Here’s your top 10 zero-calorie chocolate indulgence recipes:
- Chocolate hair mask
- Dry shampoo for dark hair
- 3-ways chocolate face masks
- Chocolate orange lip balm
- Chocolate rose scrub (for face or body)
- Cocoa butter hand cream
- Chocolate milk bath
- Chocolate and walnut body scrub
- Chocolate wax
- Mint Chocolate foot scrub
Find out why chocolate is so good for you here.
- CHOCOLATE HAIR MASK
For soft hair that smells lovely and is easy to comb.
Combine together in a small pan 1 tbsp each of cocoa, honey, olive oil and almond oil.
Heat gently while stirring to ensure they’re evenly blended. Allow to cool a little until it is a comfortable temperature to put on your head then apply gradually, massaging in or combing through to reach the ends. Wrap your hair up with a plastic shower cap (or cling film) topped with a tightly turbaned towel. Then relax for 15 minutes before shampooing generously and rinsing abundantly.
- DRY SHAMPOO FOR DARK HAIR
Adding cocoa powder to dry shampoo not only brings in the benefits of chocolate to your hair, it also darkens the typically white powder making it more suitable for dark hair.
To make a simple, effective dry shampoo combine:
½ tsp cocoa powder with 1 tsp bentonite clay, 1 tsp orris root and 1 tbsp arrowroot and store in an air tight jar.
To use, sprinkle a little on the roots of your hair and comb through with your fingers.
I like to stretch a double thickness of muslin over the jar to make a fine shaker for the dry shampoo powder. Between the two layers of muslin I sandwich dried herbs, especially rosemary and lavender which are great for hair.
- 3-WAYS CHOCOLATE FACE MASK
Here are three different ways to combine chocolate with favourite face mask ingredients.
- Chocolate face mask.
Mix 1tbsp of melted chocolate with 1tbsp olive oil
Add either one or both of: one egg yolk or 1 tbsp honey
Mix well and spread over your face and neck, leaving on for about 15 minutes, then rinse with luke warm water.
- Fruity chocolate face mask
Put an apple, a banana, a handful of strawberries and a slice of watermelon (de-seeded) into a blender and blitz until smooth.
Take 2-3 tbsps of this (you can drink the rest as a smoothie) and mix it with 1tbsp melted chocolate.
Apply to your face, leave for about 20 minutes, then rinse off with lukewarm water.
- Luxury regenerating mask
Combine 1 tbsp melted chocolate with 1 tsp almond oil, 1 tsp rose hip seed oil and 1 drop rose absolute.
Apply to your face, leave for 20 minutes, then rinse off with lukewarm water. (If you can’t run to the extremely expensive rose absolute, then geranium essential oil is a more affordable and still lovely alternative)
The oils help regenerate skin while the chocolate helps tone and hydrate.
- CHOCOLATE ORANGE LIP BALM
In the top of a double boiler, place 10g each of beeswax, cocoa butter, rapeseed oil, sunflower oil and chocolate. Heat and stir until everything is melted together into a dark golden liquid. Take off the heat and add 10 drops orange essential oil (optional).
Pour into a jar, tin or lip balm tubes and leave until set firm.
- CHOCOLATE ROSE SCRUB, FOR FACE OR BODY
An extremely indulgent combination of chocolate, rose clay and rose essential oil create a scrub to boost self-esteem and libido.
Combine 1tbsp cocoa powder with 2 tbsps rose clay in a jar and mix well. Then add 2 drops rose absolute (or, if you can’t run to that expense, see above for geranium essential oil as a good substitute).
To use, blend a teaspoon of the mask powder with a few drops of water, or rosewater, and stir slowly until you’ve a consistency you can easily apply to your skin. Massage into your face and neck with the tips of your fingers, wait until almost dry and rinse off.
- COCOA BUTTER HAND CREAM
This is a good, rich hand cream with a herby scent great for men and women.
Place 2 bay leaves in a pan and add 4 tbsps water. Bring to the boil then turn down the heat and let it simmer and infuse for 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, melt 6g cocoa butter, 6g beeswax and 10ml almond oil, 4ml rapeseed oil, 3ml wheatgerm oil and 3ml hempseed oil in the top of a double boiler.
Stir 1 tbsp of the bay-infused water into the melted oils and waxes.
Take of the heat and continue stirring as it cools. Add in up to 10 drops of essential oils of your choice such as orange and frankincense for a Christmassy blend, or marjoram, black pepper and thyme for a more earthy scent.
Store in a clean, sterilised jar and keep in the fridge. Use within a month.
7 CHOCOLATE MILK BATH
Cleopatra is famous for bathing in asses milk (among other things, of course). She will have known that milk baths soften and exfoliate your skin as well as protecting and soothing. That makes them helpful for sensitive, inflammatory conditions including eczema.
The lactic acid in the milk helps dissolve inactive protein and breakdown dead cells, which aids exfoliating. The protein and fat lubricate and soften rough skin, solving dryness.
Warm 100ml milk and add 5ml clear honey and 1tbsp cocoa. When your bath is ready, add a few drops of your favourite essential oil to the milk and then pour it into the bath just before you get in (adding the oils to the milk will help them disperse in the bath water as milk is a natural emulsion).
8 CHOCOLATE AND WALNUT BODY SCRUB
Mix 200g fine pink Himalayan salt with 100g ground walnut shells in a large bowl. Pour on 100g natural oils – choose your own combination such as sweet olive oil, walnut oil, rapeseed oil and thistle oil.
Melt 50g cocoa butter and 20g chocolate in the top of a double boiler and add this to the bowl then stir everything together.
You can adjust the texture of your scrub to make it more solid or gloopy by adding additional salts or oils at this stage.
When it’s the texture you like, add your essential oils (up to 40 drops). Sweet orange and bergamot are a good combination for this scrub.
Place the scrub in a jar and label, it will last for 6-9 months.
Use it when you have a bath by massaging it onto damp skin and then rinsing off. The salt and walnut shells will rub away dead skin cells while the oils soften and soothe leaving you silky soft skin.
- CHOCOLATE WAX
Use this wax for shaving legs, the added chocolate will soothe and hydrate your skin.
Melt 5g beeswax and 5g chocolate in the top of a double boiler then stir in 60g coconut oil. Once well blended, take off the heat and pour into a jar to set.
- MINT CHOCOLATE FOOT SCRUB
Put 16g cooca butter, 3g beeswax and 10g chocolate into the top of a bain marie and melt together. To this add 10ml rapeseed oil and 10ml thistle oil. Put 4 tbsp coarse sea salt in a bowl and pour the chocolatey oil, wax and butter mixture over the salt. Stir thoroughly and add 20 drops of peppermint essential oil. Pack into a jar and pour a little extra oil over the top before sealing.
