The French do not care about your convenience. They are not here to make your life easier. They are here to make it better. (See also: French wine, food, literature and art.)
For example, they really have a thing for glass packaging. Eau de Bouche Botot, a French, impossibly fancy, clove-flavoured, taste-bud searing mouthwash comes in glass bottles and years ago, Phyto haircare’s shampoo and conditioners came in glass bottles as well. So you’d be handling freaking glass in the shower with soapy hands, praying that you wouldn’t let go. (Phyto eventually switched to plastic bottles, but there is no gambling with your life with a plastic bottle. Very dull.)
Equally intimidating are the glass ampoules of serums, vitamins and mysterious herbal remedies found at French pharmacies. Because ampoules contain no air, their valuable contents are protected against uv, heat and oxidation. They are hermetically sealed until you snap them open.
Ampoules are a perfect vehicle for Vichy Liftactiv Specialist Peptide-C. Vitamin C is a powerful skin brightener, but it’s also notoriously unstable. Exposure to air makes it lose its potency, so cracking open a fresh dose every day means you are getting it at its peak. Add peptides that stimulate collagen synthesis to minimize the look of wrinkles and some hyaluronic acid to increase your skin’s moisture levels (hey, winter is coming, like it or not) and these ampoules are the perfect nourishing hit your skin wants.
Vichy Liftactiv Specialist Peptide-C ampoules, which come ten to a box, are also alcohol, preservative and fragrance free, each one containing a double-dose that stays fresh for 48 hours after opening. Use one ampoule morning and night on one day or on two consecutive days.
Ampoules, although they may look unnerving, are actually easy to open. Place your fingers on either side of the white stripe at the base of the top, wrap some paper towel around the top and snap it off at the white line. Vichy’s even come with a small plastic cap to pop on top and protect it from spillage until you use it up. Because in addition to being both skincare- and beauty-ritual obsessed, French women do not like to waste money.
