Tonturing with Cocoa Brown

Tontouring is everywhere atm, and as the brain child of Tanning guru Marissa Carter it seemed like a good idea to try i out! It can seem a bit daunting, mastering contouring is hard enough without trying it with something you cant immediately scrub off!!

I have to say....it's pretty easy to conquer, and is actually god fun! So, I've done up a quick step by step routine of how I achieved a ice, subtle look!

I used Gentle Bronze as a base to give my skin a natural looking glow.

I squirted out a blob of the 1 Hour tan (I used the dark shade) and using a flat contour brush I applied the tan to the hollow of my cheeks and blended. (If your brush is like mine it will absolutely hoover up the tan, so tread carefully!)

Then I used my fingers to gently blend the tan and ensure that there were no straight lines or tiger stripes.

And that's it! Once you take the plunge it's very simple. Just remember, it's easier to add than it is to remove, so start with small amounts of the darker tan and build on it!

                                                   

Tonturing is a nifty little skill to master. I just throw on a bit of powder, mascara and brow powder and I've a 2 minute full face!

Cocoa Brown Gentle Bronze

Howdy folks! Before I get into the wonderful world of tanning I just want to take a sec to apologise for the HUUUUUUGE gap in posts. A mix of personal and family issues meant I just completely lost my blogging mojo, and to be brutally honest.... blogging was the last thing on my mind! Things have finally started to calm down so I'm gonna try ease myself back in!

So with that said, I've recently been mucking around with the newest additions to the fabulous Cocoa Brown family! Each will get their own post, but first on the chopping block is the gradual tanner- Gentle Bronze.

I'm pretty much anti gradual tanners, the smell is just too much for me- even off products that promise to have NO fake tan smell at all. But inevitably I always wake up in the middle of the night to a waft of digestive biscuits....and I'm just not able. I have so much trust in Cocoa Brown that when I was promised a biscuit free healthy glow, I fully expected to get it. And I did!

The lotion itself goes on silky smooth and dries really quickly. My skin was left feeling really soft and moisturoised and I noticed an even, streak free colour developing after just a couple of hours. There's even a very subtle colour guide so you can see if you miss anywhere. Neither myself, or my hyper sensitive mammy, got any smell (other than Cocoa Brown's signature floral scent) from the lotion.

I love Gentle bronze, I find it much handier than a full on tan! I love the fact that it eliminates my Irish blue hue, without me needing to adjust my make up routine to blend everything together! The colour I achieve after 1-2 days is absolutely perfect for every day wear!

It's a lovely addition to my Cocoa Brown collection, and I have a feeling it will be my most regularly used! Gentle Bronze retails at around €5.50 and can be found anywhere that sells the CB range!

Happy (gradual) tanning!

St Tropez Bronzing Mousse

When you think of fake tans there's one brand that would rush to the front of most people's minds- St Tropez! From what I can gather the general opinion is, or was, that it's the holy grail of faking it. However, it's always sat very far outside my price range so I never really gave it a second thought. Sure why would I with so many reasonably priced options available that promise to do the exact same thing? But I found a 500ml bottle of St Tropez Bronzing mousse for €16.50 and I thought now was as good a time as any to try. I'm not a believer of only having a healthy glow during the summer months, if you do it right you can adapt your tan all year round.

I have used this tan twice since I bought it, both times my impressions have been distinctly...... meh. I'll start with the good points-

The mousse formula is super easy to apply.

It's a huge big bottle (which I've seen on sale elsewhere for a whopping €55) so you do get a fair bang for your buck.

It has a good colour guide so streaks and blotches are easily avoided.

I haven't yet encountered the dreaded biscuit smell.

It does develop into a really lovely golden colour, actually one of the nicest I've ever come across.

BUT!!!!!

It has no staying power whatsoever. The bottle says to avoid getting wet for 8 hours. Ok, that's a bit of a pain but I can live with it. You may as well wash it all off immediately for all the good those 8 hours do. I woke up with a beautiful colour, washed my hands and then only from my wrists up had any colour. When I showered I lost any hint of colour, I was my natural white self.

It's totally unreliable. If someone accidentally spills something on you on a night out call a taxi, cos your night is over!  Like, this is worse than Sun Shimmer when threatened with moisture, it just gives up and goes home.

The bottle says to reapply every day or so, but unless you spend your days in a bubble, or in a world void of liquid, you'll be applying new tan over a blotchy mess, or you'll just be reapplying to clean skin and won't be building any colour at all.

I know people who absolutely swear by St Tropez and wouldn't hear of any other tan, I can't see why. I know I only paid €16.50, a bargain on the St Tropez price scale, but from a more realistic point of view that's 2 bottles of Cocoa Brown, a much better and more wearable tan in every way! Maybe this new breed of affordable tans have spoiled me and I just expect too much from all fake tans now.

My verdict- if I could I'd go get my money back! And then go buy some Cocoa Brown because it's everything St Tropez wants to be but isn't.

Streaks the hound left me (10 hours after application)

SBBC Day 18- Desert Island beauty

I'm fully aware that half the products I'm bringing with me to this desert island are useless without modern technology, but the desert island I'm going to comes equipped with hair dryers, straighteners, tanning mitts and make remover. Got that? Okay lets go!!

 1- Sudocrem- There's been a tube of this knocking around my room since I got my first ever pimple, and there will always be a tube of it somewhere. Got a pimple? Put some Sudocrem on it. Get a little burn? Sudocrem that thang! Arm fall of? Sudocrem will fix it! Magic stuff!

2- Schwarzkopf Got to be Oilicious- I only bought this recently, but I really like it. I put it on my hair once it's dry and find it makes my hair really manageable and soft. Also gives it a nice shine.

3- NYC Liquid eyeliner- Are you starting to figure out that I really REALLY love this eyeliner?? It's just the bomb, I'm never without t!

4- Essence eyebrow pencil- This is almost a staple item for me, so cheap and effective, and much handier to carry around than an eyebrow kit.

5- Mascara- I have SEVENTEEN Back Lash mascara pictured there, but basically whatever mascara I'm favouring at the time I'm abandoned on this devil island.

6- Cocoa Brown- One would think that one wouldn't need fake tan when you're stranded on a desert island..... but one would be very, very wrong. I could live on said island for a thousand years and still wouldn't tan. Can't beat a bit of Cocoa Brown for a quick sun fix.

7- L'Oreal True Match- My favourite foundation, and probably the only one I'd trust for a night out. If it can last a boozey night in O'Rielly's, a desert island will be a breeze!

8- PRO:VOKE Touch of silver brightening shampoo- When my hair is blonde, which it will be again by tonight, this shampoo is my best friend. It really gets rid of any yellow tones and is a bargain at €4.19.

9- John Frieda 3 Days Straight- Ever since I got a bottle of this to try at a Slattery's Communications event I've been absolutely in love with it. It's just marvelous stuff! I'm all fingers and thumbs when it comes to straight blow dry's, but even so my hair is lovely and straight until it's next wash! I'm nearly through my second bottle now!

10- Eyelure Dyelash 45 day mascara- I was afflicted with exceptionally fair brows and lashes so unless I tint them they're snow white and I look like an alien! Don't get me wrong, some people can absolutely rock fair brows, but I just can't, my face needs the structure. I use this on both my brows and lashes and find it great, it's really easy to mix and the colour is really long lasting!

So there we have it, my 10 desert island items..... It was like Sophie's Choice :(