Review: Coccoina Adhesive Paste @BureauDirect

ARE YOU CANDY?

ABOUT

125 g

All natural product

Price: £5.25

Where to buy: Bureau Direct

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Coccoina is an adhesive paste that works really well, but also smells so delicious. Maybe too delicious. If you like marzipan, that is. The glue is non-toxic and solvent-free, as it is made from potato starch. The starch comes from the root tubers of the potato plant, which is extracted by crushing potatoes and releasing the starches from the cells that were destroyed. Glycerine is the second main ingredient; a colourless, odourless, water soluble ingredient. It is used to thicken this paste, and it is sweet tasting. 

Sigh. Another horrendous thumbnail.

APPEARANCE

The Coccoina comes in a small aluminum tin with a fully removable lid (friction fit). The top of the lid has decorations around it, with Coccoina debossed across the middle. The tin has a silver label around it, with navy blue type on it - name of product, made in Italy, adhesive paste for... etc.

Inside the tin, there is a small hole in a center of thick, white paste. It is an adhesive paste moat! There is a tiny-handled brush with relatively soft pig bristles in the hole in the middle. The paste is white and the consistency depends on the temperature it's stored in. Mine is firm, but not hard/solid, and it doesn't drip or leak. 

PERFORMANCE

This paste is really awesome. The brush allows for a non-lumpy, thin, smooth, and consistent application of the paste, which helps to prevent common liquid glue problems like page warping and bubbling. I applied too much the first few times I was trying it out, and there were some bubbles, but no warping. I could squeeze the bubbles out with a squeegee, but as I realized I didn't need a thick layer of the paste for the stuff to stick, I reduced the quantity of the paste application and it worked much better. Even if the paste is hard in the tin, the amount scooped up by the brush or your finger, however you choose to apply it, will soften for easy spreading. As you apply it, any blobs of paste smooth out, but the paste itself is lump-free. 

This paste can be used on paper, photos, clothes, labels, or other art objects (art journaling, scrapbooking). You can eat it, too. If you want. Not so sure about the nutritional value. I don't scrapbook, but I imagine this stuff would be perfect for gluing tags on to Halloween costumes and the like. 

I found this paste worked really well on paper in particular, and I especially wanted to try it out in my Hobonichi. The thin paper did not warp and I squished out the bubbles that formed on the back of the page the first few times I used it. After I mastered the art of the paste, there were no more bubbles, and no warping. I love it. 

Very convenient for art journalers and Hobonichi users, I think. If such thin paper can handle paste so well, it's doing something right. 

Depending on the size of the items being glued in place, and what it's being glued on, the page can curl, but nothing I tried bubbled and warped. The larger the item being glued, and the thinner the paper, the more there was curling. As it dried, it flattened out a little, and putting weight on it helped as well.

It smells so good, it's fast drying because it's never so wet to begin with, it isn't messy, and it holds. It can last for twelve months in storage. If you have kids or curious pets, you can rest a little easier knowing if they ingest some, it will be okay.

PROS

• Safe if ingested.
• non-toxic
• solvent-free
• Not messy to apply.
• Brush makes application uniform, consistent, and precise - you can get right to the edges without glue blobbing out when you press down.
• Great for photographs because it doesn't warp/bubble so it won't ruin your pictures or soak through. 
• Ingredients sourced in Europe.
• Dries quickly.
• If glue hardens, it can be melted.

CONS

• Life span of 12 months. 
• If you don't like the smell of marzipan/almond extract, you won't enjoy the scent. However, the scent doesn't linger once used.
• As you use the little brush and put it back in the central holder, it leaves residue, so eventually the handle gets paste on it. Not a huge deal because it wipes off, but it is maintenance.

OVERALL

PROS > CONS. Definitely.I'll never go back to liquid glue - not only because this smells so good, but because it's so tidy, clean to use, precise to apply, and versatile. Super cool stuff. Who would have thought glue could be so fun?

I received this item free of charge for the purposes of this review. I was not compensated monetarily for my review. Everything you've read here is my own opinion.