Every so often we stumble across a book that offers total escapism. Jamie Catt Callan’s Ooh La La! French Women’s Secrets to Feeling Beautiful Every Day offers exactly that experience. At less than two hundred pages the book is a quick read and transported me on a mini excursion to Paris and Normandy.

Callan’s intentions when she wrote the book were noble. Seeking to enlighten those of us who always feel there’s room for improvement in our personal presentation, the author takes us on a journey around Paris and surrounds as she interviews traditionally au courant women who seem to have captured that special je ne sais quoi that French women exude so effortlessly.

Is it their no-makeup makeup look? Their casually messy but sexy hair? Their dedication to neutral, tailored pieces of clothing worn with a distinctive flair? Perhaps their understanding of selecting the right fragrance conveys their personality. How on earth can they eat all those baguettes and delicious varieties of cheese while remaining willow slim? Callan interviews women in the fashion and personal care business and professional women from generations of savvy arbiters of fashion.

One of the best pieces of advice offered in the book is the art of identifying and projecting our authentic selves. We have heard this many times before; it’s not news, but it does remind us that we should forget the North American media beauty standard of big lips, botox and filler-enhanced faces that defy natural expression to conform to a standard of beauty that is fake and boringly similar.

The author has a Canadian Quebec connection through her Vaillancourt ancestors who were among the early immigrants to the New World. She shares her pride in both her Canadian and French connections. She worked in the beauty industry with Estée Lauder for several years and understands the beauty business. She was also once Meg Ryan’s personal assistant.

There are some solid suggestions on how to make our lives more enjoyable. For example, Callan suggests you should only buy a bright umbrella so that your spirits will be lifted on a dark, rainy day. Simple and do-able. So, toss that boring old black or navy umbrella and boost your mood. French women are greater appreciators of their environment as evidenced by the time they take to prepare and eat a simple meal or build me-time at the spa into their regular schedules.

There are a lot of little hints and suggestions worth incorporating into our daily lives but what I enjoyed most about this book was accompanying Callan on her research journey around Paris and the surrounding countryside as she interviews the owner of the generations-old lingerie company that outfits the Moulin Rouge dancers, a fragrance specialist at the local parfumerie, or the stylist at a French hair salon. It was wonderful recalling the streets and Paris sights she describes.

Reading Ooh La La! was like a quick trip to Paris. I savoured the journey and felt uplifted the entire time I was reading the book. It even inspired me to finally take that great dress I bought last winter to the tailor and get it shortened so I can wear it and properly enjoy it. Perhaps it’s also now time to replace my years-old bottle of Chanel Mademoiselle with a new, fresh one. I deserve to feel the best I can be. We all do.

If you are unable to obtain Ooh La La at your local bookstore or library, you can have it delivered directly to your door or tablet by clicking on this link to Amazon. 

(Disclosure: I may receive a teeny, tiny commission. Thank you!)