Lab Muffin Beauty Science

The science of beauty, skincare, makeup and nails

  • Home
  • Science
  • Browse
    • Archives
    • Reviews by Brand
    • Random Post
  • About
    • About Michelle
    • Site Policies
    • Follow
  • Shop
    • Shop
    • Skincare eBook
  • FREE Exfoliation Guide!

Fake Tan Review: Cocoa Brown and Fake Bake

February 13, 2016 By Michelle Leave a Comment

Affiliate Disclosure: I receive a small commission for purchases made via affiliate links.

Having had some success with gradual tanners, I decided to go further and try out some actual fake tan: Cocoa Brown 1 Hour Tan and Fake Bake Mousse Instant Self-Tan.

fake-tan-cocoa-brown-fake-bake

The key difference between fake tan and gradual tanner is that fake tan also contains a colour guide, which is brown pigment that gives your skin instant colour in addition to staining your skin brown with dihydroxyacetone. The instant tan colour also means you can see where you’ve applied product, which means it’s less likely that you’ll wake up with unexpected streaks and white patches like with gradual tanner.

Cocoa Brown’s 1 Hour Tan ($19.95 for 139.5 g) is a bit of a cult product in the UK. It has a pleasant gardenia scent to begin with, but turns into a soy sauce fake tan smell after a while – of course, if you leave it on for an hour only, like the directions say, it isn’t an issue. The tan is really light after an hour though, so you’ll either have to repeat the process for a few nights or you can be lazy like me and leave it on overnight.

The nozzle is like a whipped cream top, which gives a pretty pattern and gives you lots of product quickly, but tends to splutter tiny drops of tan everywhere if you’re unco like me. I managed to get a spray of spots all over my white undies (why I was wearing white when I was about to put on fake tan is beyond me…don’t be me).

cocoa-brown-tan

It’s pretty awesome at not being orange – the colour guide is a nice yellowy brown, while the stain it leaves behind is a rosy tan colour. The Cocoa Brown Mitt ($10.95) is recommended for use with this tan and it’s easy to see why – it has a plastic backing on the inside of the foam half so you don’t have to worry about getting Tan Hand, and makes application a lot smoother.

Fake Bake Mousse Instant Self-Tan ($39.00 for 120 mL) has a slimmer nozzle, which is a little less spitty than the Cocoa Brown version, but I managed to get it stuck somehow during my second tanning session.

fake-bake-fake-tan

When it became unstuck, it shot tan everywhere and I had to rinse tan out of a bunch of towels. The colour guide is a bit streakier than the Cocoa Brown tan, but the tan underneath didn’t end up streaky at all which was a pleasant surprise. The velour side of the double-sided Fake Bake mitt buffs it out nicely, but it doesn’t have the plastic backing so you need to use it with a disposable glove which is a bit of a hassle. The colour guide is a little pinker than the Cocoa Brown colour, but the final stain colours are almost identical. Unfortunately I don’t find that the tans I get from these products are much darker than from a gradual tanner.

Overall, I think these are good products but fake tan colour guides just aren’t for me and my clumsy hands. I’m sticking to gradual tans for now!

The fake tans in this review were press samples, which did not affect my opinion. For more information, see Disclosure Policy.


Related Posts

  • Ascorbyl Glucoside Vitamin C: Avène A-Oxitive
  • Asian sunscreen reviews: Anessa, Make:Prem
  • Microcurrent Devices: Science and Foreo Bear Review
  • Fenty Skin Start’rs Skincare Range review

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • Reddit
  • Google
  • More
  • Tumblr

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Cocoa Brown, Fake Bake, review, skincare, tan

« What is thermal water and how does it work in skin care?
Why Make-Up Flashback Happens and How to Avoid It »

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

CommentLuv badgeShow more posts

Facebook Instagram Pinterest Twitter RSS YouTube

Michelle
Hi! I'm Michelle, chemistry PhD and science educator, and I'm here to help you figure out which beauty products are worth buying, and which ones aren't using science!

New Posts Straight to Your Inbox!

https://labmuffin.com/signup-confirmation/

skincare guide skincare guide

Popular Posts

  • My Current Evening Skincare Routine
  • Purging vs Breakouts: When to Ditch Your Skincare
  • How Does Olaplex Hair Treatment Work?
  • Don't Use Lemon Juice on Your Skin
  • Easy (5 Minute) DIY Vitamin C Serum Recipe
  • My Routine for Starting on Tretinoin (Retin-A) Cream

Copyright © 2021 Lab Muffin
 · Foodie Pro Theme On Genesis Framework · Privacy Policy · WordPress · Log in

All rights reserved. No part of this blog may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission from the author, except for brief quotations when accompanied by a citation and link.

Get Lab Muffin updates (comes with a FREE Essential Guide to Exfoliation!)
Your information will be stored to send you emails. For more information see Privacy Policy.