There’s been a wave of French content creators on YouTube and TikTok comparing themselves to Americans—how they apply makeup, dress, speak, and how they age. The tone is usually polished and lightly ironic, but there’s also an undercurrent of something sharper. This isn’t meant as a criticism, since few nations have contributed more to the modern idea of beauty. France gave us micellar water, Guerlain, and the belief that skincare is not vanity but self-respect.
On social media, though, the comparison takes on a different life. What looks “vulgar” to a French eye—the sculpted cheekbones, overlined lips, and filtered tan, is also what performs best on TikTok. Bigger features read better on camera, particularly when showcasing cosmetics. The Kardashian aesthetic isn’t just cultural, it’s commercial. The more exaggerated the look, the more views, the more lip kits and contour sticks sold. And who profits most from this hyper-visual beauty economy?
So the irony runs deep. What’s being mocked as “American” is, in many ways, a caricature, one shaped and monetized by French-led beauty houses and the very platforms that amplify them.
A further twist in the global beauty economy: Delphine Arnault, Bernard Arnault’s daughter and a leading figure in LVMH, and Xavier Niel, a major French tech investor on TikTok’s board, share children together, highlighting how French luxury and tech interests intersect with the very platforms shaping today’s cosmetic trends. The same French conglomerates fund both luxury and mass-market cosmetics alike. Sephora is French, and LVMH has built global empires on makeup that photographs beautifully.
What these cultural commentaries tend to overlook, however, is proportion. The United States is vast with more than 330 million people across fifty states. What passes for normal in Texas is not the same as New York. The beauty codes of Los Angeles have little in common with those of New England. America is less a single culture than a collection of them, sometimes at odds yet always evolving.
And for all its contradictions, Americans are notably open. They listen. They often agree with criticism, even when it stings. That willingness to reflect, to adapt, might be their most underrated quality. The French may have mastered the art of understatement, but Americans have mastered the art of reinvention.
Keeping Up With the Kardashian Kash
It’s also worth noting that America is not Kim Kardashian. There are countless women who favor natural nails, minimal lashes, and soft, sophisticated makeup, the kind that would not feel out of place on the Left Bank. Perhaps that’s the unstated truth behind all the commentary. For all the comparisons, Americans are listening. And that, in itself, is the height of manners, n’est-ce pas?
A striking example of the commercial dynamics at play is Kim Kardashian’s October 2025 cover of Vogue France (which is owned by Conde Nast, part of LVMH Group). Draped in over 700 Cartier diamonds and photographed in bed, the cover is pure spectacle. While the look is far from understated or minimalist, it aligns with a commercial aesthetic designed to drive attention and sales. The choice to feature her underscores how French luxury platforms leverage high-visibility figures to amplify trends and monetize the spectacle of celebrity.
French in Name Only: Vogue’s Transatlantic Origins
Interestingly, Vogue itself complicates the idea of French taste. While the word vogue is French, the magazine was founded by Condé Nast, an American of German and French-Canadian descent, and has long been owned by the Newhouse family’s Advance Publications, an American family of Jewish-Russian heritage. The French edition, formerly Vogue Paris, was officially renamed Vogue France in 2021. A reminder that even the most iconic “French” platforms in fashion and beauty are deeply globalized.