
When I go to Paris, I include three must-haves in my extensive shopping program: clothing, food and pharmacy. A visit to the latter has nothing to do with age, health problems or general neurasthenia. The fact is that French pharmacies are just a storehouse of useful, necessary and excellently working things. So races on Avenue Montaigne (clothes), Rue Mouffetard (food) must be combined with a visit to a pharmacy. It is desirable to be larger in order to buy everything at once in one place. I will not talk about the wonderful products Avène, Ducray, Uriage, Embryolisse and many others, which, fortunately, have reached us. I will dwell on those who are still steadfastly, desperately and with all their might resist export, and which I learned about through visiting the apartments, houses and attics of my hospitable French comrades. For some time now, these products have been at the top of my personal top 10 pharmacy purchases, but I learn French, ask for a visit and keep looking further.
Quies Wax Earplugs

I discovered the Quies wax earplugs on a 12 hour flight to Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean. Despite this remoteness, the island is an overseas territory of France. Many French people work there, live or just relax with the whole family. More often with children of all kinds - from babies to preschoolers, who more than clearly demonstrate that after all, "French children spit food." Long, hard and far. And they scream. A lot and loud. Quies earplugs are cotton-fiber wax balls that heat up from body temperature and fill your auricle so perfectly that no screaming will be needed. Sleep or read calmly. And don't forget to take out your earplugs upon arrival - Zen doesn't exist!
Avibon face cream

Avibon's penny bold face cream is very difficult to find outside of France - so if you find one at the pharmacy, buy more. How Gwyneth Paltrow and Corinne Roitfield do it. It is very high in vitamin A and all French people pray for it during winter holidays in ski resorts. For Russian winters, when school attendance is happily canceled on the radio, this is it. The extremely popular and not always available Avibon can be replaced with a similar A313 cream, which is often easier to find.
Gel Z Gel

The healing Z Gel is a little secret of French family doctors, which I learned about on a day that I almost cursed when I climbed the Marseilles rocks with my last strength in search of calanques (these are limestone rocks over 400 meters high, formed about 120 million years ago). Cuts, scrapes, bruises and bites, this refreshing gel with an eco-friendly plant-based formula will heal un, deux, trois. And locals have it in all first-aid kits - from pennies to Hermes - if they produce them, of course.
Homeoplasmine Gel Cream

I love drugs from the French company Boiron. My love began with Otsillococcinum and continued with Omeogen 9. I even made my friend come with me to the official website of the brand and translate information about the entire range from French. As I expected, there is just a lot of beautiful things. Including Homeoplasmine Gel Cream. It's a french version of American 8 Hour Cream, Elisabeth Arden or Japanese Yu-Be. It helps quickly and from everything. I apply it on chapped lips or hardened elbows. In the morning in these places I am just a baby.
Collosol Cleansing Milk

Collosol cleansing milk for a Frenchman as a Ballet foundation and Sasha cologne for a Russian. Rarity. Usually, pharmacists break into a kind and happy smile when a tourist asks for this remedy. It is applied like regular milk using a cotton pad, no need to rinse! Better after a shower and at night. Wasteful persons can process the whole body. The skin is clean, hydrated and velvety.
Betaine citrate UPSA tablets

Effervescent tablets of betaine citrate in Russians cause a grin and a slight touch of mistrust, and all because the UPS concern in Russia is represented only by antipyretic drugs. But aspirin is not limited here. I strongly recommend this drug to all those who plan to overeat thoroughly. No severity and other accompanying troubles are expected if you dissolve one tablet in a glass of water before and after the belly party.
Emulsion Biafine

The Biafine emulsion is another must-have in Nice or Monte Carlo besides champagne. A light moisturizing fluid can be used for sunburn and other skin damage. Recently, the French have been telling a joke about the fact that Sylvie Tellier won the Miss France contest because she applied this cream to her face as a mask.
Rogé Cavaillès soap

Rogé Cavaillès soap is actually for hands, but it's not fair and I wash myself with it from head to toe. It seems to me that the skin experiences similar sensations after a bath in milk. By the way, the brand has a large selection of shower gels, but I have not tried them yet. Secretly: the French buy shower gel or shampoo only in case of emergency. If you visit their bathroom, you can see a battery of miniatures from hotels. I specially checked the bathrooms of owners of all ages, from 25 to 60, and the picture was the same everywhere. You will have a rest with a Frenchman in the same room, keep in mind - you will have to fight for shampoo and shower gel on departure.
Akileïne balm

Coming to Paris with a suitcase full of shoes doesn't mean anything. On the spot, you will definitely need another new loafers, moccasins and sandals to walk them, for example, in a trendy bar. If you are planning to dance until you drop, do not be lazy to buy Akileïne balm at the pharmacy. It's just to avoid surprises with new barefoot shoes and to avoid blisters or chafing.
Roller Puressentiel

I was so nervous before visiting the glamorous Josephine Baker pool in the Bercy area that I overdid it with exercises for the buttocks, because I wanted to wear Robinson Les Bains swim shorts with dignity. While throwing my legs over my head, I was twisted, my back stretched out and that day it did not straighten any more. All night, kind people rolled a Puressentiel roller with 14 essential oils on my back. In the morning I could no longer walk like a grandfather. Miracle!
Photo: Getty Images, Press Services Archive
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