in this book are so beautiful, I've already started colouring it in. I can't wai tto see what the finished result looks like.