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Goji Berries are a wonderful source of antioxidants, amino acids, trace minerals and anti-inflammatories. They are the most nutritionally dense food on the planet. Great as a snack or on a salad, mixed in with yogurt or mixed with cereal. You can usually find them at health food stores and online.

The Murad Food Pyramid provides guidelines on what should be eaten in which amounts. Each day you should have 3 or more servings of fruits, 4 or more servings of vegetables, 4 to 8 servings of whole grains, 4 to 6 servings of protein, 3 to 4 servings of fats and of course, supplements.

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Cocoa for the Soul and Skin

The use of chocolate in cosmetics started merely as means to trigger a sensorial experience, as most products from a few years ago contained chocolate-flavored chemicals exclusively and not an ounce of real chocolate. As the studies about the internal effects of dark chocolate progressed (flavonoids, anti-oxidants, happiness hormones, you know all that stuff), a few entrepreneurial, creative minds decided that chocolate would have positive effects when used externally as a beauty aid. Susan Kim, founder of Asiana, a home-spa natural cosmetics company, says that “it was safe to assume that chocolate was good when topically applied,” as the less refined it was, the more anti-oxidants it contained. So spas started introducing chocolate spa treatments that would smooth out the skin and hydrate it and new cosmetics companies introduced real chocolate alongside other natural elements like honey, clay, algae, fruit purees in some of their products. Studies that tried to extract information about the effects of topical use of chocolate or cocoa powder have not been very conclusive, but that does not prevent us from enjoying it more than ever.

We have selected a few beauty products that have real chocolate, cocoa powder or cocoa butter in their composition and we tested them to see if they have a purely olfactory role or if they actually moisturize and soothe the skin.

Working our way from top to toes, let’s stop first and evaluate the lip products available on the market. Joey New York offers dual ended Professional Collagen Building Lip Perks, coffee scented pencils that will awaken the senses while giving you a lip boost. Of course, our pick from the collection is the Brazilian Coffee with A Hint of Cocoa, which is a dark caramel lipstick with a hint of pink. Caffeine caffeine caffeine, without ingesting one gulp. They also offer DeLIPcious balms among which they had to include a cocoa diva inspiredly named Chocolate Dipped Strawberries. The name alone will bring temptation a step closer to home.

A special product that I particularly enjoyed due to the fact that it actually has an effect on my permanently cracked, rather large lips is Ganache for Lips, a stick balm made with real Scharffen Berger chocolate, beeswax, and various natural extracts, essential oils and vitamin E. Created by Patricia West who was trying to cope with her chemotherapy-induced fatigue through aromatherapy, the miraculous lip balm comes in 9 flavors now: Chocolate Peppermint, Chocolate Raspberry, Chocolate Hazelnut, Mocha Latte, Chocolate Orange, Lemon Mousse, Chocolate Mousse and Chocolate Marzipan and Vanilla Mousse. I generally don’t use lip products because they make my lips even drier, but this balm has maintained them moist, non-greasy and most of all, tasty. No one touches my Ganache Raspberry!

Lush, the famously über-playful and creative company has a chocolate lip balm as well. Nested in a round box, the Lush Whipstick contains Dutch chocolate, oil and wheatgerm oils, carnauba and beeswax and it’s flavored with orange and tangerine. Girly and gourmet at the same time, it makes for an excellent purse buddy.

After the lips comes the body. And for the body, we have scrubs first and foremost, as I have learned that exfoliation precedes any cleansing in the spa world. Bella Lucce’s lovely Peruvian Chocolate Scrub that smells of genuine milk chocolate is made of pressed cocoa butter and coconut oil with gentle pure cane sugar which sloughs the dead cells. Made with French cocoa absolute and organic, Dagoba fair trade Peruvian cocoa, it is a generous and entirely natural treat for your body. You will notice the results are amazing and that natural is the way to go.

Origins recently added a Cocoa Therapy™ line to their already famous products. Their body-buffing scrub is made with cocoa extract, walnut shells and apricot seeds cushioned in cocoa butter, scaring the dead cells away with just one look. Your skin could not feel any smoother and brighter and you couldn’t feel fresher after your encounter with cocoa.

The Merry Chocoholic is a newly arrived company on the chocolate-dependent scene and they offer lots of cocoa-based cosmetic products from all over the country that you can put on your bathroom shelves without feeling guilty. They only sell a Chocolate Silk Brown Sugar Scrub under the company’s name and I have to say it smells delicious. I almost sunk my teeth in it when I opened it the first time, the second time and the third time. The brown sugar combined with shea butter, sunflower oil and cocoa butter is gentle yet effective in its removal of sagging cells. We salute the merry chocoholics.

Now, the following scrub is Asiana’s Mocha Peppermint made with Dutch chocolate and grinded coffee and it’s one of the best scrubs I have yet to see. Inspired loosely by the peppermint patty, this energizing scrub cleans the skin, invigorates it with the caffeine contained by both the cocoa and the coffee and gives you a kick of energy you never thought possible through the sheer sense of smell. The anti-oxidant grinded coffee exfoliates and stimulates the micro-cellular circulation, while the oils of jojoba, sweet almond and grape seed provide healing benefits. But what makes it so distinctive is the uplifting smell of the peppermint with a discreet hint of cinnamon that seems to propel its effects to the next level. The concoction is almost 100% pure, with just a few touches of chemical enhancer and, as the label reads “it was tested only on friends and family.”

After a good scrub, you definitely need a good wash to remove all the cocoa from the already love-intoxicated skin cells. For those who prefer to use the soap bars and like to soak in the tub, the choices are varied. Bella Lucce offers a Peruvian Chocolate Moisturizing Syrup enriched with a dash of honey. You just need to pour some in your bathtub and you’ll soon swim in a sea of dreams. Origins also offers an energy-boosting body bar that will leave your skin, oh-so-soft. Crabtree & Evelyn, the well-known beauty company that has been using natural ingredients since its very inception, has a very softening and aromatic soap bar from cocoa butter, nutmeg and cardamom in its collection. The spices do not overpower you with their aromas, however they leave a soft trail of the exotic on your skin.

Asiana knows what good life is all about as it made a bath milk with real Ghirardelli dark chocolate, dark cocoa powder and coconut cream– all those crazy anti-oxidants running towards your skin and yelling “Kill the aging agents”- and bottled it up in a huge container for your shopping convenience. When you pour it into the water, you can see the flakes of chocolate melting away and working surreptitiously towards a clean and healthy skin.

Last but not least Lush, the company not the drunk, gives us the Ma Bar, which is a toffee and chocolate block topped with a sugar cube that will melt into a bubble bath once it’s crumbled in the running water. It is jokingly marketed as a gift for your mother when you have budget constraints. It is fun and it smells like dessert (orange chocolate, toffee, honey, yum), and like the Lush catalog suggest, you may get yourself one while you are at it. Mom will surely love it, but she deserves much more than a nice bath.

If you are in the shower, you need a good body wash or gel to clear out that chocolate scrub and we have just the things for you. Philip B, a celebrity darling when it comes to beauty products, has a Chocolate Milk Body Wash that will even get your children excited about the prospect of a bath. A blend of toning cocoa butter, rejuvenating oat protein and wheat amino acids and moisturizing aloe, this wash will treat your skin like royalty. Jaqua Beauty has in store (The Bath and Body Works one) for you a Mint Chocolate Hydrating Shower Syrup. It contains Vitamins A, E and B5 that will exfoliate, condition and soften the skin, a nice peppermint extract that will cool you off and a ginseng extract that will regenerate and replenish texture. Again Lush proposes a fun product called Sonic Death Monkey Shower Gel that is infused with herbal tea from the Caribbean, herbal coffee (hm!) from Jamaica, cocoa, lime, orange and vanilla. Thank God, this eclectic mixture doesn’t end up smelling like its name but far more exotic than that. The coffee and citrus flavors will wake you up no matter how early in the morning it is.

Many people have dry skin and not even a seriously moisturizing shower gel or soap can fix that. That is why the lotions and body butters exist in this world. The ones that we tried and that made a lasting impression on our not-so-toned skin deserve kudos as there are not many lotions in the world that would surprise us easily. Jaqua’s Mint Chocolate Sinfully Rich Cocoa Body Butter contains the same ingredients as the shower syrup more or less but it has a considerable quantity of cocoa butter that smoothes out the skin and gives it a rich glow. Crabtree & Evelyn’s Cocoa Butter, Nutmeg & Cardamom Body Butter is just as aromatic and sensual as the body bar, but with a more persistent and deeper scent. You will imagine you are traveling in a caravan on the Spice Route after you immerse yourself in the rich, peachy cream. Joey New York comes to the rescue of the lifeless cells with its very own White Chocolate Body Shimmer, a non-greasy body oil that glides over the skin leaving a glowing finish. White chocolate supplies the active ingredient, the macadamia nut oil represents the healing and reviving agent of the lotion leaving a gentle glowing finish. Bella Lucce’s Bliss Crème is rich in cocoa butter and French cacao absolute and smells like a decadent portion of milk chocolate, hovering sweet and light over your tegument. It nourishes and protects, while it makes you totally unproductive as you sit round entranced, sniffing your delicious smelling epidermis. Origins’ cocoa therapy ™ Deeply nourishing body butter also contains pure cocoa that helps fortify the skin’s youthful appearance, alongside vitamins A, B, C and E and minerals like Potassium, Magnesium, Iron, Calcium and Copper. To top it up, it boasts a dose of Theobroma Grandiflorum- also known as Cupuacu, a tree that is related to the cocoa tree – that helps repair the skin’s moisture barrier. I have not heard about this one before, but I’ll take their word for it.

In the end, there comes the marching band of chocolate hued but not really so chocolaty cosmetics that we all love to use. They are called the fake tanners. The make you look like chocolate but have none in them. Despite this, we still like to consider them part of our big chocolate family, especially now that the sun is playing hide and seek behind the clouds.

Bourjois, the famed beauty products French company, is launching two new products in the USA this fall that will be found for sure in Sephora boutiques. Petit Dessert du Teint (literally meaning ‘little dessert for the complexion’) is an illuminating gel that guarantees a natural caramel skin tone. It is very light, it suits all skin tones and its vanilla aroma will bring to mind the dessert it promises. The other brilliant product is Delice de Poudre (‘powdery delight’), a bronzing powder, which comes in the compact shape of chocolate squares in a thin box with a kabuki brush, and it has two different shades for lighter and darker skin types.

Fake Bake is another wildly acclaimed self-tanner that has even been awarded the Best Self-Tanner in the United Kingdom by Women’s Cosmetic Guide. Celebrities use it and mortals are dying for it, although its patent is still pending. The product has a built-in ‘chocolate’ color guide – a dark temporary color that allows you to see exactly where you are applying the product, so there are no dark spots, patches and dubious-looking marks, but a uniform, glorious tan. Just apply it at night before you go to bed and rinse it in the morning with warm water. Ta daa.

There is one more particular chocolate product that I’d like to tell you about now although it bends the category of cosmetic or culinary. It is probably more fit for our Sex and Chocolate issue that will sometime come soon, but I would rather tell you about it now. Chocolate Dust for Lovers from Green Dragon Herbals doesn’t really need an explanation for what it does. You just sprinkle it on your beloved on and you nibble away. Come to think about it, since it doesn’t have sugar, you can sprinkle it on your palm and nibble away when you really crave chocolate but prefer to think you are on a diet. It’s fun and it comes with a feather to help you in your endeavors.

Figs

The luscious fig is surely the most sensual of fruits

A symbol of fertility in many cultures, the fig has long been revered as an aphrodisiac. The ancient Greeks believed figs were a gift from Dionysus, aka Bacchus—the god of wine, wanton behavior, intoxication, and ecstasy—and sacred to Demeter, goddess of the harvest and fertile soil. Figs are believed to have been the favorite fruit of Cleopatra, and they reputedly played a crucial role in her suicide; having decided to take her life in 30 B.C.E. after Mark Antony’s defeat and death, Cleopatra asked that an asp be delivered to her, concealed in a basket of figs.

Fig is the first and most mentioned fruit in the Bible, making its entrance in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve cover themselves with fig leaves. Some scholars claim that a fig, not an apple, was the unspecified forbidden fruit. The fig’s healing properties are referenced in the Bible, when Isaiah recommends a poultice made of figs to cure a boil.

The fig is native to Turkey, which remains the largest producer of the fruit, followed by California. The fruit is actually a flower inverted upon itself, and the trees are relatively short, about twenty-feet-high. Fig trees are extremely prolific; they usually produce two crops per year, and some bear fruit for up to 100 years—one of the reasons the fruit symbolizes fertility as well as longevity.

It was one of these impressive trees, growing behind her Atlanta shop, that inspired Jill Jones to add a Cranberry Fig collection to her Bidwell Botanicals line about five years ago. Her research into the fig’s beneficial properties proved fruitful. “Figs have been used both topically and as a diet supplement for ages due to their high vitamin content,” explains Jones. “Figs also have natural AHA properties that were used as far back as ancient Egypt to help refresh and brighten the skin. What they probably didn’t know, scientifically anyway, was that fig fruit contains very high levels of phytochemicals that help fight cancer and filter UV rays, thus protecting the skin.” Jones intended Bidwell’s Cranberry Fig collection to be a seasonal offering, but her customers changed her plans: “We brought it out for the holidays then tried to shelve it, but it was really popular—people were up in arms!”

Indeed, figs seem to fuel a fetish following. Californian Brook Harvey-Taylor, founder of Pacifica, says she was inspired to create her Mediterranean Fig Soap and Body Butter when she first tasted the fruit of a fig tree flourishing next door to her beachfront home about seven years ago. “Once I finally ate a fresh one, I was hooked,” she rhapsodizes. She also fell for the fruit’s intoxicating aroma. “The scent of figs is said to be calming,” she notes. “I can’t think of anything better for skincare than taking time to relax and get rid of stress. The ability to really do this is what leads to long-term health and beauty.”

Yet, it’s not just the fragrance that fosters fig fans. Lynn Shulman, founder of Toronto’s Elixir Spa, uses 100 percent organic fig extract in her most popular treatment, the Exfoliating Fig Enzyme Facial. “The reason I chose fig is because ficin [also known as ficain], the enzyme in figs, is twenty times more powerful than papain (papaya enzyme). It does a fantastic job of exfoliating the skin without irritation.” Skincare leader Dermalogica is also using fig for ficin’s exfoliating properties; its Exfoliating Body Scrub includes powder from the fruit and the tree’s latex (a milky sap), which has a higher concentration of the enzyme.

Los Angeles dermatologist Vicki Rappaport can’t verify the higher potency of ficin: “Papain and ficin come from the same family of cysteine proteases. If ficin is stronger, it’s still weaker than most known exfoliators in skincare.” Noting the perpetual search for the latest, hottest, natural ingredient, she says, “Fig as an ingredient is somewhat untapped but emerging as the sexy new kid on the block. Figs are rich in oils in both the skin and the seeds and they have some mild antioxidant properties, which of course helps reverse damage in the skin. And, most of all, fig as an ingredient usually smells luscious.”

That luscious smell was apparent when I recently previewed the new Cranberry Fig Conditioning Body Scrub at Canyon Ranch in Lenox, Massachusetts. “We were tired of the traditional lavender- and citrus-type scrubs,” explains Spa Director Colleen Stiers of her decision to introduce this treatment. “I was looking for something different but still effective. After doing some research we found the fig was Cleopatra’s favorite fruit and has been used for over 2,000 years for its health and skincare benefits. This antioxidant-rich fruit revitalizes the skin by fighting the damaging effects of the sun and environment.” The treatment begins with a full-body exfoliation using Bidwell’s creamy Cranberry Fig Shea Butter Sugar Body Scrub, which is removed with warm towels, and continues with a relaxing soak in a hydrotherapy tub, followed by a light application of cranberry fig moisturizer. The rich fragrance turned heads—everyone I passed wanted to know what smelled so good—but better than that was the long-lasting benefit of moist and smooth skin.

While the Mediterranean pairing of fig and olive (see January’s “Seasonal Spa”) is prevalent—as in fig soaps from Israel-based Noveya and Australia’s Mor Cosmetics— cranberry is another popular partner. Unlike Jones’s experience at Bidwell, Bella Lucce founder Lela Rain Barker hasn’t been swayed by customer demand; spas offer her Cranberry Fig Antioxidant Wrap only as a holiday-season special. That won’t be the case at a new spa concept she is helping develop for Marriott properties in the Middle East, North Africa, and India. Sarray Spa, the first of which will debut at the new Marriott resort in Doha late this year, will offer treatments full of fig extract, fig powder, and fig concentrate. “We chose figs as a key ingredient primarily because of their importance in Arabic culture,” says Barker, noting that her new fig formulations will be available in the United States only via internet sale.

Shopping List

You can’t get around the fact that too much sun exposure is bad for your skin. From sunburns and rashes to heat stroke, sunspots and cancer, the sun’s powerful rays can wreak havoc on your entire body. Dermatologists refer to it as photo-aging; you and I are more familiar with the effects: freckles, brown spots, crow’s feet, and lines. The reason for accelerated aging is that the UVB waves can cause damage to the DNA and weaken the skin’s ability to defend itself. Your trouble is only doubled by the UVA waves that can further damage the cell membranes.

Ava Shamban, M.D., board certified dermatologist, and owner of the Laser Institute for Dermatology and European Skin Care in Santa Monica, California, helps demystify the slew of sun damage–reversing products by highlighting some of the most essential ingredients: AHAs exfoliate and even out skin tone. Retinol stimulates collagen production. Antioxidants (including topical green tea and vitamin C) prevent free radical damage.

If your skin has endured damage from excessive sun exposure, here are some of our favorite topical treatments that can help relieve, heal, and protect your skin: