A French girl's sensibility

I was born and raised in France, but have lived in California for most of my adult life, and California truly feels like home to me now. So much so that I recently became a U.S. citizen.

However, my approach to health and beauty in general is still rooted in the French mindset of “less is more”, and “quality not quantity”. These principles have had a rippling effect across every aspect of my health and beauty habits, and have shaped the way Rêves de Sabine addresses beauty care.

French women do not believe in a trunkful of paraphernalia. Thoughtfully selected, quality skincare products do the job for their entire body. Of course, quality is way more important than quantity. A short list of carefully sourced, pure, natural ingredients is preferable to an endless list of lab-made chemicals or highly processed nature-derived ingredients. Layering too many products can also irritate the skin. More is not better; some products can interact with each other and cause skin reactions. French women know that, so they keep it simple.

With all of this in mind, the size of Rêves de Sabine products is dictated by usage. By the time you finish a bottle or jar, it is intended to still be fresh, and there is no need for preservatives. I do not believe you will be more beautiful if you own 10 different serums that end up sitting on your bathroom counter for months on end. The more products you buy, the more products with preservatives you’ll need. At Rêves de Sabine, we never use any preservatives. The idea is to buy a product, use it, finish it, then get a new, fresh one. Buying more than you need is a waste of your money and results in forgetting what is in your beauty cabinet, or not being able to use up all the product in a container.

What about makeup? Here again, less is more. French women wear very little makeup. For a while, after I left France, I was doing the full makeup routine every morning. Did I need it? Hardly. I thought I did a pretty good job… That I looked flawless… Until one day, my friend’s little boy told me I looked like Mrs Doubtfire. I was mortified. What it meant was that he saw the make up, not the skin. I was overdoing it, and it looked fake. I can honestly say that this small incident changed the way I use makeup for ever.

Today, I keep makeup to a minimum. And at almost 60, I often hear how good my skin looks. Our skin is one of our most valuable assets, and when we take good care of it, we need less makeup to enhance it or cover up imperfections.

What about French fashion? Have you also noticed, if you ever went to France, that a woman might be wearing jeans and a T-shirt, nothing fancy, but that she will have one awesome accessory that stands out? A stunning designer bag, or a great pair of shoes, or a fabulous scarf. That’s it.

And of course let's not forget about food! French women truly enjoy food. It is not just about feeding their bodies, it is about life’s simple pleasures, and savoring the moment (no pun intended) with friends and family. They appreciate a wide variety of foods. The way French women eat is "a little bit of everything, in moderation".  So even if they eat a few not-so-good-for-them foods on occasion, they know they’ll make up for it the rest of the time. 

French women don’t snack. And they don’t eat big meals. They may eat a croissant, but it is a small croissant, not a huge one loaded with ham and cheese. For the most part, French women do portion control and sit down to eat. They want to savor each bite. They do not eat on-the-go. Things may have changed slightly over the last couple of decades, but overall they eat much less junk food (quality, not quantity). There is a time for everything. Eating all the time makes us not pay attention to what we are eating. It becomes mindless munching. And it is a killer for our waistline! Bottomline, the COSTCO concept is definitely NOT French.

When I was growing up, my mom shopped at farmers markets, and local shops. She knew where every product came from. She had her favorite cheese shop, bakery, tea shop, butcher, because she made everything from scratch and quality of ingredients was paramount. I was also raised using my senses to determine the quality of everything, by looking, touching, smelling. Texture, smell, color, degree of ripeness were all taken into consideration. We didn’t have a fridge packed with food. We just had what we needed for a few days, so everything we ate was always fresh (and at the perfect degree of ripeness).

Quality of ingredients is still my obsession, I admit it. I have to know where everything comes from. I wrote in my first blog, a few years ago (check: https://www.revesdesabine.com/blog/2016/3/30/truth-in-labeling): “I look for places where the essential oils are century-old traditions... Like Morocco or Bulgaria for the Damask Rose, or France for Lavender, or Slovenia, Corsica or Bosnia for Helichrysum, Tunisia for Neroli etc... etc... This takes me on a beautiful journey which inspires my blends and gives me great respect for long established artisanal practices that seem to have been under-appreciated until now.”

The younger generations are undeniably understanding the “less is more”, “quality not quantity” principles better. They have to. Because now it is also about sustainability. The funny thing is… as a French-born-and-raised woman, that is exactly how I was taught.

So, as the French say, “chassez le naturel, il revient au galop”. I am still a French girl at heart.