Friday 27 November 2015

Cocoa Brown Instant Tan Bronzing Gel Matte and Shimmer

Hi Everyone!
Hope you all are well :)

A couple of months ago I was invited along to Cocoa Browns Passion Persistence Pink Event in the Shelbourne Hotel. I made some new friends at the event and got to catch up with some old ones too. I can safely say that an enjoyable afternoon was had by all. I Snapchatted the majority of the event including Marissa's reveal of the two brand new Cocoa Brown products. If you haven't already heard, these products are as follows:

  • Cocoa Brown Instant Tan Bronzing Gel 'Matte'
  • Cocoa Brown Instant Tan Bronzing Gel 'Shimmer'


I was extremely excited with the announcement of not one but two instant tans to the Cocoa Brown family, it's exactly what the range needed. I'm a massive fan of the 1 Hour Tan and the Night & Day Tan Mousse, I've reviewed those products already and you can find the posts here and here. While I absolutely adore both of these tans and use them religiously, sometimes I like to have the option of being able to wash my tan off completely the next day. I couldn't wait to put these two to the test. Unfortunately I had to wait until my eczema calmed down to do so but let me tell you it was well worth the wait!


Lets kick things off with the packaging. The packaging really didn't come as a surprise to me its typical of Cocoa Brown, it's pink, fun and girly. You would easily spot a Cocoa Brown product a mile off!


I only fake tan on special occasions as some of you will know, I embrace the pale the rest of the time. However when I do decide to fake tan I like to have quite a dark appearance to my skin. I started out by testing the matte shade of bronzing gel and I must admit even I was a little scared when I squeezed some of the product out of the tube. It is very dark.


The shimmer bronzing gel on the other hand looked to be a lighter shade of brown. Normally I favour a matte appearance to my skin but I was blown away by the gorgeous golden brown colour of the shimmer bronzing gel. 

Now to put the two to the test!


Before - Tan Free Skin


After - 1 Layer of Cocoa Brown Matte Bronzing Gel


Like the rest of the Cocoa Brown range the gels are scented with Cocoa Browns signature Tahitian Gardenia scent so absolutely no need to worry about the biscuit/curry smell that other tans give off.

The first night I wore this tan was to the Irish Blog Awards last month in the Tivoli Theatre. When it comes to important events I stick to my trusty makeup and tanning routine, I never try new products on the day of an event on the off chance disaster strikes. Unfortunately for me that day/night consisted of a series of unfortunate events, one being that I ran out of tan mid way through tanning myself from top to bottom. I had applied the Cocoa Brown Night & Day Tan Mousse to the top half of my body and when I went to squeeze some more out of the can.....nothing. I had ran out. Crisis adverted though when I found the Matte Bronzing Gel in the bottom of my bag. I must have put it in there by accident but I was very thankful that I did!


The tan is definitely splash proof as it passed the test on the night. It was very crowded in the theatre and someone knocked into me accidentally which caused me to drown myself in the lovely Prosecco I had been handed moments before. The tan on the top half of my body ran which was a given as it was an instant tan so I didn't mind too much, nothing some bronzer couldn't fix! My dress had a slit as you can see from the above photo so my legs were mostly covered but it wouldn't have mattered if they hadn't of been. The drink hit my right leg and the tan didn't budge, not one bit. I was extremely surprised!

After - 1 Layer of Cocoa BrownShimmer Bronzing Gel




I found it very hard to do the shimmer bronzing gel justice, in person it gives such a gorgeous sheen to the skin. You really have to get the gel and experience it for yourself, you will not be disappointed! If you click into the photos it enlarges them you'll see the shimmer more clearly that way. In the last two photos in particular, you can see the shimmer particles on my arm but its so much more stunning in person.

Both bronzing gels are lightweight and glide onto the skin with ease. You can build up the intensity of the bronzing gels by applying them in layers but one layer is dark enough for me. If you are pale like myself you can also mix the gels with your regular foundation to match your face to your body. You can even contour your skin with the gels or Tontour as Marissa calls it, to see how to tontour you can check out Marissa's post here.

The bronzing gels are fantastic multi use products that will set you back a mere €6.99 for 150ml of product. Honestly, you can't go wrong! Cocoa Brown is available from large retailers such as Penneys, Boots, and Superdrug. The range is also available in pharmacies nationwide. If you are outside of Ireland not to worry, Cocoa Brown is available from sites such as Cloud10Beauty and Feel Unique who ship worldwide :)

Happy Tanning!
Eimear x

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