Best French Body Wash (Our Top 14 Picks)

Whether you're kick-starting your day or washing it away, bring on that fresh feeling with a delightfully luxurious French body wash.

Deciding which one is best for you, though, depends entirely on your preference of fragrance and your penchant for French pharmacy skincare. Our top 14 picks narrow down the best French body wash based on each of these factors. Enjoy!

Most Popular French Body Wash

At risk of repetition of our best French soap article, Provençal brands are king when it comes to delivering an affordable, spa-like experience day after day. Le Petit Marseillais, Pre de Provence, and L'Occitane are three of the most well-renowned, offering some seriously cult-loved products; no less their range of body washes.

The most popular of the lot—lining the shelves of drugstores all across France—is Le Petit Marseillais' seriously addictive body wash cream. Kind to your skin, kind to your purse, kind to your nose and kind to the environment; there's really nothing negative to be said about it.

If you prefer shower gels over creams, then we highly recommend Pre de Provence's sumptuous Rose de Mai shower gel—it just forms such a lovely bubbly lather. And if you prefer higher-end options, look no further than L'Occitane's Shower Gel with an irresistible and invigorating verbena scent that transforms your daily shower into a genuine moment of pleasure.

Having used all three, I can comfortably say that I prefer the Extra Gentle Shower Cream by Le Petit Marseillais. The neutral pH, creamy formula leaves your skin feeling oh so soft, and the scent is nothing short of divine.

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Best French Pharmacy Body Wash

For the more skincare-inclined, you won't find anything quite like the dermatologist-backed, ultra-gentle, skin-nourishing body wash formulas created by French pharmacy brands. Perhaps unsurprisingly, though, the battle for the title of the best boils down to the classic rivalry of Avene vs La Roche Posay.

Both are hypoallergenic, soap-free, paraben-free, fragrance-free, non-comedogenic, suitable for infants, and imbued with their famous thermal spring water, thus making it a rather tricky task to separate them at first glance.

'Fragrance-free' products are never really "fragrance"-free, though, and often reveal rather unpleasant chemical smells that would otherwise be masked with delightful scents in your usual non-pharmacy products. Unfortunately, this is particularly the case for Avene's Trixera Cleanser. If you can handle the pungent scent then you will be rewarded with countless benefits of one of the best moisture-barrier supporting & replenishing body washes available. Otherwise, it may be best to avoid this one.

Our preference lies with La Roche Posay's Lipikar Body Wash, though, on account of its much subtler scent and its synbiotic (that's pre-biotic AND pro-biotic) formula, that helps to support your skin's natural microbiome.

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Best Perfumed French Body Wash

Having recently covered the best French perfumes, we felt compelled to find their body wash counterparts because there's something that's just oh so satisfying about the perfect French shower gel & perfume combo.

Generally targeted at normal skin types, these aroma-packed shower gels provide the perfect start to your day, dousing you with your signature scent that will permeate from your aura for the day and night ahead. Prepare to be bombarded with comments and questions about it from people wondering where they can get their hands on it for themselves.

If you're unsure about the perfect perfume or fragrance for you, consider this as the ideal entry point into the world of sensual fragrance Française—the shallow end so-to-speak. Our personal favourites (and seemingly the favourites of 1000s of others with them boasting flawless reviews across the internet) are the Coco Mademoiselle Foaming Shower Gel and the Miss Dior Foaming Shower Gel. Whether they be used as a lovely occasional treat, or as your everyday go-to, you will love every moment you use them.

Complete your daily shower or bathing routine with the best French shampoo!