My experience buying European skincare

I travel a lot, and 99% of the time it's to various European countries - and of course, I'm a sucker for skincare and that doesn't stop when I'm out of the country. If anything, I become even more interested in how I can look after my skin. Pharmacies/drugstores in European countries always have such a huge selection, and for me it's like Wonderland.

My biggest tip would be to get the Google Translate camera app on your phone: it allows you to hold your phone up to something, and it miraculously translates the words. This is important if you don't speak the language of the country you're in; it means you won't end up buying something with an ingredient in it which you're allergic to, and you won't end up buying a face mask for oily skin when you do in fact have dry skin. It also just means you know exactly what you're getting before you spend your Euros! It's instant and non-invasive, so it's really easy to use.

You'll notice, probably, that there are brands we have at home on the shelves of European pharmacies - but don't skip over them, because I always find things that I've never seen at home. Things tend to get released a bit earlier in Europe, and there are some things that just won't ever make their way here, so it's good to have a look at what's on offer.

More excitingly are all the brands we can't get here: in Germany there's Balea, in Poland there's Ziaja, and in Latvia we discovered Rival De Loop. We have drawers and drawers of foreign skincare now, and it's just soooo fun to be able to use things that hardly any of my friends have tried, that we can't get our hands on easily - of course, it's tragic when I run out of something I love from abroad, but that just means another holiday in the pipeline...

Skincare seems to be a loooootttt cheaper in Europe, which is probably why I always pick up so damn much of it - but it brings me so much joy and it's definitely worth it!