Everything cocoa does, chocolate does too — with cocoa butter adding the nourishment and the feeling of luxury.

What is chocolate?

Chocolate is the union of the two products of the cocoa seed: the solids, which give the taste, colour and polyphenols, and cocoa butter, the natural fat that gives it its texture and melt. The darker it is, the more cocoa it contains — and the more of cocoa’s properties. Its story begins with the Olmecs and the Maya, who drank it bitter and spiced, long before it reached Europe in the 16th century.

What are the benefits of chocolate?

From cocoa it inherits the flavanols, theobromine, caffeine and trace elements. From cocoa butter, the fatty acids — stearic, oleic, palmitic — that form a thin protective film. On the skin:

• Antioxidant activity from the polyphenols
• Emollient, nourishing action from the cocoa butter
• Moisture retention and a soft, velvety feel
• Gentle stimulation of microcirculation
• A warm, sweet scent associated with comfort and wellbeing

Chocolate at the spa

Chocolate masks, body wraps and massages are classic spa treatments — not only for the scent, but because cocoa butter is one of the most stable and most pleasant plant fats in contact with the skin.

Where does it come from?

From the same places as cocoa: West Africa, Latin America and South-East Asia, where Theobroma cacao thrives in the shade of taller trees.