I have been reading about how healthy dark chocolate is for your body, but now I am seeing an awful lot on how good it is for your skin as a facial mask. Dark chocolate is loaded with antioxidants and caffeine for brightening, so it makes sense to use them as a mask.
Originally I had intended to do a post about a cheap little chocolate mud mask that I frequently use myself from a UK company called Montagne Jeunesse. I found them in CVS and gave them a shot because they were super cheap. I bought a few different kinds of their mud masks and all seem to work really well. The Chocolate Masque however, seems to work the best. Boasting in the ingredients that it uses Theobroma cacao seed butter and shell powder (cocoa butter) and Shea butter, along with Dead Sea salt and Mediterranean clay, it really does do wonders for my skin. It's only $1.99 too! It seems too good to be true but it really does work nicely. Follow this mask with one of their pore tightening peel mask Passion Peel Off. A peel mask with passion fruit extracts. Smells awesome and really tightens the skin.
They now offer a White Chocolate Masque, a Fudge Sauna Masque, and a special Dark Chocolate Mud Masque.
They also have a huge range of other products like sugar crystal scrubs, and fruit smoothie masks. If you live in the UK, I imagine you can find this stuff every where. They have their products here in the US as well, but I am only finding it for now at CVS. Also, the ranges are very limited. The Chocolate Masque seems to me, to be the most available. It sells out very quickly too. At least at my CVS. I know I am personally part of the problem. I buy about 20 at a time. Someone else, you know who you are, seems to be buying up all the Passion Peels.
As an added bonus this stuff feels like you are smathering chocolate frosting all over your face. Come on think about it. How many times have you want to mash your own face in a big cake? This is what that feels like. The only drawback is that you can't lick this "frosting" off your face or fingers.
Looking up online, there does seem to be a trend with chocolate body scrubs and expensive jars of chocolate masks. Some as high as $69. If you are like me and have a serious chocolate addiction, you are probably left with scraps of chocolate bars all over the house like I am. I used to divvy the leftover out to friends. It make me look like a drug dealer slipping them plastic baggies of chocolate saying things like "This one is very rare. Comes from Venezuela. You really can't go wrong." Or "This is from Madagascar. It's all the rage these days." What makes this even more funny, is that I usually pass them out while at some beer event or gathering at a popular beer bar. Those who aren't "in-the-know" are probably scoffing at the audacity to openly "conduct business" in such a public display.
Back to those leftovers. I sample a lot of chocolate and have tons left over. I can't eat whole bars of chocolate at a time. I hoard the really good ones selfishly for myself to nosh on later, but the rest go into baggies and either get made into exquisite batches of chocolate mousse. Or it gets melted down in scaled cups of hot almond milk for hot chocolates.
Now I have a new way to deal with those samples and that is making your own homemade chocolate masks. The internet is chock full'o'recipes to explore and play with.
I found this rather simple recipe for a chocolate, yogurt, oatmeal mask.
¼ cup cocoa powder, sifted
¼ cup honey
¼ cup natural yoghurt – not flavoured
¼ cup oats, finely chopped
Mix all the ingredients together to form a smooth paste.
Let it stand for 5 minutes to thicken slightly.
Apply the chocolate face mask generously to your clean and dry face and neck areas.
Lightly massage in avoiding the eye and lip areas. Leave on for 15 minutes then rinse with warm water. Pat dry and apply a moisturiser.
You may find that as this chocolate mask is so good at cleansing your skin it will absorb your moisturiser easily and you may need a second application.
It goes without saying that if you feel any irritation on your skin to wash the chocolate mask off immediately.
Although you can not eat this recipe this site is filled with delicious chocolate recipes of mine that you can indulge in. This slide show is just a taste of what you will find.
Chocolate bar mask by Natasha Levitan
You will need:
- 1 bar dark chocolate
- 3 tbsp salt
- 1 cup milk
Mix the Milk and Salt
Into a small bowl, pour in your cup of milk. Add in three tablespoons of salt and mix everything together so the salt dissolves.
Melt the Chocolate
Set up double boiler. Fill the saucepan quarter full and place a small bowl on top so it doesn't touch the water. Set the heat to medium. Break chocolate into pieces so the chocolate melts faster and place it into the bowl. Stir it with a whisk so it melts more evenly. When it is completely melted, take it off the heat
Mix the Face Mask Ingredients
Add milk-salt mixture to the melted chocolate and stir it together so everything combines. Cool the mixture until the room temperature.
Apply to the Chocolate Face Mask
Cover yourself with a towel so the melted chocolate doesn't ruin your clothes. Apply to your face with a wooden stick or your hand. Make sure that the mask is not hot so it doesn't burn your face. Let it stay for about 15-20 minutes while you read, lay down, or relax. Then wash it off with a mild cleanser and water. Be thorough so you don't end up smelling like dessert for the rest of the day.
Chocolate chips mask recipe via Soleil Robins, Yahoo
1 package of dark chocolate chips
1 tsp vitamin E oil
1 tbls solid cocoa butter
1/4 cup of cocoa powder
2 tsp almond oil
Mix all ingredients in a microwave safe bowl, Microwave for 30 seconds or until chips have melted enough to melt as mixing together and blended in. Allow mixture to cool and thicken a bit and then apply to clean face and let it sit for 20 minutes. Rinse face with warm water and moisturize face after.
Green tea and chocolate mask from Wise She.
1 tbls of green tea (or matcha green tea powder)
1 tbls of cocoa powder
2 tbls honey
Mix until a smooth paste. Apply to face and neck for 20 minutes and rinse with luke warm water.
Honeyed Wine and Chocolate Facial Mask by Crunchy Betty
- 2 Tbsp cocoa powder
- 1 Tbsp red wine
- 1 Tbsp honey
- 1 egg white
- Clean small paintbrush or makeup brush for application
Mix the red wine, honey, and egg white together well until completely blended. Add the cocoa powder and continue to whisk with a small fork until smooth. The consistency will be a little jelly-like. This is good. With your clean paintbrush or other applicator (you could use your hands, it’s just kind of messy), apply a thick layer to a clean face, avoiding the lips, so you can drink a glass of while while you let it dry for 15-20 minutes. Wash well with a warm, damp washcloth. Finish with a moisturizer.
All of these homemade masks can be bulked up with tropical fruits like papayas and bananas. Avocados and blueberries will also add some beneficial nutrients to the skin. Adding course sugar crystals will double these recipes as facial scrubs for exfoliation. Or you could be cheeky and just take Taza Chocolate and scrub your face with that rough and over bearing texture. God knows it's not good to eat but at least you can do something with it. And of course health stores or organic grocery stores all have skin care sections where you can buy essential oils to add to any of these recipes.
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