Wow Brown Ready To Glow Tanning liquid

Hi everyone!

I'm so sorry I couldn't keep up with the JuneBBC challenge, there was a lot of personal stuff going on over the last few weeks, and I just didn't have the time to devote to it. Rather than bombard you with half assed posts, I thought it would be better to just bow out. I still read what I could, and you guys did an amazing job!

I've been meaning  to do a review on Ready to glo for quite a while, since I first tried it about a month ago. Honestly, I had heard very little about it before winning a bottle in a Facebook competition. I had been religiously using Cocoa Brown, and you can read what I thought of it here but who doesn't like a change from time to time. I won't lie, the bottle did sit on a shelf untouched for a few weeks while I plucked up the courage to look past the fact that it said DARK tanning liquid on the bottle, but don't let that put you off!

So I applied it as per my usual tanning routine and I was so, so impressed. The colour was beautiful. I was genuinely afraid that it would be far too dark for me, but even as it was developing it never made me look like I was wearing tan. I just had a very healthy glow. You're supposed to leave it on for 5 hours (or longer for a deeper colour) then shower, but on multiple occasions I've completely forgotten to wash it off because there's just no smell off it at all! It doesn't have the pretty floral scent that Cocoa Brown has, but we can make up for tat with a quick spritz of perfume.

My favourite things about Ready To Glo are

1. It's very difficult to mess up. It's a paraben free liquid formula that dries very quickly, but is still extremely blendable. It goes on with a lovely golden colour straight away, so you can be sure that you got absolutely everywhere.
2. There's no smell of it at all!
3. The bottle is small enough to carry around with you should you need to, and the packaging is simple but very pretty
4. It's very long lasting! I'm on my 4th full body application and I'd say my bottle is still just under 3/4's full.
5. I have found, and this almost beggars belief, that even in areas with dry skin the tan doesn't cake nearly as bad as a lot of other tans. I have often ended up with filthy looking elbows, even after moisturoising regularly, but Ready To Glo really minimizes that!
6. There's a little logo on the bottle letting you know that it's plane friendly, and I just think that's the cutest thing ever!
7. Fran and Don are very interactive on Twitter. Any time I've mentioned Wow Brown I've gotten feedback from them. For me, good customer service like that really endears me to a brand or product.

While I didn't pay for my first bottle of Ready To Glo, more came across it by accident, I'll definitely be a repeat customer. My current bottle is getting packed away to jet off to Tenerife in 2 weeks and I'll be depending on it heavily so my pasty white skin doesn't stick out too much. I'll certainly be raising a cocktail to Fran, Don and Ready To Glow on my holidays :)

Cocoa Brown Lovely Lady Lunch- Dublin- Saturday 27th April

About 3 weeks ago I got a message from the creator of my favourite tan Cocoa Brown inviting me to a lunch in a very swanky Dublin hotel. Knowing there was a new tan in the pipe line, I naturally assumed it'd just be an event to fill some bloggers in on the merits of the new tan, and went hoping to maybe nab myself a free sample (and a few nibbles) What was waiting for us lucky few on arrival was an astounding display of generousity from both Marissa and the Cocoa Brown brand. We were treated to a 3 course meal (with wine!) in a beautifully decorated private room. Along the back wall stood a line of goody bags, quite large goody bags at that! Surely that big ole bag couldn't just contain one bottle of tan!? OH NO IT DIDN'T! When I peered into the bag you could have knocked me over with a feather. There was a bottle of the old reliable 1 hour tan, accompanied by a bottle of the new Night and Day tan (which won't even be in the shops for another 2 weeks!) a tanning mitt AND a €50 Penney's voucher.

Now, a lot of brands will invite customers out to events, give them a few itsy bitsy samples and put on some finger food, but never before have I seen a brand go so far to thank and reward their customers. I was genuinely overwhelmed. For me, it makes it a lot easier to part with my money when I know the brand will go to great lengths to prove you are a valued customer. I can't thank Marissa, Sarah and Cocoa Brown for a lovely afternoon and such a generous gift.

Now on to the good stuff! I had planned to rush home and try the new tan as soon as I finished chatting to all the other bloggers at the lunch. Unfortunately  the chances of me leaving town with a €50 Penneys gift card in my back pocket were slim to...... it just wasn't going to happen. Then the pub got involved and lets just say by the time I arrived home tanning was the last thing on my mind!

So, before going market hopping on Sunday I sat myself down, opened my shiney new mitt and got moussey. The tan itself is generally everything you'd expect from Cocoa Brown. It smells divine going on and stays smelling divine! It goes on quite dark, darker than the 1 hour tan, but even at that it STILL wasn't too dark for my ghostly complexion. It's still fool proof, there wasn't a steak in sight and my skin was so soft and silky. I was ready to go literally 5 minutes after applying the tan, which is practically unheard of for an instant tan. It absorbed instantly into my skin so could dress and run out the door without worrying about smudges or blotches.

Cocoa Brown Night and Day really takes the hassle out of tanning. You don't have to plan ahead and think 'well I better not do my hair now because I have to shower my tan off'. Being buffed and bronzed can now be a last minute decision!

The Night and Day tan will be out in shops in about 2 weeks and will retail for the same price as the original. I'll definitely be buying a bottle when mine runs out!