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Pure Bronze Tanning vs Delux Tanners: The Formula Comparison

Pure Bronze Tanning vs Delux Tanners: The Formula Comparison - Delux Tanners
Pure Bronze Tanning vs Delux Tanners

They stole our images.
We'll compare formulas.

Pure Bronze Tanning have spent the summer running adverts built out of our photographs, with their tube edited over ours. Fine. Photographs are easy to take. Formulas are not. So here is every ingredient, theirs and ours, side by side, with what each one actually does. Then you decide.

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Rule one: order is everything. An INCI list runs from the most to the least. What sits near the top is what the tube is mostly made of. What sits near the bottom is there in trace amounts.
Rule two: the label is the only list the law cares about. A brand can type anything into a website. The printed tube has to be accurate. When the two disagree, believe the tube.
Rule three: we show ours in full. Every ingredient on this page from our side is on our label and on our product pages, with a line on why it is there. That is not a boast. It is the minimum, and it is rarer than it should be.
Want the whole story? This page is the short version. The long one has every advert they built from our photographs, dated and side by side with the original, the Ad Library IDs, the ingredient lists that do not match their own tube, the reviews, the sales screens, and a running count that has not stopped since July. It is a long read. It is also, we are told, quite a good one. Read the full comparison with all the receipts, or stay here for the formulas and the discount.

Round one

Coconut Crush vs the Next-Gen formula

The Next-Gen formula is what runs through Island Coconut, Electric Melon and Bubblegum Mania. Coconut Crush is the product Pure Bronze Tanning put our photographs in front of. Same category, same claim on the front, so let us open both tubes.

Theirs

Coconut Crush

Pure Bronze Tanning. Two lists exist. Pick one.

  • 1
    GlycerinHumectant. Fine.
  • 2
    TyrosineThe one tanning-related ingredient on the tube.
  • 3
    Propylene glycolSolvent and humectant.
  • 4
    Shea butterEmollient.
  • 5
    Cocoa butterEmollient.
  • 6
    Coconut oilEmollient.
  • 7
    Oat kernel oilEmollient.
  • 8
    Jojoba seed oilEmollient.
  • 9
    DimethiconeSilicone. Slip and feel.
  • 10
    CyclopentasiloxaneSilicone. Slip and feel.
  • 11
    Cetearyl (cut off)Emulsifier. The label runs out of frame here.
  • ?
    WaterNot printed. Unusual, for a cream.
  • ?
    PreservativeNot printed. Also unusual, for a cream with water in it.

Two lists, one product. Nine ingredients on the listing that are not on the tube. Rule two applies.

Ours

Next-Gen Tanning Accelerator

Island Coconut, Electric Melon, Bubblegum Mania. One list. It is the label.

  • 1
    AquaBase.
  • 2
    Aloe barbadensis leaf juiceSoothing hydration, second on the list, not a footnote.
  • 3
    Shea butterEmollient.
  • 4
    Coconut oilEmollient.
  • 5
    GlycerinHumectant.
  • 6
    Caprylic/capric triglycerideLight emollient, non-greasy slip without silicone.
  • 7
    N-Acetyl-L-TyrosineStable melanin precursor. The form that survives in a cream.
  • 8
    MelanoBronzeOur licensed melanin-support complex. You will not find the name on their tube.
  • 9
    NiacinamideBarrier support and melanin transport.
  • 10
    SqualaneOlive-derived barrier lipid.
  • 11
    PanthenolPro-vitamin B5, conditioning.
  • 12
    Acetyl Hexapeptide-1Melanin-signalling peptide.
  • 13
    Tocopherol (Vitamin E)Antioxidant.
  • 14
    Ascorbyl glucoside (Vitamin C)Stable antioxidant, collagen support.
  • 15
    Beta-glucanDeep hydration, soothing.
  • 16
    Copper gluconateCofactor the tyrosine pathway needs to actually run.
  • 17
    Ceramide NPBarrier repair.
  • 18
    CaffeineFirming antioxidant. Not fighting a vasodilator in here.
  • 19
    Licorice root extract (glabridin)Calming, evens tone.
  • 20
    EctoinCellular stress protection.
  • 21
    Parfum, Carbomer, Phenoxyethanol, EthylhexylglycerinScent, thickener, preservative. Yes, we print those too.

Green means it is doing a tanning or skin job beyond moisturising. Count them.

The melanin stack

A tanning accelerator has one job that a moisturiser does not: give your skin the building blocks and the signals to make more of its own melanin under UV. Here is what each tube brings to that job.

Coconut Crush, as printed

1
Tyrosine

Tyrosine on its own is the raw material. It is the flour without the yeast. Everything else on that tube is butter and silicone.

VS

Next-Gen, as printed

5
N-Acetyl-L-TyrosineCopper gluconateAcetyl Hexapeptide-1MelanoBronzeNiacinamide

The precursor, the cofactor, the peptide that signals, the complex that supports, and the vitamin that helps move pigment where you want it. A pathway, not a single ingredient.

The skin stack

You are putting this on before UV, repeatedly, for weeks. What is in it for your skin barrier matters as much as what is in it for your colour.

Coconut Crush, as printed

0
CeramidesBeta-glucanEctoinVitamin CSqualaneAloe

Five butters and oils and two silicones. That is a body butter. A perfectly nice body butter, in fairness, but the tube says tanning accelerator.

VS

Next-Gen, as printed

8
AloeSqualaneCeramide NPBeta-glucanEctoinVitamin CVitamin ELicorice

Barrier lipids, humectants, antioxidants and a calming extract, all named, all on the label, so your skin comes out of a tanning cycle in better shape than it went in.

The silicone question

Coconut Crush

2
DimethiconeCyclopentasiloxane

Silicones make a cheap cream feel expensive for about thirty seconds. They also sit on top of the skin, which is the opposite of what you want from something meant to get actives in.

VS

Next-Gen

0
Caprylic/capric triglycerideSqualane

Slip comes from a light ester and an olive-derived lipid instead. Silky without the film.

Their tube: eleven ingredients, one of them tanning-related, none of them a preservative. Ours: twenty-plus, fourteen doing a job beyond moisturising, every one of them printed. This is not a close contest. It is not really a contest.

What each of ours is actually doing

Tap any of these. We would rather you understood the formula than took our word for it.

N-Acetyl-L-Tyrosine
Tyrosine is the amino acid your skin turns into melanin. Plain tyrosine is unstable and poorly soluble in a cream, which is why most brands that list it are listing something that has largely fallen out of solution by the time you open the tube. The acetylated form stays stable and stays available, so what is on the label is what reaches the skin.
Copper gluconate
Tyrosinase, the enzyme that turns tyrosine into melanin, is a copper-dependent enzyme. Give it the precursor without the cofactor and you have given it half a job. Copper gluconate is the other half.
Acetyl Hexapeptide-1
A peptide that mimics the signal your body uses to tell melanocytes to get busy. It does not make colour itself. It tells the cells that make colour that now would be a good time.
MelanoBronze
A melanin-support complex we use under licence. It sits alongside the tyrosine, copper and peptide rather than replacing them, and it is the reason Island Coconut was reformulated and relaunched in the new orange tube this summer. Pure Bronze Tanning cannot put the name on their packaging, because they do not have the licence, and to be fair they seem to have enough trouble with the ingredients they do have.
Niacinamide
Vitamin B3. In a tanning cream it does two jobs: supports the skin barrier, and helps transport pigment through the skin so colour develops more evenly. On their TikTok listing. Not on their tube.
Ceramide NP, Beta-glucan, Ectoin
The barrier trio. Ceramides are the mortar between your skin cells. Beta-glucan pulls in and holds water. Ectoin protects cells from environmental stress. None of these tan you. All of them decide whether your skin is still happy after four weeks of tanning.
Vitamin C and Vitamin E
Two antioxidants that work better as a pair than alone. Ours uses ascorbyl glucoside, the stable form of vitamin C that does not turn brown and die in the tube within a month.
Licorice root extract
Glabridin, the active in licorice, calms skin and helps keep tone even, which matters when the whole point is building colour without building blotches.

Their Coconut Crush listing images, September 2026. Swipe

Pure Bronze Tanning Coconut Crush listing image, slide 1
Pure Bronze Tanning Coconut Crush listing image, slide 2
Pure Bronze Tanning Coconut Crush listing image, slide 3

Slide two puts niacinamide, hyaluronic acid and vitamin E in headline type with icons. Scroll back up to "printed on the tube" and look for them.

Ours. The Island Coconut carousel they copied, now on the new tube. Swipe

Delux Tanners Island Coconut carousel, new tube, slide 1
Delux Tanners Island Coconut carousel, slide 2, Melanin Power Formula
Delux Tanners Island Coconut carousel, slide 3, No DHA No Bronzer Just UV Tanning
Delux Tanners Island Coconut carousel, slide 4, Tanning Meets Luxury Skincare
Delux Tanners Island Coconut carousel, slide 5, The Tropical Formula Everyone Talks About

These are the images. Scroll back up to their Coconut Crush listing and swipe both side by side: the dark tropical backdrop, the stacked headline down the left in alternating colours, the tube on the right with product splashing behind it, the row of three circled icons, the strip of claims along the bottom. Our slide four says Tanning Meets Luxury Skincare. Their slide three says Tanning Meets Tropical Care. Island Coconut came back in August with the MelanoBronze formula and a new tube: orange cap, orange top, retro striped sun, palms, teal waves and hibiscus. Every callout on these images is an ingredient on the label. Which brings us to the interesting part. Their TikTok listing for Coconut Crush includes acetyl tyrosine, niacinamide, copper, vitamin E, panthenol and caffeine. None of those are printed on their tube. All of them are printed on ours. There are two explanations. One is that they quietly reformulated and forgot to tell the tube. The other is that when you copy someone's carousel, the ingredients come with it. We know which one we would bet on, and it would make Coconut Crush the first tanning cream in Britain to publish the ingredient list of a different product.

Round two

Mango Melt vs Tropic Like It's Hot

Pure Bronze Tanning have launched a tingle cream. Ours, Tropic Like It's Hot, is weeks from launch, so this is the first time anyone has seen the formula outside the lab. We are showing it now because the comparison writes itself, and because their listing came with a bonus feature we could not leave alone.

Pure Bronze Tanning Mango Melt TikTok Shop listing with a manufacturer brief pasted into the ingredients field
The Mango Melt ingredient field on TikTok Shop, 19 September 2026. Read the first line. Then the last three. That is a message to their manufacturer, pasted into a legal document, "aswell" and all.
Theirs

Mango Melt

Pure Bronze Tanning. From the listing, minus the email.

  • 1
    Aqua, Aloe, Glycerin, PropanediolWater phase.
  • 5
    Cyclopentasiloxane, Ethylhexyl palmitate, DimethiconeTwo silicones and an ester, all above the first active.
  • 8
    TyrosinePlain tyrosine, eighth on the list, behind the silicones.
  • 9
    Jojoba, Shea, Mango butter, Avocado, Cocoa butterEmollients. A good set, credit where due.
  • 14
    Cetearyl olivate, Sorbitan olivate, LecithinEmulsifiers.
  • 17
    Mango extract, Panthenol, Vitamin EConditioning.
  • 20
    CaffeineVasoconstrictor. Closes blood vessels. Remember this.
  • 21
    Copper Tripeptide-1Repair peptide. Fair enough.
  • 22
    Methyl Nicotinate, Benzyl NicotinateVasodilators. Open blood vessels. The tingle.
  • 24
    Preservatives, three thickeners, ParfumHousekeeping.
  • 30
    CaramelThe "natural bronzers". Cooked sugar. Last on the list.

Plus one manufacturer brief, asking for a stronger version of the thing you are buying.

Ours

Tropic Like It's Hot

Delux Tanners. Passion fruit. Launching in weeks. The label, in full.

  • 1
    Aqua, GlycerinWater phase.
  • 3
    Caprylic/capric triglycerideLight emollient.
  • 4
    Acetyl TyrosineFourth on the list. Above the emulsifiers. Above the silicone. That is where an active belongs.
  • 5
    NiacinamideBarrier and pigment transport.
  • 6
    Cetearyl alcohol, Dimethicone, Coco-caprylate, Isononyl isononanoate, Glyceryl stearateTexture and emulsion. One silicone, and it sits below the actives, not above them.
  • 12
    Tocopheryl acetate, PanthenolVitamin E and B5.
  • 14
    Vanillyl butyl etherThe warmth. Derived from vanilla. Warms the skin without flooding it with blood.
  • 16
    Squalane, Jojoba, Meadowfoam seed oilBarrier lipids.
  • 19
    Hydrolysed collagen, Hydrolysed spongeConditioning proteins.
  • 21
    MelanoBronzeSame licensed complex as the Next-Gen creams.
  • 22
    Ceramide NP, Licorice (dipotassium glycyrrhizate), Sodium hyaluronateBarrier, calming, hydration.
  • 25
    Acetyl Hexapeptide-1Melanin-signalling peptide.
  • 26
    Menthone glycerin acetal, Ethyl menthane carboxamide, Methyl diisopropyl propionamideThe cool side. Three cooling agents to play against the heat, so it tingles rather than burns.
  • 29
    Pepper seed extract, Ginger root extractBotanical warmth, the old-fashioned way.
  • 31
    Preservatives, thickener, FragranceHousekeeping. No caramel. No colourant doing the tan's job for it.

Forty-odd ingredients, every one on the label, and not a single one that stains.

How the heat works

Mango Melt

Flush
Methyl nicotinateBenzyl nicotinate

Nicotinates are vasodilators, the family used in muscle rubs. They open the blood vessels near the surface and you go red and warm. That is the tingle. It is circulation, not melanin. The deeper look in the first ten minutes is blood. Then, in the same tube, caffeine, which is a vasoconstrictor, the thing eye creams use to close blood vessels. One ingredient opens the door, the next one shuts it. Either very sophisticated chemistry, or a list of things that sounded good.

VS

Tropic Like It's Hot

Warm
Vanillyl butyl etherPepperGinger3 cooling agents

Vanilla-derived warmth that talks to the same heat receptors as chilli, plus pepper and ginger, balanced by three cooling agents. You feel it. You do not turn into a beetroot. And because it is not a vasodilator, there is no caffeine in the tube trying to undo it. The formula agrees with itself.

Where the colour comes from

Mango Melt

Caramel
Caramel

The listing promises "natural bronzers". The list contains one colourant, and it is the last thing in the tube: caramel. Sugar, cooked brown. It is natural, we will give them that. It is also why the "tan" shows up in the same minute you apply it, and why it leaves in the shower. A tint is not a tan.

VS

Tropic Like It's Hot

None
Acetyl tyrosineAcetyl Hexapeptide-1MelanoBronzeNiacinamide

No bronzer, no colourant, nothing to rinse off. The colour you get is the colour your skin made. That has been the Delux rule since the first tube and it is not changing for a tingle.

The tan stack, tingle edition

Mango Melt

2
TyrosineCopper tripeptide-1

Tyrosine, eighth on the list, in its plain unstable form, and a copper peptide near the bottom. Better than Coconut Crush managed. Still a moisturiser with a warmer in it.

VS

Tropic Like It's Hot

4
Acetyl tyrosineNiacinamideMelanoBronzeAcetyl Hexapeptide-1

The same melanin pathway as the Next-Gen creams, with the precursor sitting fourth on the list. A tingle that is also a proper accelerator, rather than a warm moisturiser doing an impression of one.

Mango Melt: a nice body moisturiser, two ingredients that make you flush, a caffeine that argues with them, and caramel. Tropic Like It's Hot: a full accelerator stack, vanilla-derived warmth with a cool side, barrier repair, and nothing that washes off.

Where they win, because we said we would be fair

The Mango Melt base is a genuinely decent set of emollients. Mango butter, avocado, shea and cocoa is a nice list and we are not going to pretend otherwise. If Pure Bronze Tanning sold it as a body butter with a warming kick, at a body butter price, with an ingredient list that did not contain an email, we would have nothing to say. Also, the Mango Melt tube is red, and some people prefer red.

There is one snag with even that compliment. It assumes the ingredients on the TikTok listing are the ingredients in the tube. With Coconut Crush, nine of them were not. So we cannot actually confirm that Mango Melt would pass as a body butter, because we cannot confirm the butter is in it. It might be a decent moisturiser. It might be a warm tube of glycerin with a mango smell. On this brand's record, the only way to know is to buy one and read the back, and we have already done that once this year and did not enjoy it.

So, to revise: they win on the emollients, if the emollients are there. And the tube is red. We are fairly confident about the tube.

3tanning-related ingredients across both of their tubes
9across ours, each one on the label
2ingredient lists per product
1per product, and it is the tube

Buy the formula, not the photograph.

Pure Bronze Tanning have been using our images to sell their tubes since before June. If you got here from one of those adverts, you have now seen what was actually inside the tube they put in front of it, and what is inside ours. 25% off, on us, for making the trip.

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