'I just got back from Paris. Here are 5 French beauty trends I saw everywhere.'

Listen to this story being read by Erin Docherty, here. 

In case you missed hearing me yell about it the past week, I just came back from France after a very exciting (Top Secret!) beauty launch that I'm absolutely BURSTING to share with you.

I spent two weeks slinking around the streets of Paris, and you bet your kitten's mittens I inhaled every single sniff of Parisian beauty while I was there. It's what dreams are made of, really.

The French pharmacies! The cult products! The people watching! Ugh. Take me back. (Please).

Watch: Here's me on the plane doing my nighttime skincare routine! Post continues below.

Because as we all know, French anything is the best source of beauty inspo. The people literally do look that chic. That effortless. That cool.

Which is why it makes complete sense that I want to copy all the French-girl beauty trends. And there were a few key ones I noticed along the way... 

Here are five beauty trends I spotted in the streets of Paris.

1. Short, manicured nails.

You guys, there was not one acrylic nail to be seen. I mean, they're out there, I'm sure - but I didn't see any? Also, I noticed a distinct lack of French tips, which seemed confusing?? 

French girls do their nails DIFFERENTLY.

Instead of jazzy nail art and long nails, I noticed they favoured shorter nails that were generally in a simple rounded or oval shape. 

There was also a lack of bold polish colours - they were either worn natural, with a clear coat or a solid colour that wasn't too hectic/in your face (red or black). Not a lot of nail art going on. Everything was kept as natural as possible.

While I was over there, I had planned to get a manicure, because my nails were looking dire as hell. But after going into a French pharmacy and seeing the insane amount of nail care products (so many brands! so many products we don't have!), I decided to be a French girl and DIY.

I bought a nail polish remover called Vitry Magic Touch - a little tub of foam soaked with non-acetone nail polish remover. (Note: It INSTANTLY got rid of my old nail polish and was the easiest remover I've ever used in my life). I also found a La Roche-Posay Toleraine Silicum Nail Polish (!!!) - and omg, my nails have never looked or felt better.

The nail duo of dreams.

2. Skincare over makeup.

Less is definitely more when it comes to French beauty. As I kind of expected, makeup was generally kept minimal and fresh, with glowing skin at the crux of French girl beauty looks. 

It's obvious that the French focus on taking care of the health of their skin, rather than trying to cover it up with makeup. 

Instead of applying full-coverage foundation, they're using minimal coverage - such as concealers and colour correctors - to camouflage any imperfections, while still managing to let it look really natural.

Either that, or everyone just has really, really, ridiculously perfect skin - which is also a very strong possibility, because THE PHARMACIES...

3. Skin barrier care over trendy products.

Okay, but the French pharmacies blew my mind. They literally have so many incredible beauty brands at their fingertips.

Like, you can buy brands like SkinCeuticals and Caudalie in a pharmacy? HOW CRAZY IS THAT. 

See!!

In each French pharmacy there's also an entire three aisles dedicated to La Roche-Posay because they have *so* many more products than we do. I could've browsed for days.

The basis of all French skincare regimens very much centres around hydration and nourishing the skin barrier - and this is reflected in the type of products you see on shelves.

Me, browsing said shelves.

Rather than pretty packaging and new trendy products you'll see on TikTok, it seems the focus is on cosmeceutical skincare and science-backed formulations that support the health of the skin. The result? Radiant and glowing skin.

For sensitive gals like me, it's pure heaven!

4. Loose, effortless hair.

I saw not one slicked-back bun getting around the streets of Paris. Not ONE. Seeing as the 'clean girl' slicked back look is HUGE in Australia right now, I thought I'd be seeing a similar vibe in France. But no.

Instead, I noticed French girls wore their hair loose and natural. 

No fancy blowouts. No perfectly straight hair. No tight ponytails.

Everything just looked effortless and undone and immediately made me want to stop spending so much time messing with my hair every day.

Look at me go! Loose hair! Natural waves!

5. Smudged eye makeup.

While I didn't notice many bold colours or heavy makeup, what I did notice on the makeup front was eyeliner. It was either worn as a clean and classic cat eye look, or as a smudged, slept-in finish - which of course looked as cool as hell. 

It seems that when doing makeup, French-girl beauty is all about picking just one part of your face to highlight - usually either the eyes or lips - while still keeping things understated and classic.

Am I French yet?

What do you think of these French-girl beauty trends? Do you follow any of them? Share with us in the comment section below.

Feature image: Supplied.