La Roche Posay is another favourite brand with dermatologists, also using the almost-magical resource of thermal spring water.

BBC: Pharmacy shopping in Paris

The company also revealed plans to develop its State Express 555 brand, the favourite of Vietnamese resistance leader Ho Chi Minh.

BBC: Tequila graphic

Back in the early 1990s, when the Conservative Party was Britain's favourite pedlar of political fare, Labour was stuck with a downmarket brand that scared off the middle-classes.

ECONOMIST: British politics