Got a 'phone call from The Spa at Chancery Court in central London asking if we could design a chocolate massage lotion for their March promotion to journalists. The Chancery Court Hotel is a 5 star Marriott and spent several milllion pounds designig the spa culminating with it being the most photographed spa in the UK. And no surprise there either. I went to visit and was shown aroumd; solid teak floors suspended over flowing water, limestone walls, heated slate floors in the wet areas; a relaxation room that takes your breath away. It has 7 teak beds in a circular room with a domed ceiling. The ceiling and pillars are covered in 24 carat gold leaf. It is simply stunning.
Designing the chocolate massage lotion was an interesting challenge. Of course, primarily it had to function well as a massage lotion and give good glide without being too slick and be beneficial to the skin. I formulated a complex blend of organic vegetable oils to give a good supply of essential fatty acids and included a good working level of Vitamin E. I wanted a strong chocolate "hit" on the nose but with an adult chocolate smell that wouldn't be sickly after working with it for a while. Eventually after testing, I used organic black cocoa butter blended with an essential oil of blood orange - simply delicious!
I included some 100% organic chocolate and coconut lip balms and made up some chocolate facial oils that rejuvenate the skin and actually reduce pore size. The spa will be using the products for the promotional feature and then work out how to incorporate it into their range.
Many people have said that the products range we teach sounds good enough to eat. Well it's true that many of our ingredients are food grade quality as well as organic but we recently had a request from a college asking us to design a chocolate body wrap for them. Sounds like their students have more fun that I did when I was at college!
Not a problem and we have put together an entire day's training that will satisfy the most addicted chocoholic. But first, let's have a quick look and see why chocolate is the latest buzz in the high end spa business.
Sensation Chocolat in Paris supply the premium market with luxury chocolate based skincare products in 150 luxury spas across France - all at a very premium price. Their chocolate mousse masque is €63 per pot.
Basically, good quality chocolate is rich in Magnesium and Antioxidants.
Antioxidants scavenge the free radicals that are partly responsible for the appearance of ageing. The smell of chocolate is alsos believed to trigger the release of Dopamines which are feel good hormones.
So we started off with getting our chocolate from Ecuador and it's a superb organic 70% chocolate. It's hard to have enough to work with because you simply melt the chocolate into warm milk and you have the most indulgent hot chocolate drink ever and we soon drank the stock we had bought! So we ordered more and set to designing the products;
• Chocolate and Coconut Lip Balm which leaves a lovely Autumn brown hint of
colour on the lips.
• Chocolate Bubble Bath - just how decadent can it get?
• Chocolate Body Oil using the Ecuadorian Black Cocoa Butter that smells
heavenly blended with a hint of Organic Coconut makes a superb massage oil
• Chocolate Facial Scrub using the seeds of the Cupuacu tree. Again, Organic
and gently exfoliates even sensitive skin
• Chocolate Body Butter with Organic Mango and Lime - everyone will want to
lick you all over!
As with all the Skinbuddy™ days, we supply all the raw materials and the students take home everything they have made. We'll let you know how the day goes afterwards.
