Resolution #1: It’s the Epidermis, Stupid

Everyone in the blogosphere is all excited about the apparent #1 resolution among women ages 22-45. DRESS LIKE A FRENCH WOMAN.  It seems it took an overdose of bad reality television (Real Housewives, Work Out, the Hills, How to be Paris’ BFF or whatever it’s called) to look in the collective mirror and realize that…we American women have no sense of style. We’ve got freedom, we’ve got fries (oh many, many fries) but we can’t put a darn outfit together if world peace depended upon it. So I’m going to take this opportunity to go ahead and agree with Joanna (one of my blogging favorites).  We need a massive wardrobe overhaul in the country and it does not involve more Pucci-rayon.  I’ve addressed this issue before. I think it’s a fundamental problem of youth culture in the U.S. No one wants to admit (or act or dress) their age.

So I’m going to take this Francophilia one step further and suggest that what makes a French woman look so beautiful (and I do mean WOMAN, not GIRL) is her acceptance of a certain age and an ability to make the most of that age.  No, it’s more than acceptance, it’s the realization that with age comes an increased beauty. She also makes the most of any perceived flaw.  A nose is not “big”, it is “Roman”. Breasts are not “small”, they are “petit”.  This translates into their beauty regiment – the one thing I think we hapless Americans could most take away from France. (Well, that and a baguette and a pound of brie.  You know, for the flight home.) What it boils down to is the skin.  French women have EXCELLENT skin.  And don’t believe that it’s all genetic.  They put the time and effort and bucks into making sure that they look beautiful without a drop of makeup.

#1 Have you noticed that French women wear like no make-up? I mean, barely even mascara! It always ends up all over my cheeks anyway.  I’m going to stop with the mascara (oh god, are my eyes are going to disappear?!)

#2 In American, perceived “flaws” (that is anything that makes you look less like Heidi Klum) are spackel’d with concealer and flat-ironed within an inch of its life. Not so with the French.  The ideal beauty seems to be the very very best you can be.  Clean, smooth, and plucked.  Simple, radiant, individual beauty. Okay, so this means putting down the ceramic hair straightener and hiding my bottle of coverup.

#3 Spas.  French women get beauty treatments like American woman go shoe shopping.  I’m going to stop feeling like this is a luxury I can’t afford and spend some mint on the condition of my derriere/face/everything in between.  Starting today by getting my eyebrows waxed for the first time in about 6 years.

#4 Spend a boatload on beauty products.  French women don’t go budget when it comes to skincare. Hmmm. After resolution “Skincare” subsection “Spas” I’m not sure I can afford subsection “Creme de la Mer.” I have, however, started going straight to the source by slathering Vitamin E oil all over my face nightly with surprisingly effective results.

Yep, this is the year I start to take better care of myself, starting my my epidermis. Next year (economy willing) I can focus on the wardrobe.

[Photo of Audrey and an interesting inside look on the French beauty regiment: Fashion Nation; Photos of lovely French ladies (and the source for new year's resolutions the world over): Garance]