Cocoa Brown Instant Tan Bronzing Gel - Matte

Hello Lovelies

In October 2015 Cocoa Brown launched two new products to add to their already extensive tanning range, the Instant Bronzing Gels available in matte and shimmer and I was kindly asked if I would like to try one of the Bronzing Gels, I chose the matte Bronzing Gel.

The bronzing gel is packaged in the usual pink Cocoa Brown packaging and has a flip top lid, the lid screws off for the first application and there is a silver paper tab covering the opening of the tube, once this is removed the gel can be squeezed out of the tube with ease, the tube contains 150ml of product.  

What Cocoa Brown Says About The Bronzing Gels

• Instant / Wash off : Great for last minute tanning for special occasions. Rinses off in the shower.
• No fake tan pong : Beautifully scented with Cocoa Brown Tahitian Gardenia signature scent.
• Two variants : Available in ‘Shimmer’ with light reflecting minerals & ‘Matte’ for that signature bronzed, Cocoa Brown glow.
• Lightweight gel formula : Easy, non-sticky application & results will last longer than bronzing powder.
• Dries instantly : Apply and get dressed within minutes before heading out!
• Facial tanning : Can be layered over your makeup to contour/highlight or used as a foundation replacement for an easy, everyday glow.

My First Impressions Of The Bronzing Gel

The first thing I noticed about the bronzing gel is the scent, it doesn't have the usual "biscuit" scent that most fake tans have but it does have a very strong scent to it and is the "tahitian gardenia" signature scent of Cocoa Brown. The scent is very strong and whilst I don't mind the scent some may find it a little overpowering.  

I applied a small amount of the bronzing gel to my arm and then used a towelling tanning mitt which is my preferred method of applying fake tan and buffed the gel into my arm, the gel was extremely easy to apply and buffed in effortlessly. I didn't have any streaks at all and it took me seconds to buff the gel into the lower half of my arm, the gel dried in seconds and I was left with a lovely golden streak free tan which looked incredibly natural, on first impressions I was extremely impressed. 

The above photograph shows my arm before and after I used the bronzing gel for the first time, the amount of gel on my arm in the photograph on the left is the amount I used to tan the whole of my lower arm. As you can see from the photograph the tan is a lovely golden shade and looks very natural and is streak free, I am a complete novice when it comes to applying fake tan and if I do ever wear fake tan my daughter Lissy applies my tan for me because I am unable to do so due to medical reasons,  I found the bronzing gel extremely easy to buff in and I didn't have to try to get a nice even finish it applied beautifully and streak free too so if you're a first time tanner don't be put off because it is super easy to use and if I can apply it anyone can. 

I have since worn the bronzing gel on my arms, legs, chest and face basically the visible areas of my body. Lissy applied the gel for me using a towelling tanning mitt, it applied effortlessly and very quickly and dried quickly too, the gel buffs in effortlessly and doesn't leave any streaks at all. The gel didn't transfer to my clothing and was very easy to remove in the shower using regular shower gel and a shower pouffe (or whatever those things are called) I like that the gel is non-comodegenic meaning it can be used on the face without causing breakouts, the gel can be buffed directly onto the face using a mitt or a make up brush which is my preferred method or you could mix the gel with some of your favourite foundation too to give a bronzed look. 

Overall Thoughts

I was really impressed with the Cocoa Brown Instant Tan Bronzing Gel  in matte and agree completely with the claims of Cocoa Brown, the tan isn't sticky at all and is nice and lightweight, I found the gel super easy to use and I like that it dried really quickly meaning I didn't have to wait to get dressed. The tan is extremely easy to remove and didn't have to be scrubbed off and didn't leave any remnants anywhere which some tans do. I would recommend the bronzing gel and especially to those who maybe new to tanning or struggle to achieve a streak free tan. I think this would be ideal for someone who wants super speedy tanning results or if you have an unexpected outing that you want to be tanned for say an impromptu night out, the only negative I could find is the scent although one I find quite nice, is very strong and whilst that doesn't bother me at all it may bother some people and is worth mentioning. 

If you would like to try the Cocoa Brown Instant Tan Bronzing Gel in matte you can find it HERE for £5.99 or if you would prefer to try the shimmer version of the bronzing gel, you can find that HERE for £5.99. 

Have you tried either of the bronzing gels? Which is your favourite? 

Thank you for reading, much love as always

Zoe x

✿ Post contains PR Sample Or Gifted Item

NOTD - Barry M Blackcurrant

Hello Lovelies, 

You may have seen my Autumn beauty haul post back in october (see that post here if not) where I picked up a few beauty items including the Barry M Gelly Hi Shine nail polish in Blackcurrant. 

I have been using Blackcurrant on my nails quite a lot recently and thought I'd show you how the polish looks on the nails and as always with my NOTD posts I'll also give you an overview of how the polish applied and wore etc. 

I knew the polish would be dark as it looks very dark in the bottle and almost black but you can see it is a very deep red/purple/plum shade so I thought it would transfer onto my nails like that. When I applied the first coat it was a lovely deep red shade and I loved it. 

One Coat of Blackcurrant 

Unfortunately once I applied a second coat the polish completely changed and was very dark and looked black. 

Two Coats Of Blackcurrant No Top Coat

I was really disappointed with the polish as it did look black, there were no traces of any deep red at all as soon as I applied a second coat which is needed as one coat is streaky so there is no way I could only use one coat. I decided to add some glitter to my nails and used the OPI My Voice Is A Little Norse polish on my ring fingers and then to finish off my nails I used my favourite top coat the Essie Gel Setter top coat to give a gorgeous shine and salon gel look. 

I think the glitter adds a really nice touch and the Essie top coat gives a fantastic shine. I did like the finished look of my nails once I'd added the glittery accent nail but I am really disappointed in the shade of Blackcurrant as it does just look like a black nail polish which I already have, if you are wanting a deep red/purple shade then please don't make the same mistake I did and think that Blackcurrant will give you that. The polish applied well, I do wish the brush was wider but it isn't hard to use, I used two coats of the Blackcurrant for the finished look, it is glossy without a top coat as you'll see from the photographs but the Essie top coat adds a brilliant shine and also gives a great wear time, Barry M polishes don't tend to wear well on my nails but with the Essie top coat I wore this nail look for 7 days before removing it. 

If you would like to create this look you can find the Barry M Blackcurrant polish at Boots here  or from Superdrug here. The OPI My Voice Is A Little Norse is available here at nailpolish.co.uk for just £5.95 which is a fantastic price for OPI, nailpolish.co.uk is one of my favourite sites to buy nail polish from. The Essie Gel Setter top coat is available to buy from Boots here for £9.99.

Have you bought a nail polish and been disappointed with the way it transfers onto the nails? 

Thank you for reading, much love as always

Zoe x 

My Favourite Winter Lip Products

Hello Lovelies

I love lip products and out of all the beauty products I own, lip products have to be one of my favourites. I change the shades of lip products that I wear during the different seasons and today I thought I would share with you my favourite winter lip products. I have split them up into shade categories and am going to share with you a little about each shade including photographs and swatches so sit back and prepare for a long and photograph heavy post, I hope you like my choices. 

Nudes

I don’t wear a nude lip very often but when I do my first choice is always Brave from MAC it is a pink toned nude shade, these are the nudes that suit me best and I always choose pink toned nudes over brown toned nudes. I do own other nude shades but over the last year if I choose to wear a nude lip, it's always been Brave.  If you would like to try Brave, you can find it HERE for £15.50.

Pinks

 I love to wear a pink lip all year round but I have certain pink lip shades that I would consider a "winter pink" and some of my choices are those but some are just pinks I love and wear all year round.

Nars Satin Lip Pencil - Yu

 This was the first of the Nars lip pencils I had tried and I absolutely adore it! I have a full review post here if you would like more information and to see a photograph of me wearing it. I love everything about this pencil, the shade is stunning it is a bright blue toned pink and is not for the faint hearted as it is very bright but I love it, I do wear it more during the summer months but it looks stunning when worn with an all black outfit and nude eye makeup to give that flush of colour, the wear time is incredible and if you haven't already done so I would highly recommend you give the Nars lip pencils a try, I have one of the matte ones in red on my wish list. If you would like to try the Nars lip pencil in Yu, you can find it HERE for £19.00 inc free delivery.

MAC - No Faux Pas 

How amazing is the packaging of this MAC lipstick? It was part of the Christmas collection from 2014 and was limited edition but MAC do tend to re promote products and No Faux Pas has already been re promoted once since the first launch so don't be disheartened if you like this shade it will probably do the rounds again at some point. It is what I would call a "winter pink", it's a bright pink that can be worn all year round but definitely doesn't look out of place during the winter months. MAC Girl About Town is a similar shade though if you don't want to wait for a re promote although it isn't a dupe it is a similar shade which you will see from my swatches below.

MAC - Viva Glam Miley

The viva glam Miley lipstick from MAC was launched just in time for my birthday (Valentines Day) 2015, now I'd say that was fate wouldn't you? It is a beautiful bright pink and again I do wear it more over the summer months but I love it during the winter months worn with an all black outfit. I wore it for my daughters 18th birthday party with a black dress. It applies well and wears well and the wear time is fantastic, it looks lovely and I always receive lots of compliments when I wear it. I do have a full review post here if you would like to read an in depth review and see photographs of me wearing it. If you would like to try Viva Glam Miley you can find it HERE on the MAC website for £15.50.

MAC - Girl About Town

 I love girl about town it is another lipstick that I would describe as a "winter pink" I don't wear it much any other time of year but it is a nice alternative to a red or berry lip when I want to wear some colour, it's a lovely shade. If you would like to try Girl About Town you can find it HERE for £15.50.

 Reds

 MAC - All Fired Up 

 I love wearing a red lip during the winter months and I can safely say a red lip is my favourite "go to" lip colour for the winter, narrowing down my favourite reds for this post was really hard as I do own rather a lot of red lipsticks, I did recently post my favourite red lip products post, here if you'd like to see some of my other favourites, but All Fired Up is one of my favourite red lip colours it's a pinky red and one I wear all year round. If you would like to try All fired up, you can find it HERE for £15.50.

Rimmel Kate Moss - 22

The Rimmel Kate Moss in shade 22 is one of my all time favourite red lipsticks, it's a bright true red and one I always receive compliments on when I wear it. It has brilliant wear time and doesn't bleed and for the price is a fantastic lipstick. If you would like to try shade 22 you can find it HERE for £5.49.

MAC Lipmix - Red

 MAC Lipmixes are a product that you don't really see mentioned on blogs but I honestly don't understand why, they are fantastic products and are available in a variety of shades, you can mix your own shades too making bespoke shades. I love them and love my red one, I use a teeny tiny amount for a full lip and the wear time is brilliant, I honestly cannot recommend them enough, I do have a full review post of the MAC Lipmixes here if you would like to find out more about the shades I have. If you would like to try the Lipmixes yourself and I do recommend you do, you can find them on the MAC website HERE for £14.50.

Berry Shades

Smashbox - Fig

My Smashbox lipstick is a teeny tiny sample sized lipstick which came in a set of two as a free gift with my Primer Water, the other shade in the set I got is Posy Pink a pale peach/pink shade. I adore the finish and wear time of both of the Smashbox lipsticks and they are the first and only Smashbox lipsticks I have and have tried but I would like to try more, and despite the size of the lipstick I have used it a lot and it still has a lot of product left. If you would like to try Fig you can find it HERE for £17.00. 

Topshop - Beguiled 

My lovely friend Jessie bought me my Topshop lipstick in Beguiled around 2 years ago now and I love it, it is the only Topshop lipstick I own, I do always say I am going to pick up some more of their lipsticks but haven't ever done so as yet but I would like to try some more shades as I love some of their brighter shades. Beguiled is a lovely berry toned lipstick and has a brilliant wear time, again it isn't as dark on the lips as it looks in the bullet and if all Topshop lipsticks are this good I look forward to finally trying more. If you would like to try Beguiled you can find it HERE for £8.00. 

 MAC - Darkside

Years ago I only ever wore very pale shades of lipstick and wouldn't ever wear reds or brights and I didn't get much more daring than MAC Angel but I started to get a little more adventurous and started to wear colour, I first tried a berry lip when I borrowed one of my daughters lipsticks for my nephews christening and loved it, since then I have added a few more berry toned lipsticks to my collection and love to wear them during the winter months. MAC Darkside was the first berry toned lipstick I ever bought and I love it, it isn't as dark on the lips as it is in the bullet and is a lovely blackcurrant shade. You can find Darkside HERE for £15.50 if you would like to try it. 

MAC Lipmix - Crimson

Another of the MAC Lipmixes but this time in the shade Crimson, it's a gorgeous deep red shade and one that's perfect for the winter months, I won't go on about how much I love the lip mixes again, I think you know that by now, but I do highly recommend you try them. You can find them on the MAC website HERE for £14.50.

So those are all my favourite lip products to wear during the winter months, it was really hard narrowing it down to these choices as I own a lot of lip products but I hope you liked my choices, do you own any of the lip products I chose and are any of my choices your favourites too? 

If you would like me to do any more favourite product posts please let me know, I have been asked for my favourite summer and winter nail polishes so I will be writing those posts but if there are any other favourites you would like to see please let me know.

Thank you for reading, much love as always

Zoe x

✿ Post contains PR Samples or Gifted products

Stickers For My Planner - My New Obsession

Hello Lovelies

Ever since I bought my Personal Planner back at the end of September 2015 I have developed a slight ok then a rather large obsession with planner stickers, I love browsing Etsy looking at stickers and can spend absolutely ages looking at them. There is a whole "planner community" which I find really interesting and when I wrote my post on my personal planner which you can read HERE if you would like to and haven't already I mentioned in that post that I loved planner stickers and asked if anyone would be interested in a post on my stickers and where I buy them from and I received so many tweets and emails from people saying yes please they would love a post on my planner stickers so that's what I have for you today, some photographs of my current planner stickers and where I bought them from and my favourite places to buy planner stickers from. 

I have bought all my planner stickers so far from Etsy and today I have different stickers from various different Etsy shops so I will group the stickers together and show you them shop by shop. 

StickelCo

StickelCo is run by the lovely Kelly and is the first shop I ever bought planner stickers from, I placed my first ever order with Kelly and have ordered since then. I really like Kelly's stickers and Kelly is lovely too, she has a great variety of stickers and also had some super cute Christmas stickers too, Kelly has lots of different stickers to choose from there really is a fantastic selection from the classic to do list stickers to nail polish bottles which I love to hydrate stickers so if you have made a new years goal to drink more water these would be great, she has a brilliant selection of stickers to choose from and the colours are always vibrant and the stickers well made. I have a mix of glossy and matte stickers from StickelCo, they peel well and stick well too, I have always had fantastic customer service from Kelly and would highly recommend her, my stickers are always well packaged and arrive super quickly too, my next order will definitely be the nail polish bottles and the aeroplanes I think, but then again I can never stop at just 2 lots. You can find StickelCo on Etsy HERE.

Plan With Jade

Plan with Jade is run by the lovely Jade, I ordered from Jade and when my order came I thanked her on Instagram, it came to light that Jade was a long time reader of my blog and thought it was me when I ordered but she wasn't sure, she sent me the loveliest message when she found out. Jades stickers are fantastic quality and peel and stick well and she has a fantastic range and great variety of stickers including Mermaid themed stickers, Wizard of Oz themed stickers, London and Paris themed stickers as well as different colour scheme themes and the usual to do stickers etc there is a great selection to choose from, Jade had some amazing Christmas stickers too and Halloween and New Year too. Jade also made me so custom designed stickers and sent them to me as a surprise which I thought was such a nice touch, she really is a lovely girl and her customer service is fantastic, she goes above and beyond to ensure her customers are happy, the stickers are always well packaged and my stickers arrive super quick too. I think my next order will be the princess stickers and the blogging and you tube icons but I will be using the video camera icon for Periscope instead of you tube. You can find Plan With Jade on Etsy HERE.

Dream Big & Plan

Dream Big & Plan is owned by the lovely Alina, she really is a nice lady and her customer service is fantastic, I have only ordered once so far from Alina but will definitely be ordering again as she has an amazing variety of stickers to choose from and they are brilliant value, they stick and peel well too. I placed my order from Alina when I found some brilliant Star Wars inspired stickers on her shop and loved them and let's face it, I can't not have Star Wars stickers can I? I also have some cute little doctors cases which are great for medical related things. Theres also Harry Potter inspired stickers amongst others, theres everything from holiday and medical related stickers to laundry and spa day stickers there is a massive selection to choose from and again the stickers are always packaged well and arrive quickly in the post. You can find Dream Big & Plan on Etsy HERE. 

So those are the Etsy shops I have ordered from so far to buy my stickers and I will continue to use all three shops to buy my stickers from, a couple of other shops I have saved to my favourites on Etsy but have not yet used are Ellen Bee Makes and Michelle and Patch both shops sell some incredible stickers and I will be ordering from them both soon. All the Esty shops I have mentioned so far have been UK sellers but there are some International sellers who have some great stickers too that I am yet to order from, there are a lot more International sellers than UK sellers unfortunately as the shipping can be quite expensive but I love the sellers I have mentioned today and I am more than happy with both their service and stock and would highly recommend them all.  

You can also find stickers for your planner in supermarkets and places like WHSmith and Ryman and Wilko amongst other places and I am going to look out for some stickers on the high street next time I am out and about.  

I hope you have enjoyed me sharing with you some of the stickers I have bought in recent months, let me know if you go over and visit any of the Etsy shops I have mentioned and if you do please tell the seller I sent you. If you would like to see any up and coming sticker hauls or stationary and sticker hauls please let me know, I haven't done these kind of posts on my blog previously but I did receive a lot of requests for this post so stationary and planner sticker haul posts might be something I start to do on my blog in 2016 if you would like me to. 

If you love planner stickers and have some recommendations of where to buy them please let me know in the comments or if you sell planner stickers and have an Etsy shop or any shop please feel free to leave your link in the comments too. 

Thank you for reading, much love as always

Zoe x

✿ Clipart Images on main image taken from Google