Ambrosia Services

Hot chocolate! A beauty trend that's good enough to eat (but don't)

BY MADELEINE

MARRmmarr@MiamiHerald.com

One word for today's hottest bath and beauty trend: Suh-weet!!!

Keep your eyes -- and nostrils -- peeled. Drugstores and cosmetics counters are starting to resemble chocolate shops, with fudgey hued lipsticks carrying names like Mocha Silk (Revlon), Chocolat Show (Guerlain) and Brownie (Lancôme).

The dessert station continues with a calorie-free menu of mocha exfoliating scrubs, moisturizers infused with authentic cocoa beans and body washes swirling with intoxicating morsels.

''In many beauty products, the caffeine in chocolate can help to stimulate circulation and promote a healthy glow,'' says Michelle Ventura, store manager at Bath & Body Works at Dadeland Mall.

No sugar, no fat, no pounds -- just pure pampering and delicious decadence. Who could find harm in that?

Marcus Monson, national makeup artist for Givenchy, sure doesn't.

''I'm very much a sense person,'' he says. ``If it smells or looks like something good to eat, I'm all for it.''

Givenchy's latest collection, Délice de Chocolat ($14-$52 at Sephora-South Beach), is comprised of eye, lip and nail colors that speak to the cocoa-holic in all of us. The Sweet Chocolate nine-shadow palette is modeled after a box of glam truffles, flecked with bits of pistachio, zests of orange and pops of caramel glitter.

''All the pleasure without the guilt,'' says Monson. ``It's almost like you want to push the whole thing open to see if there's a cherry inside.''

What is inside -- mother-of-pearl particles that change with the light, nourishing honey extract and a soothing amino acid. The palette even comes in a crumpled candy bar-esque wrapper.

Talk about appetizing packaging -- Bourjois' newest bronzing powder, Delice de Poudre, $18 at Sephora, also resembles a box of three, square milk chocolates -- and smells accordingly.

Speaking of noses -- they're one of the major benefactors of this chocolicious trend.

LuckyScent.com, a cyberdestination for rare fragrances, has cooked up a crop of seriously sniffable perfumes. And don't worry -- none makes you feel like you're slapping on Eau de Hershey Bar, says Franco Wright, co-founder of the site.

''There's a complexity to them,'' Wright says. ``They can be spicy, woody, creamy, bitter, or gourmand -- aphrodisiacs for the senses.''

A sampler: Chocolat by Il Profumo, with notes of mandarin, plum and nutmeg, $80; Spicy Cocoa by Comme des Garcons, a peppery mix of cardamom, chili, coriander, grapefruit and dark chocolate, $82 (or $3 for a small sample); Temperare 03 by Temper Chocolates, an earthy, rich blend of fig, vanilla, honey and oak moss, $120.

Mouth watering yet? There's more.

Jaqua -- run by sisters Jennifer and Sara Jaqua out of Santa Barbara, Calif. -- can always be counted on for products that look good enough to eat. Their famed Buttercream Frosting line really does smell like a decadently creamy cupcake. The duo calls their latest fragrance, Mint Chocolate, ''the most indulgent yet.'' Reminiscent of a few Baskin Robbins scoops, it's available in a body lotion, hand cream and shower syrup ($8-$18 at Bath & Body Works). Hold the cone.

Though most of the sinfully scrumptious products are for tactile, aesthetic and olfactory gain, one company -- Borba, also out of California -- had the gumption to market an edible dark chocolate treat with -- what?! -- anti-acne properties ($8 at Nordstrom stores).

''I admit it is a bizarre oxymoron -- that we could deliver a skin-clarifying chocolate bar,'' says Scott Vincent Borba, company president. ``But respondents reported a reduction in breakouts by an average of 52 percent in just 28 days.''

How in the world? Seems the handmade, dermatologist tested (yet not FDA-approved) block of chock contains extracts from pomegranate, green tea and walnut husk, which help skin regenerate and detoxify.

Oh, and the flavor rocks, thanks to haute input from chocolatier to the stars Kristy Choo of L.A.'s Jin Patisserie. Containing 270 calories, the Borba bar, while not exactly slimming, is loaded with antioxidants and phenylethylamine, an unromantic sounding plant compound that protects cells from damage and gives you those fleeting symptoms of being in love.

Ah, the rush. That must be the point of all this.

Borba thinks so. ''Chocolate is universally addictive,'' he says. ``It's really hard to find something wrong with it.''

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FREE articles about self-help, self improvement, wellness, holistic health, and fitness. To see our full line of e-Books visit: www.ebooks4selfhelp.com
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

posted by Cheryl Levesque @ 1:12 PM