French Pharmacy Skincare: How to Get It Brought Abroad
The creams, sunscreens and baby-care products of French pharmacy brands are sought after far beyond France: in North Africa, Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Locally, they are often impossible to find, counterfeit or sold at much higher prices. A traveler can bring them to you, as long as you tell skincare, which travels easily, from medicines, which are not carried for someone else.
Why French pharmacy products travel so well
In France, much of skincare is sold in pharmacies, with ranges designed for sensitive skin, babies or sun protection, and prices kept in check by competition between pharmacies. Abroad, the same products go through importers, when they arrive at all, and their price climbs.
Counterfeiting adds to the price problem: in some markets, jars with copied packaging circulate. A product bought in a French pharmacy and handed over in person solves both.
What travels easily, and what does not
Face and body care
Creams, serums, cleansers, deodorants: these are cosmetics, and they travel without formality in personal-use quantities.
Sunscreen and baby care
In high demand and easy to carry. In the cabin, liquids are often still limited to 100 ml per container: large sizes go in the hold.
No medicines for someone else
Medicines, even over the counter in France, are not carried for someone else. Some are banned or need authorization in other countries, the UAE for example.
Dietary supplements
Allowed in France, they may be regulated elsewhere. Check before asking, and stick to modest quantities.
How to post your request
On Colia, post a purchase request with the exact product name, size, and a photo or a link to the product page. A traveler leaving France for your city proposes a deal, buys the products at a pharmacy and hands them to you in person on arrival.
Ask for the receipt: it proves the product comes from a pharmacy and helps if customs checks. For a purchase, the reward never goes below 10% of the price, with a €5 minimum.
A few useful precautions
Check expiry dates at the handover, especially for sunscreen and baby products. Group several products in a single request: it is simpler for the traveler, and the reward is negotiated on the whole.
Stay within personal-use quantities. Ten identical jars look like stock for resale, and the arrival country's customs may treat them as a commercial import.
Check what you may put in a suitcase, item by item
Useful? Pass it on.
Your pharmacy products, brought from France
Post your request on Colia and find a traveler leaving France for your city.