I'm a Little Too Obsessed with This Brazilian "Bum Bum" Cream

I promise this is not an Instagram-star-style endorsement. I'm of the mindset that there is no topical product that will ever give your backside an XXL makeover.

However, having visited Rio de Janeiro a few months ago and clocked in many hours on the beach surrounded by those notoriously-glorious local backsides, when Sol de Janeiro's Brazilian Bum Bum Cream landed on my desk, I couldn't wait to try it. Not because I was looking to "plump" per se, but because I hoped its scent would bring me back to Ipanema Beach and its laundry list of ingredients would bring my hasn't-seen-the-light-of-day bum back to life. 

Then there were the Amazonian legends that came with the cream's namesake ingredients. Guaraná, for example, is said to have been beloved by the Sateré-Mawé, an indigenous tribe of Brazil, because it has five times the caffeine of coffee—and thus was that much more powerful in energizing and smoothing the appearance of skin. How cool is that?

The Bum-Bum Test

I'm a hopeless sucker for packaging and the Bum Bum Cream's streamlined/sizable bright tangerine and white tub is just so retro Rio chic. It's also emblazoned with, "Love It. Flaunt It. You've Got This," and these words go a long way after a long, Seamless-laden winter. As suspected, it smells intoxicating with an unapologetically-tropical bouquet sans the sunscreen-y perfume scents.

Function-wise as a cream for the derrière, it's thick, but whipped to perfection and soaks in super fast. As instructed, I massaged it into my glutes in a circular motion to create warmth, said to increase absorption and stimulate circulation. It felt amazing and I couldn't help but put it all over my entire body. I've applied it a few times since and am loving the results. My skin, particularly that on my bum, is not only way softer and healthier looking thanks to two of its most exotic ingredients—cupuacu (the Amazon woman's shea butter) and acaí (packed with antioxidants)—but it kind of looks firmer? Or maybe it's the cream's euphoric fragrance playing tricks on me? Either way, I'm obsessed. 

Sol de Janeiro Brazilian Bum Bum Cream, $45; sephora.com.

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