French President spends 26,000 euros on makeup

Paris, Aug 26: French President Emmanuel Macron has spent 26,000 euros ($30,670) on makeup bills in the first three months of his presidency, a media report said.

According to a report in France's Le Point magazine, the large sum was claimed by a personal makeup artist who was hired to beautify Macron as "a matter of urgency".

The artist, who was only referred to only as Natacha M. in the report, submitted two expense bills for the first three months of Macron's presidency, one for 10,000 euros and another for 16,000 euros.

The same makeup artist also applied foundation to Macron during his presidential campaign, the Daily Telegraph said.

Previous French leaders had similarly extravagant budgets for stylists and beauticians. Macron's predecessor, Francois Hollande, paid his makeup artist at 30,000 euros per quarter and reportedly employed a barber on a yearly salary of 99,000 euros.

The revelations will further hit Macron's plummeting popularity, the report said. In the first 100 days of his time in office, it has fallen faster than any previous French President and his favourability rating dipped to 36 per cent, according to a recent poll.

The makeup bills also come a month after Macron announced that the government was going to cut a type of housing benefit by five euros a month which will affect millions of people in France including students, the jobless and people living below the poverty line.

The measure has sparked fury from parts of civil society who accused the President of "hitting on the poor".