Cocoa Brown Night and Day tan Mouse is the €8:50 Irish tanning brand taking the UK and Ireland by storm, and fast becoming a rival to the king of all tans-FakeBake. The other day I was sent out this little beauty, along with their “Tough Stuff” pre tanning scrub, and I gave it a whirl this bank holiday weekend.
Night and Day is an instant tanning mouse, that goes on very very dark for a night out, but then when you shower the next day, it washes away, but leaves behind a light natural looking sunkissed glow that’s just right for daytime.
Initially I thought “this is a gimmick” what difference does the time of day make to your tan? But then I thought back to all the nights out I’ve ever had. Sure, in Dublin it’s beyond normal to go out so tanned people wonder if you have Italian relatives. But then…in the cold light of the next day, when you rock up to college/work in that same super tan, well, it looks a bit walk of shame. So something like night and day is the perfect solution for people who like to work hard and play hard.
So how did it go? Well, I’m not the biggest tan fan these days, but I used to wear it every day, so I know each and every tan out there and what you can expect from them- which is not much. So when I tried this out I can honestly say it was first class! It actually looked like I had a real tan –not a fake tan! It was actually brown without a hint of orange in sight, you know, like how a real tan looks (that brown thing you get on your skin when you live in a hot country).
It’s really easy to apply, due to its dark colour you can instantly see if you have missed anywhere, and its oil free mouse formula means that it dries instantly and you just have to sweep up in quick straight lines to apply. So there’s no massaging in and then spending hours waiting around in your underwear for the stuff to dry like you do with a creamy formula. You also don’t have to use very much because one pump of this on a tan mitt is enough to tan one leg. I did my whole body and I still have loads left.
I can see why it’s compared to FakeBake. It’s very dark and natural, with that green cast undertone FakeBake has that masks and cancels out the pink tones present in fair skin. But it doesn’t stick to the hairs on your arms like FakeBake does, making you look like your serioso gorilla hairy, unless you rub it in like mad, like a gorilla.
The only drawbacks are that even though its an instant tan, its definetly not a low maintenance- last minute tanning system. With CB You have to use the “Tough Stuff” scrub and the oil free “Chocolate Whip” moisturiser the day before you tan, to avoid streaking and patching in dry areas like knees and elbows. And that even though I did this, I still had a slight bit of patching on my knees and elbows. And that’s not a great sign considering I have normal skin without any dry patches, so if you have dry skin this dry oil free formula could potentially be problematic.
But if you can get around that, this would be a great for glam girls who have had to cut the credit card and say goodbye to expensive spray tans and brands like FakeBake and St Tropez. And hey, it can’t hurt to support Irish brands. Well, so long as you can get around the knee and elbow patching.
squeezielou 