The pervasive myth of French girl beauty has long haunted some Americans who see it as an ideal. It usually involves visions of effortlessly chic women with perfectly tousled hair and clear skin. The reality is that this problematic standard overwhelmingly excludes anyone who isn’t white, thin and wealthy. We’d all be better off reframing our perceptions of what “French beauty” is and who it represents.

However, there’s one thing the whole French girl beauty vibe has going for it, and that’s the wonderful array of French pharmacy beauty products. They’re generally reasonably priced and made with high-quality ingredients. As opposed to drugstore chains, French pharmacies are independently owned, and pharmacists personally handpick products that they feel are good enough to recommend to their customers — it’s all about cultivating trust. This helps to ensure a baseline level of quality that is hard to come by here in the states, where the market is flooded with beauty brands of varying quality and prices.