Cocoa Brown Review | My Mills Baby

YES thank you Melissa Carter - finally a gradual tanning lotion that doesn’t smell of embalming fluid

High street tanners are an absolute minefield. Yet for those of those that think sunbeds are for the stupid, and spray tans are too OTT, it’s our only choice. So we buy tanner after tanner and spray, rub and smooth them onto our skin making our bathrooms reak like a mini mortuary. The next day we’ll wake up to streaks and layer up on bracelets and bangles to cover our mistakes.

It’s not much to ask to find a fake tan that smells good, keeps us relatively soft-skinned, and doesn’t make us look like we’ve fallen asleep in the sun on our front. All we really want is even coverage that doesn’t make other people on the tube have breathe through their mouths.

Well Founder & Creator of Cocoa Brown, Melissa Carter has done just that. She’s created a tanning range that carries a pleasant floral scent and is getting storming press in Ireland and glowing testimonials from celebrities such as Rosanna Davison, Pippa O’Connor and Karen Koster. Okay, these may not be big names here in the UK but they’ve graced the covers of some of the biggest Irish beauty publications on the market.

So what makes it so good?

Well it’s not rocket science. It’s a range of tanning products that are inexpensive, long-lasting, smell great and are pumped full of (albeit mostly synthetic) ingredients that are hydrating and nourishing. Why the likes of L’Oreal and Garnier couldn’t pull this off sooner is anyone’s guess. But they didn’t, and now Cocoa Brown have won themselves another advocate - me.

Tough Stuff 3 in 1 Body Scrub

It’s gritty, it smells of berries, it exfoliates. It’s also won awards and costs a tiny £5.99 from Superdrug. What more do you need?

The 3 in 1 claim is a little ambiguous. They’re aren’t 3 benefits as such, rather it prepares your skin for tanning by lifting off any old remnants and creates a clean slate for slathering on the new one. But who cares? It’s by far one of the toughest body scrubs I’ve come across.

For knees, elbows, feet and other tough skin, using it bi-weekly will wipe away dead skin and leave it far softer than before. It’s also effective on dry skin if you get in a fight with a toddler and a marker pen which deserves a standing ovation from any parent.

I’m not alone in thinking this is a bit special either - this body scrub sold 4 months worth of stock in just 2 weeks when it first hit the market. They’ve now sensibly created a 200ml tube available from Primark, Superdrug, Lloyds Pharmacy and FeelUnique.com. I’m unlikely to use another body scrub ever.

Gentle Bronze Gradual Tanner

Gentle Bronze launched in March 2014, after a whirlwind 2013 in which Cocoa Brown achieved huge success; sealing deals with major retailers such as Boots, Superdrug, Primark and Tesco. Prior to this, their flagship 1 hour tan mousse went head to head with its highstreet competitors and literally wiped the floor with them. But for some of us, mitting up, applying a mousse then showering is a bit of a faff. This is where the gradual tanner comes in.

This can be applied everyday and gradually builds your tan to a beautiful bronze shade. How does it differ to the likes of Dove’s Summer Glow, Garnier’s Summer Body and L’Oreal’s Sublime Bronze I hear you ask? Well it smells good and there’s not a hint of orange.

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Ingredients

Okay, it doesn’t have Vita Liberata’s organic base ingredients, or St Tropez’s aloe vera infusion - and there are a few dubious ingredients to make the hardcore skincare buffs wrinkle their noses:

Isopropyl Myristate: synthetic oil is often added to beauty products to give them a slicker, sheer feel rather than an oily one. Has been linked to skin irritation.

Dihydroxyacetone: derived from sugar beets or cane sugar, this is the key active ingredient for self-tanners. The skin-browning effect is the result of a nontoxic chemical reaction between DHA and the amino acids which are part of the keratinous layer of the skin’s surface, much like the browning effect in food caramelization. Although there has been studies to show low levels of irritation, Cocoa Brown insist their DHAs are vegetable derived and mild.

Ceteareth-20: The most controversial one in there, but unnecessarily so. An emollient and emulsifier that gets a fair old bashing from the die-hard organic fans as it can contaminate a product with carcinogens. Generally regarded as low toxicity though.

But! It also has Argania Spinose Kernal Oil - who’s been reading my blog then? Which is an organic hero ingredient with a raft of benefits - I definitely hadn’t expected to see this in here and it’s a very very very welcome surprise.

So what did I think?

Love it. My arms and legs are looking spot on. I’m yet to experience any streakiness and the colour is deep and natural. They’re also lovely and soft as I can pop my usual organic body lotion on top without any cross-contamination. The scent is Cocoa Brown’s signature Tahitian Gardinia Floral scent which is an acquired scent, but it beats the hell out of any of its competitors.

My only gripe is that it can “sit in” the creases of your skin (as you might expect). Although my legs have got away scot-free, my wrists need a good scrub afterwards. This is fine if you aren’t doing your arms, but it can lead to tell-tale lines if you are. I’m hoping Cocoa Brown bring out a mist to reduce this problem. They do have a Lovely Legs wash off spray tan, but an all-over longer-lasting solution would be welcome.

All in all, it’s the best I’ve come across in a long while and at £5.99, it’ll be a regular in my shopping basket. Well done Melissa.