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Cover yourself in chocolate
JP/P
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JP/P.J. Leo
Chocoholics swear by the rich, creamy sensation in the mouth as they savor a sip of hot chocolate or a bite of praline. Now beauty enthusiasts are starting to catch on, finding sweet, sensual indulgence awaits in the form of chocolate-based beauty rituals.
That’s right. Indulging in a love affair with chocolate is now about more than just enjoying it melting on your tongue. You can also play with this heavenly confection in the name of health and beauty, adding it to your list of head-to-toe rituals that melt away your stress, soothe your soul and keep you healthy.
“All this time, chocolate has been popular merely as a food stuff: Candy, cakes … you name it,” says Adam Yogi, public relations officer for Chocolate Salon and Spa in South Jakarta. “Not many people realize that chocolate can also be used in beauty treatments.”
Chocolate-based beauty items, Adam reveals, benefit from the rich antioxidants, known as flavonoids, found in cocoa beans. Basically, antioxidants help our body fight against damaging free radicals – the rogue molecules that set off a slow chain reaction within the body to destroy cells and degenerate the body’s organs.
“It has been widely found that in skin treatments, antioxidants help slow down the aging process,” Adam says. Ergo, he adds, chocolate therapy is good for anyone wishing to rejuvenate their skin.
Other goodies in chocolate that he lists are vitamins A and E, which help soften the skin and make it supple, and its glyceride component, which helps to moisturize and firm the skin.
But as all chocolate lovers know, the treat transcends the mere physical. Ever wonder why you feel so happy after biting into your chocolate bar? That’s because theobromine, a component similar to caffeine, works to increase your emotional and energy levels, while phenethylamine works to reduce your stress levels.
No wonder that just by inhaling its aroma, “Chocolate can relax you, giving you this warm, happy and comfortable feeling,” Adam points out.
Inspired by these wonders of chocolate, Chocolate Spa and Salon embraces chocolate-based treatments for beauty enthusiasts looking for a new and exciting way to spoil themselves. Spa rituals such as a body massage, scrub, chocolate wrap and chocolate bath are offered alongside salon treatments such as a cream bath, hair mask, hair spa and manicure and pedicure. All are chocolate-based.
“Customers coming to this place are from various backgrounds – from working women to housewives and even students,” Adam says. “All are curious about this new chocolate therapy.”
Stepping into Chocolate Spa and Salon, you immediately feel like you are escaping from the stress and hustle and bustle of the outside world. Your eyes will be tantalized by the chocolate-colored interior, and your sense of smell aroused by the irresistible chocolaty aroma issuing from the essential oils. At the same time, your mind will be taken for a wander by gentle, relaxing tunes.
And this is just the beginning. Your chocolate experience will continue as you enjoy the first item on the list: A body scrub.
In this stage, your therapist will gently rub your body with a chocolate body scrub that contains cocoa butter, a natural fat extracted from cocoa beans that’s known as the ultimate moisturizer to keep skin soft and supple and to prevent and treat stretch marks.
“The body scrub is a must because it works to exfoliate dead skin cells, which will help the skin look more radiant,” Adam explains, adding that the removal of the dead skin cells also enhances the absorption of the beneficial elements in chocolate in the next stages.
Dead skin cells sloughed off, you’re ready for the next step: Body massage.
This is a deeply soothing and relaxing massage using chocolate essential oil. The massage works to accelerate your circulation and relieve any tension in your nerves and muscles. The fragrance has a calming therapeutic effect on the brain.
Once you are melting with relaxation, the therapist will wrap your body in chocolate mud. A chocolate paste is applied to the skin and peeled off like a mask after it dries. The chocolate mud has a cooling sensation that leaves mind and body refreshed.
Although be warned: Depending on your tastes, waiting for the mud to dry could prove challenging, because the whole room is bursting with the smell of chocolate that gets your mouth watering. Resist the temptation to taste: The treatment is not edible because the chocolate mud is blended with the essential oil.
Your struggle against temptation will not last long, as the therapist’s light touch will soon distract you, and you will be lost in the massage again.
“This stage is called ‘relaxation’, where the therapist puts some light pressure on your body to make sure the [beneficial elements of] the chocolate mask are well-absorbed,” Adam says.
Think that might be enough of a chocolate fix? No such thing. Your chocolate dream will continue with the one and only chocolate bath … along with a cup of hot chocolate. Soaking in the chocolate bath, mixed from chocolate powder and mineral salts, you can sit back, sip and listen to the sweet sound of dripping water.
After washing away the residue of the chocolate bath and drying off, you’re ready for the final chocolaty step: A chocolate-based body moisturizer.
Of course, if this still isn’t enough chocolate for one day, don’t worry. You can continue with chocolate-based treatments for your hair and nails.
“Chocolate-based hair treatments like hair spa, hair masks and cream bath are best suited for damaged or chemically processed hair,” Adam explains. “The high moisturizing properties contained in chocolate repair the dry hair.”
According to the spa and salon owner, Dewi Rahayudi, the effects of the treatments will be with you for a while.
“You can smell sweet like chocolate for three days,” she says, adding, “It’s best to take this chocolate therapy once every two weeks so you can feel young and fresh.”
Maya Larasanti, a chocolate therapy enthusiast, agrees.
“It can last for two or three days,” the 29-year-old financial worker says. “Everyone also comments on how sweet I smell after coming out of the chocolate spa,” she laughs.
Maya admits that the chocolate sensation has become her new addiction.
“I can say that I’m quite addicted to it, because it’s quite different from any other treatment I’ve ever had,” she says. “I think chocolate is sensual in the first place – the name and the aroma, as well as how it feels on my skin.”
— Photos by JP/P.J. Leo
Chocolate Salon & Spa
Jl. KH. Abdullah Syafe’i No. 8
Tebet, South Jakarta
(021) 83785521
10:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Packages and single treatments available.
Try the “Dream of Chocolate Package”:
Aromatherapy, body scrub, body mask, chocolate bath, moisturizer and hair spa
150 minutes, Rp 195,000
