An Alchemist in every Household

Thanks to high standards of education, every woman in France runs a chemical factory. Bath tubs are cluttered by lotions, creams, scrubs, scents, gels, all packed in colorful bottles, tubes, vials and sprays. Bathrooms rival with modern art exhibits. On an average morning in Paris, about 7 million women mix, apply, rub, rinse, just because they're worth it, or so they have been led to think. Men are beginning to plaster their snout too. 

Other countries have picked up on cosmetics, though, but what sets french women apart is their instinctive avoidance of major brands. The thinking is that industrial products cannot be adapted to one's particular skin. Brandishing that tiny lab's name that makes the moisturizer that's just right for you is just like wearing sur-mesure clothes. Regardless of the fact that said lab is not rich enough to carry on proper clinical tests, of course.