Anniversary trip coming up - will be in Paris, what should I buy that I can't get in the U.S.? Need your help and suggestions!

My husband and I are having a big anniversary coming up and are spending two months renting an apartment in Paris starting in February to celebrate.  We want to just relax, get to know our neighborhood (4th arrondissement) and live like expats and see how it is.  Since we currently live in Belize, we are American expats but living for two months in a big city is going to be sooo much different.  We've been twice before on vacation and I've shopped at a Sephora there, just before closing, it was torture, like being a kid kicked emptyhanded out of a candy store.  The Sephora stores there are huge and magnificent.  This time I want to make a list of things that I may be able to get in Europe that I might not be able to get in the U.S. since I'll have time to shop/look around.   Any ideas?

So far - 

Nail Polish - Black Spotted - O.P.I, from the Spiderman collection, only available at Sephora in France.  It's not a brand new collection, though, so I'm not sure they'll still have it.  I've googled the pics and they're great, I love the effect.  Water marbling without all of the mess and hard work.

ByTerry - I love her products but they are really expensive.  I wonder if they'd be a little less there since they are made in France?  Probably won't stock up on this line, I have a little stash of my favorite comfort creme from that brand and a purchase there is going to take up a chunk of change.

Any French drugstore/pharmacy type brands that are amazing?  I use both high end and products I can find in Target, so I'm not picky.  I love essential oils and am hoping to find some creams/oils/serums that use them as ingredients.

Perfume - my aunt bought a perfume twenty years ago from Paris and is out and gave me the insert with the name and the address so I'll be hunting that down for her, that'll be fun.

Any particular stores/brands that are European and are your favorites?  I'm kind of going into this blind, I don't have much information on French products or brands and would love any help anyone can offer.

I would love to get JolieBox/the French Birchbox and French Glossybox due to the great values but I'm not sure how that would work for the two months, I suppose I could email the apartment manager and see if she'd accept mail for me before I arrived.  Probably not but it's worth a try and she seemed really nice.

I also have to look at the Euro/Dollar exchange rate and see if anything will really be a deal, most likely not, it usually isn't when you're traveling.  I'm a little afraid to bring my Clarisonic also because last time I fried a power surge strip when using it with an electrical converter and it started smoking and it was really scary.  I don't want to fry out my Clarisonic, maybe I should just bring my cheaper Olay brush with me.  I got the Clarisonic on a great deal and used Birchbox points for it so I wouldn't want to have to dip into my pocket for a new one, ouch.

This really is a once in a lifetime opportunity and I don't want to blow it and wish I would have spent more time exploring the French cosmetics stores and even grocery stores for neat and different beauty items when I was there.  But I'm a little overwhelmed!  Help?  Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

omg you are going to have sooo much fine. Not beauty products and I'm sure you can get great deals in belize, but I bought a TON of scarves in Paris for 2-3 euro each. They were beautiful and made great gifts and I still wear them all the time. Also chocolate lol.

You could sign up for joliebox for just one month and cancel? They have a version of glossybox too! 

I believe you can get caudalie products there for a more reasonable price. Lemme think on this because I could spend a week in the sephora on the champs d'elysee and still not be done lol. 

Check out their drugstores, there are some amazing brands like Embryolisse and Avene and they cost less than in the US /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

And like Playedinloops said, chocolate and french macarons are definitely on top of my list whenever I go to France.

Avibon--It's not available in the US.  I just picked it up in Paris when I was there in Oct.  It's a face and body cream that has Vitamin A in it.  I think it cost about US$10.  I found out about it on Gwyneth Paltrow's Goop.com site.  She has a pretty extensive blog entry all about good pharmacy picks.

I stayed in an apt too and loved being in a neighborhood!  Be sure to enjoy your morning coffee and fresh bread (or croissant)!  I think I ate an entire baguette of bread (the big one) every day while I was there!

And don't forget to bring a "Love padlock" to celebrate your anniversary!!

A friend of mine is going to Paris tomorrow, and this post made me wonder if they still have black spotted?  Everyone was buzzing about it over the summer, but I haven't heard a peep since so I presume it's no longer.  Heck, all the Spiderman OPIs were clearanced out at Ulta today anyway if they were around.  I'd hate to send her on wild goose chase/confusing mission since she isn't really into makeup at all like I am and will probably not even know what I'm talking about, but I'm so curious about it!

Anyway, I don't have any additional insight, but that was the first thing I thought of when I saw the post title!

I would suggest checking out Embryolisse or bioderma if you go to a pharmacy. I havent tried bioderma, but I hear so many good things about it! I am reluctant to buy some here in the states because its so expensive.  And as for Embryolisse, I use it everyday as a daily moisturizer and love it to death! Its lightweight but really moisturizes well

You can look for makeup items you like and would want to try, or buy one just for the sake of buying it in Paris, but the prices don't differ that much. Go early at Sephora on the Champs, the music is loud, the staff is always spraying new perfumes on a tester to give it to you, it's crowded, hot, yuck. I usually go in, buy what i want, and go out.

On the other side of the street, you have a Ladurée store. They're okay for frozen goods, but the best part of it is the packaging.

If you go to Monoprix you can find Bourjois there, nothing too extraordinary but it's a nice brand. Yves Rocher as well, L'occitane.

In pharmacy, skincare brands, La Roche Posay, Bioderma, Avene, Galenic, Embryolisse, Nuxe (get that Reve de miel pot of lipbalm, it's fantastic !).

My sister in law has the glossy box, she likes it (it's a monthly thing so i don't see any problem subscribing just for two months). I love tea, have too many beauty products in the bathroom, so instead i subscribed to the box named "envouthé" ^^.

You can also look into food, chocolate, wine, step into a boulangerie. Not the best time to enjoy icecreams, but Berthillon is renowned for its fruit based icecreams (pineapple is to die for).

Originally Posted by Playedinloops /img/forum/go_quote.gif

I bought a TON of scarves in Paris for 2-3 euro each. They were beautiful and made great gifts and I still wear them all the time. Also chocolate lol.

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Mmm.  Chocolate.  Where do you find your good deals on scarves?  I love scarves and you're right, they're perfect for gifts.  I treasure the ones I bought on a previous trip.

Originally Posted by OiiO /img/forum/go_quote.gif

Embryolisse and Avene

french macarons are definitely on top of my list whenever I go to France.

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Weirdly, I don't think I've even had a macaroon!  How did I miss that?  I guess when I'm in the patisseries I get so caught up with the other pastries that I've overlooked them.  I'm definitely going to remedy that this time, thanks for the suggestion!  I do find that French pastries aren't as sweet as American pastries but are decadent nonetheless.  Everything is so pretty, too, almost too pretty to eat.  Almost.

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Originally Posted by AngeBrooklyn /img/forum/go_quote.gif

Avibon--It's not available in the US.  I just picked it up in Paris when I was there in Oct.  It's a face and body cream that has Vitamin A in it.  I think it cost about US$10.  I found out about it on Gwyneth Paltrow's Goop.com site.  She has a pretty extensive blog entry all about good pharmacy picks.

And don't forget to bring a "Love padlock" to celebrate your anniversary!!

Nice!  I'm going to look up that entry.  For sure on the love padlock.  We're doing formal anniversary photos with a photographer and I've seen that he takes couples to the bridge and takes the sweetest pictures.  I love stuff like that.

Originally Posted by Missglammygirl /img/forum/go_quote.gif

I would suggest checking out Embryolisse or bioderma if you go to a pharmacy. 

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Ah.  Good reminder.  In my head I was thinking of pharmacies like the kind that are inside big stores in the States, but the little pharmacies are great places to find the lotions and potions, I can't forget those.  I've heard a lot about Embryolisse, I'm excited to try it. 

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Originally Posted by magosienne /img/forum/go_quote.gif

On the other side of the street, you have a Ladurée store. They're okay for frozen goods, but the best part of it is the packaging.

If you go to Monoprix you can find Bourjois there, nothing too extraordinary but it's a nice brand. Yves Rocher as well, L'occitane.

In pharmacy, skincare brands, La Roche Posay, Bioderma, Avene, Galenic, Embryolisse, Nuxe (get that Reve de miel pot of lipbalm, it's fantastic !).

Berthillon is renowned for its fruit based icecreams (pineapple is to die for).

Great tips, sounds like you're a pro!  I've been to Monoprix but never to Laduree, I'll look for it.  And I can't wait to try the ice cream, I've heard of Berthillon but never been.  I'm excited about this time because I'll have time to settle in and really look around and get to the places I've missed before.

Thanks so much for all of your suggestions, ladies!  I'm keeping these in a running list in my travel journal, keep 'em coming, please!  This helps so much.  Otherwise, I know I'll just be overwhelmed when I'm there.  We have a limited selection here in Belize so even when I'm in the States I'm sometimes surprised by all the choices and spend a lot of time reading labels and oohing and ahhing over all the choices.  Doing advance research with the help of like minded enthusiasts is fun.  Much appreciated.

Originally Posted by sweetiegirlll /img/forum/go_quote.gif

Mmm.  Chocolate.  Where do you find your good deals on scarves?  I love scarves and you're right, they're perfect for gifts.  I treasure the ones I bought on a previous trip.

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From the vendors on the streets, mostly in Montmartre, because that is where I stayed while I was there. This was several years ago, but I don't imagine its changed much. 

Regarding macarons, do yourself a favor and march down to Lauduree and Pierre Herme. Check out what enthusiasts have to say online first or go blindly and be delighted.