Sweet Spots

Everyone knows chocolate is good over ice cream or pretzels; few realize that it's also good for your skin.

Owner of Just Calm Down in NYC, Tara Oolie

"There's something about chocolate that just makes you feel so happy," says spa owner Tara Oolie.

That's right: From facials to body wraps to massages, spas across the country are incorporating the sweet treat into their skin-softening treatments.

In Hershey, PA, the city synonymous with chocolate, guests at the Spa at Hotel Hershey relax in a foaming chocolate milk bath like a massive marshmallow in a cup of hot chocolate. The Enchanting Cottage spa in Carpinteria, CA, serves chocolate-covered strawberries along with its chocolate oil body massage. Then there's the Spa-in-the-Garden at the Elk Forge bed-and-breakfast in Elkton, MD, which offers a sweet treat for couples: For him, it's a chocolate mint body buff, for her it's chocolate cherry.

"There's something about chocolate that just makes you feel so happy," says Tara Oolie, the bubbly owner of Just Calm Down spa in New York City. Every day, she and her staff make fresh chocolate-based body scrubs and massage oils from scratch to add a sweet twist to their more traditional spa indulgences. She often finds inspiration while baking - in fact, she was inspired to create some of the ingredients for her Chocolate Wars pedicure while she was making a batch of chocolate oatmeal cookies.

During that treatment, guests sit in a Moroccan tent as their feet are rubbed with a chocolate oatmeal cookie scrub. "Afterwards they always say, 'I can't believe I was sipping on hot chocolate as I was soaking in it!'" she says. People also rave about the Marriage of Figaro, a chocolate- and fig-infused massage.

If you can't make it to the spa, you can always create a mouthwatering spa experience at home. Just pick up a flavored body scrub and whip up a batch of your very own chocolate facial.

Still queasy at the thought? Don't be. Chocolate is actually a smart choice for spa treatments because its beneficial antioxidants fight free radicals, making skin appear younger and look more lively. The caffeine found naturally in cocoa beans also tightens skin and improves circulation. And, after the treatment, you'll smell as sweet as a Hershey's kiss. The downfall of these chocolaty indulgences? "Everyone's always hungry when they leave," says Oolie.

Posted on May 22, 2006