If you're about to jet off on holiday, a word of advice: leave your vanity case at home. If you're flying to another European country, it's much better to stock up on beauty booty while you're there. By doing so, not only will you save yourself the bother of lugging moisturisers, mudpacks and make-up; you'll save yourself oodles of cash, too.
Countries such as France, Italy and Spain boast a huge variety of gorgeous pampering products that are not only incredibly good value for money, they're often exclusive to each country. Can you imagine how jealous your beauty-junky friends will be when they spy your haul of nicely packaged purchases and realise that the only way they'll be able to get their manicured mitts on the same is by jumping on a plane?
So, where should you start? Well, France is probably your best bet because beauty is a national obsession there. Once you've stepped inside one of their gleaming white pharmacies or decadent perfumeries you'll understand why French women always look so good - the choice on offer to them is absolutely huge! Good buys from any chemist or perfume palace include anything from the Caudalie, L'Occitane or Nuxe ranges. The latter's Huile Prodigieuse (11 euros = £8 approx) is nothing short of a cosmetic classic. It's a dry oil that's packed with natural ingredients and acts as a face and body moisturiser, a hair conditioner and a sunscreen. It also smells yummy. Caudalie's grape-based skincare products feel silky smooth on the skin and its Vinolift Crème de Nuit (19 euros = £ 13 approx) is the best value radiance booster around. L'Occitane's shea butter lip balm (3 euros = £2 approx) meanwhile is loved by the likes of Kylie and Jade Jagger for its perfect pouting appeal.
Other Franco finds include Rogé Cavaillès' revitalising shower gel with added vitamin C (8 euros = £5 approx) and Klorane's cornflower eye make-up remover (5 euros = £3.50 approx), which cleans off cloggy mascara in just one swipe. Other brands worth having a sniff at include Darphin, Phytomer and Carita, but if you can't stretch to buying all of these at once don't panic because, unlike here in Britain, the French absolutely love to load people down with freebie tester products.
Italy boasts an equally impressive range of gorgeous goodies, although you won't find nearly as many cosmetics-filled chemists. Better to head for somewhere like Coin or Marionnaud - the Continent's answer to Sephora. Not only does it sell cult cosmetics such as Atkinson's (a classic British beauty brand from the 1960s) but it also stocks a wonderful array of accessories. I recently visited one of the stores and managed to pick up two bottles of Perlier's heavenly honey bubble bath, three Kelémata tingle-tastic minty shower gels and a groovy Hawaiian-print make-up bag, all for under £25. Acqua di Parma and Borghese, two of Italy's most prestigious beauty companies, are also worth checking out as their signature scents, body lotions and candles etc are all considerably cheaper in their native country than in somewhere like Selfridges or Harvey Nichols.
If you're winging your way to Spain then the supermarket is the place to stock up. But make sure that you've got a bag large enough to carry home all the giant-sized Revlon shower creams, Nivea moisturisers and Fa colognes which you'll find at dirt-cheap prices. Top buys include Revlon's moisturising milk and honey shower gel (3 euros = £2 approx) and Johnson & Johnson's zingy citrus cologne (5 euros = £3.50 approx.) If you don't 'do' supermarkets, feel free to pop along to any independent perfume shop such as Ana perfumerías or the cosmetic counters at El Corte Inglés - Spain's most famous department store chain. It stocks all of the above and more at very competitive prices.
Once you've scooped up all your pamper purchases, sit back, relax and think about all the cocktails you can treat yourself to after saving so much money. I think you'll agree that shopping has never been quite so rewarding!
Address book:
France:
www.marionnaud.com
www.galerieslafayette.com
Italy:
www.coin.it
www.marionnaud.it
Spain:
www.elcorteingles.es
www.ad-julia.com
www.perfumeriasana.com
