Cocoa Brown 1hour Tan Review and How To Apply

Hi girls!

My favourite tan at the moment is the Cocoa Brown 1 Hour Tan, it's cheap and affordable but it's also great quality. When it's used with the other Cocoa Brown products it lasts longer, fades gradually and when I need it to come off, I don't need to have 5 showers to scrub it off - one shower with Cocoa Brown Tough Stuff and it's gone! I have tried alot of high end and high street tans over the years and this is my favourite by far.

Please note, this is how I like to apply my tan, I find I get the best tan by following this method. But as stated on the bottle, this is a 1 hour tan so if you are in a rush and can't leave it over night as I do, the tan does develop nicely in 1 hour. Hence the name! :)

The products I use to get the full benefit from this tan are:

- Cocoa Brown 1 Hour Tan (€7.99)
- Chocolate Whip Body Moisturiser (€4.99)
- Tough Stuff Body Scrub (€4.99)
- Tan Application Mitt (€5.00)
- Exfoliating Shower Gloves (€1.49 in Dealz)
- Disposable Latex Gloves (€1.49 in Dealz)

I purchased a gift pack from Tesco for €20 that included all the Cocoa Brown products (below) so for 6/7 applications I pay €23, not bad!

Step 1:

Always apply tan to clean, dry, exfoliated skin so shower first using your exfoliating gloves and Tough Stuff body scrub to exfoliate. Pay special attention to the usual dry areas - hands, feet, elbows and knees and any dry areas specific to your own body.

Step 2:

Apply a small amount of Chocolate Whip body moisturiser to areas of dry skin especially hands, feet, elbows and knees.

Step 3:

Wear a pair of disposable gloves under your tanning mitt as I find all tanning mitts sometimes leak tan through to your hands and cause staining. I glove both hands because I alternate hands when applying to reach different areas!

Step 4:

How you apply your tan is entirely up to yourself and once you get used to it, you'll find your own little knack for putting it on but just in case some people struggle with application, this is how I apply my tan :)
I usually start with my feet first and work my way up. I take the leg in sections making sure all areas are adequately covered before moving on, for example: foot and ankle first, then onto shin and half of the lower leg, then upper half of lower leg and the knee, lower half of thigh, upper half of thigh and bum cheek! If you work in very small areas at a time rather than spread it over a large area, you will have less chance of streaking.
Handy Tip: Try resting your foot on a low surface (edge of the bath/bed or on a closed toilet seat! :P) to get a better angle and have a long mirror nearby to check those hard to see areas.

When I've finished both legs I start at my wrists next, applying the tan in the same fashion - lower arm, upper arm, chest, neck, face, ears (Yes I tan my ears!), upper back and lower back that I can reach (use the mirror!), tummy and I usually get my partner to do the parts of my back that I can't reach otherwise it just comes out streaky.

Step 5:

Remove disposable gloves and tan hands last. Be sure to get in between the fingers, along the edges of your hands and also, bend your fingers to get into those little creases along your knuckles.

Step 6:

Don't get dressed for at least ten minutes, I usually dry myself a bit with the hairdryer to be honest, the heat will help to develop the colour aswell as dry it. Then put on loose fitting pyjamas or lounge wear.

Step 7:

I find this tan works best when you leave it over night and have a shower the next day. So have a quick shower the next morning but don't scrub your skin, just let the water rinse the top layer of tan and pat yourself dry with a towel, don't rub too vigorously.

Step 8:

For darker applications, you can do this one of two ways:
1) Straighter after application, go back over full body applying another layer of tan. This is the best option if you only have one night to apply tan!
2) After rinsing the next day, apply another layer of tan and allow this to develop again over night. Personally I find this to be the best option for me so for example if I want to be tanned for a Saturday night, I'll apply my first layer Thursday night and the second layer Friday night so that I'm rinsing Saturday night before I go out.
Only do this step if you feel one application isn't enough, for most people it's fine but I always like to go a tad darker!

Step 9:

To maintain your lovely, natural looking tan, apply Chocolate Whip body moisturiser every day after showering. But! And this is very important, don't apply this directly after rinsing the first day, just every day thereafter. This will keep your skin moisturised, locking in the colour for longer and helping your tan to fade gradually and naturally. Oh and it smells amazing!

Step 10:

When  your tan has faded considerably (mine usually lasts around 5 days when I apply the Chocolate Whip) and you think it's past its sell by date, all you need to do is shower and exfoliate using your exfoliating gloves and the Tough Scrub body scrub. Be sure to give a good scrub, your skin might be a bit pink afterwards but it feels great! Pay special attention to your neck, hands, knees, elbows and the trickiest areas I find are the underarms.


Apologies for the bad pictures, the first one is pre-tan, the second is post-tan and first shower and the third picture is after about 5 days when the tan is starting to wear off. As you can see when it wears off it does stick a bit around the ankles and knees but not as bad as most tans and the Tough Stuff scrub gets rid of that completely.

All in all, I love this tan - it's great value, great quality and it smells lovely. None of that awful fake tan smell at all!

If you're looking for a reasonably priced, salon quality fake tan then this is definitely the tan for you. For more pictures, see my Edinburgh post :)

Hope this post helps, if you have any Q's just leave a comment or grab me on my Facebook page :)

Aoife xx