Au Courant Eclipse: Ace Idea, Godawful Packaging

I recently met the founder of Australian brand Vani-T and one of the questions I asked her was if she had any plans to add a self-tanner to the line which also contained an SPF (there aren't currently, for those who are interested).

Now, there are a couple of problems with this, number one being people who'd blithely apply and then assume a protection level until the product wears off, which of course won't happen. So my musing concluded that it'd probably be best kept for a wash on-wash off product and Rodial's Skinny Beach SPF15 Tinted is doing just that.  Lancome too are on the ball with their 09 incarnation of Flash Bronzer, but it does develop, so you'd need to be vigilant with SPF on following days.

Those two brands weren't first out of the starting blocks on it, though. No, new-to-Ireland-brand Au Courant have a product called Eclipse which claims to be 'The World's First Bronzing Sun Block'. That sounds great and all but unfortunately it has the most disgusting packaging I think I have ever seen - the pic above flatters it shamelessly - and is like something that crawled straight from the 80s. But in a BAD way. A ra-ra skirt kinda way.

I am baffled by this  - why put customers off at the first hurdle?  Yes, yes, of course it shouldn't matter, but with cosmetics - things that are meant to make you look more gorgeous - it absolutely does.

With an SPF of 20, and a price of €28.75 for 118ml from aucourant.ie, I think this might be best kept to face, neck and shoulders. It's a bit pricey to be slapping on all over your body considering the size of the bottle, but it does the trick: a thick, fairly dry-feeling chocolate-coloured lotion delivers a realistic olive-toned colour, thus avoiding the awful Tango face problem.

You'd need a decent coating of moisturiser beneath - this would not be enough for my dry skin, but it is going to be a boon for anyone who's fallen beneath the cracks of traditional sunscreens.

What if you're a tan-fan and you top up your colour all year round?  Sunscreen can often deliver a white 'ghosting' which sits oddly with a bronzed face, and this does away with that. It's also going to find daily favour with those who want a bit of colour and protection on their faces but who don't want to wear heavy products during summer heat.

All in all, as a product, this is a great buy. But please, Au Courant, would you think about giving it a makeover?