How to Make a Chocolate Facial
One of the hottest spa trends right now is chocolate facials. Yep, a facial using chocolate. But is it worth grinding down your left over chocolate Easter bunny to make a facial frosting? Maybe.
Chocolate has several ingredients which can potentially affect your skin. Cocoa beans, of which chocolate is made, are high in antioxidant phenolic phytochemicals (polyphenols), including flavonoids, procyanidin, and resveratrol. In fact, they are present at such high concentrations that cocoa actually has higher antioxidant potential than other heavy weight antioxidants such as green tea or red wine (J Agric Food Chem 2003;51:792-5). Not all chocolate is high in flavonoids, however. For example, white chocolate has no flavonoids while dark, high-cocoa-content chocolate has much higher flavonoids than does milk chocolate.
Chocolate also contains fats such as cocoa butter or shea butter. Both of these are used routinely as topical moisturizers and as anti-inflammatory agents. Shea butter can also used as a skin softener.
Most studies of the health benefits of chocolate have looked at anti-inflammatory and cardiovascular effects of eating it, not the benefit of applying to your skin. I did however find one study* which showed that topical application of cocoa plant extracts containing polyphenols and xanthine derivitives prevented wrinkles from forming in mice who were exposed to ultraviolet light. If nothing else, it would be a delicious, relaxing treatment. That is, if you can keep yourself from licking it off.
So where can you find a chocolate facial? Lush, a handmade vegan cosmetic company in London, UK, makes a Cupcake Face Mask.
How do you make your own homemade chocolate facial mask? (Courtesy of Food Blogga)
1/3 cup dark cocoa
3 tbs heavy cream
1/4 cup honey
2 tbs pureed or powdered oatmeal
Mix all the ingredients together and apply. Let it sit for 15 minutes and then rinse off with warm water using a gentle circular method to exfoliate.
*Note: Despite exhaustive searching, I could not find any studies on the value of applying Cadbury Easter Egg filling to your skin. You might as well just eat it.
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I doubt that the chocolate bunnies are non-comedogenic.
Of course white chocolate has no flavonoids – it is not made from the cocoa bean (it is made from sugar, cocoa butter and milk solids) The flavonoids are in the cocoa solids and the chocolate liquor
I actually made a chocolate mask tonight due to your post. I melted a chocolate bar, added some honey and soy milk. My skin definitely felt firmer and really, really soft after. It was really sad to wash all that chocolate down the drain after though.
What template are you running on this site ? I really like it. Could you post where you got it from ?
Right on !! Damn I’m getting addicted to your blog
I spent $89 over the weekend for a chocolate facial and it cured me from ever wanting to eat chocolate again. I was a chocolate fanatic before. It smelled so bad and I had to lay there and endure about 15 minutes of this chocolate mask on my face and I thought I was going to lose my lunch. Again, I loved chocolate of all kinds. Now I can’t look at chocolate without getting sick.
They must have given you a bad batch or something honey vicki cuz you can’t go wrong with creme and chocolate baby. I just want to lick the chocolate off of the faces of my clients but some of them wouldn’t appreciate it, although most of them would
:):):);)
I’d like to apply this chocolate thang to the ultimate full body experience wouldn’t that be cool….come hit me up @ BobaS Salon in Elkgrove ILL if you want me to experiement on you
My daughter and I are about to make this chocolate facial She’s soooooo excited and She’s 5 going on 30! lol So I will let ya all know how it turns out! Wish us LUCK!
:)