Differences between the instructions on beauty products across nations: France and Britain

Résumé du document

Initially I didn't have any idea about the topic I wanted to talk about, but realizing that I had purchased many beauty products in Ireland and that I used to read its directions, I decided to take more of an interest in it. I just thought it was pretty funny to read these instructions without minding the fact that these directions were in English. So I was just missing the very opportunity to spot subtle or obvious differences which could exist with my mother tongue in that context. Then I started wondering if the mother tongue, in case of reading directions, could really matter, modify our perception or the way we'll use a product in itself…To sum up, will a French person use an identical product exactly in the same way as an Irish person, does the way of expressing in each language have an influence? That's what I'm interested in investigating though it's quite difficult to get a precise answer. This report is about trying to find out these differences between directions on beauty products written in English and those written in French because as said previously, it could eventually subconsciously modify the way we use a beauty product.

Extraits

[...] Differences between French and English: beauty products across the nations Why did I choose this topic? Basically, I didn't have any idea about the topic I wanted to deal with, but realizing that I had purchased many beauty products in Ireland and that I used to read its directions, I decided to take more interest in it. I just thought it was pretty funny to use reading these without minding the act that these directions were in English. So I was just missing the very opportunity to spot subtle or obvious differences which could exist with my mother tongue in that context. [...]

[...] By the way, this part is always conspicuous. Which is commonly found as well in English, as a more or less short “Warning” part. Checking any French product, I noticed that these were rarer. However, what has never been mentioned on these products from Ireland the quote hydratation des couches supérieures de l'épiderme” usually written on skin care products at the very bottom of the instructions. This is a detail but an important one because it just implies and highlights that the products cannot do miracles. [...]

[...] Eg: “Daily/tous les jours” A cleansing routine/utiliser chaque jour sur une peau nettoyée Grip/manche caoutchouc» (shaver) is visibly associated directly to a shaver, there's no need to specify like in French, because the quality of the shaver is to be handy and gathers the function and the practical side of this shaver. But let's taking interest in another point: these deductions and to some new examples we can try to have some clue about the product related to the body, which eventually help to discover how people see a product. It is as logical as fascinating it is the customer who his own product, adapted to his needs. Instructions are but reflection (not every time though) of a French/Irish customer . [...]

[...] Following the context, a native English speaker would switch the meaning straight away anyhow English is very often briefer, things are simplified. There is not point in adding “sous contrôl” in “Dermatologically tested” because it is obvious, the word testifies enough. The word is suitable enough to replace the “associe”. In itself, gives already a concept of association and could replace other verbs, the meaning is the same, and it's just a question of style inside a language. But could we deliberately tell that this can let us say than it is about a different way of considering the body? [...]

[...] Way of dealing with the subject: The analysis is of course based on genuine directions, taken from beauty products packing. Most of these are skin care products, but there are also shampoo, hair care and wax strip's directions for a wider diversity. On one side are gathered the products whose society is basically American (Johnson- Johnson, John Frieda), British (Boots, Skin Wisdom by Tesco) and on the other side the French ones (Yves-Rocher, Nivea, L'Oréal Paris, Chanel In fact, my priority was to compare products each other in that way, then branded products such as “Yves-Rocher”, “Johnson-Johnson” always translate their directions which was helpful for completing the analysis. [...]