ANN M.MORRISON ESSAY

PARIS ? If there is a secret to aging well, Frenchwomen must know it. At least that’s what Americans think. We look at actresses like Juliette Binoche, 46, or superstars like Catherine Deneuve, 66, and figure that they must have special insights into the “maturation” process. Even the average Frenchwoman seems to defy the notion that, as one grows older, you either have to disguise that process with Botox, eye-lifts, lip plumpers and all sorts of procedures that convey a desperate “youthful” look, or else just give up altogether and let the ravages of time take their toll. Looking attractive, at any age, is just what Frenchwomen do . For Parisiennes, maintaining their image is as natural as tying a perfect scarf or wearing stilettos on cobblestone streets. Beauty is a tradition handed down from generation to generation.

“My grandmother always told me, ‘Never neglect yourself, not even in the tiniest details,’ ” my friend Francoise Augier said . The French actress Leslie Caron, still Gigi-like at 79, told me her mother’s favorite saying: “Women’s skin is too fair to go bare.”

The No. 1 response to my informal survey of Frenchwomen about the years of magical aging is not gaining weight. Ever. If a Frenchwoman happens to see an additional kilogram or two on her bathroom scale, she will do whatever is necessary . “I keep my weight steady, no ups and downs,” Ms. Caron said. “I avoid all excess.”

Exercise has little to do with it. When my husband and I arrived in Paris and asked our personal banker ? everyone has one ? for a gym recommendation, her response was: “Why? Gyms are a form of torture.” It seems the only acceptable way to burn calories is to walk.

If Frenchwomen don’t walk enough to stay thin, there is always a pill, a lotion or a treatment . Pharmacies have counters full of diet and figure-improving remedies.

Frenchwomen also recommend facials, massages and spa “cures” in their campaign against wrinkles, cellulite and saggy bottoms, bellies and breasts. One spa favorite is thalassotherapy, a seawater-based treatment .

As for makeup, Frenchwomen of almost every age regard less as best. Heavy foundation has a tendency to emphasize wrinkles and pores, and most women avoid it in favor of a bit of blush. Those who do use foundation make sure that it blends with the skin.

Of course, it’s easy to look natural if your skin is great. And that may be where the French secrets really are. According to a 2008 Mintel report, Frenchwomen spend about $2.2 billion a year on facial skin care ? as much as Spanish, German and British women put together. If you happen to use the bathroom in a French home ? something that is not considered polite, by the way ? you might see a line of skin care products rivaling a shelf at a pharmacy.

As in America, some women turn to dermatologists , or even to cosmetic surgeons. But the objective of plastic surgery in France, according to Dr. Michel Soussaline, is “to keep the natural beauty and charm of each individual woman, not to fit some current ideal of beauty.” In the United States, he says, women who spend a lot of money on facelifts want to show off their investments. (Maybe that explains the pumped-up lips and smooth cheeks that the American actress Ellen Barkin, 56, recently displayed at Cannes.)

Hair rituals come in two kinds: getting rid of the unwanted stuff on legs and underarms (older women tend to prefer depilatories), and making the most of what’s on top of the head. That means a good cut every three to four weeks, and a reasonably natural color. A plethora of beauty salons and mostly low prices (as little as 18 euros for a cut, shampoo and blow-dry) make frequent maintenance easy.

For Frenchwomen, aging seems to be a matter of mind over makeup. If women feel good about themselves, right down to their La Perla 100-euro panties, they look good, too. Francoise Sagan once wrote, “There is a certain age when a woman must be beautiful to be loved, and then there comes a time when she must be loved to be beautiful.” And many Frenchwomen seem to be well loved as they get older ? by their tight-knit families, their friends and, perhaps most importantly, themselves.