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CONTACT Hotel Barceló Pueblo Park Tel: +44 (0)800 4227 2356 (UK) www.barcelopueblopark.com

Most of us, at some time or another, have craved the velvety pleasures of chocolate. Medical evidence suggests that to deny this occasional indulgence is to miss out on one of the pleasures of life itself – not to mention good health. While these centre on chocolate’s non-ingested forms, reports have attested to significant benefits to wellbeing. Beauty experts are also increasingly confirming that skin can never have too much chocolate as long as it is slathered on rather than ingested.

So why do we have such a love affair with chocolate? Well, the answer could lie in Phenylethylamine (PEA), a constituent of chocolate, and also a chemical found in the brain that rises as we experience joy and pleasure. Although many foods contain PEA, chocolate is loaded with it, so every time we allow a praline to tantalise our taste-buds we raise our levels to a stratospheric high. Our dermal rate of absorption suggests that this feel-good factor is transported to our brains during chocolate-laden spa therapies. Not only that, but once our face, body, hands and feet are layered in creamy chocolate our skin shows sure signs of obvious repair.

Cocoa beans, from which chocolate is made, are high in antioxidant phenolic phytochemicals (polyphenols), so high in fact that cocoa actually has higher antioxidant potential than green tea or red wine.

Native to Central and South America, cocoa was first brought to Europe via Spain by Hernando Cortez in the 1500s. Today, the Spanish connection prevails at the Hotel Barcelo Pueblo Park in the heart of Palma beach, Mallorca, where spa-goers are pampered with a decadent chocolate splurge. Indulge in delicious treatments, from a body peel with dark chocolate flakes, or a wrap with hot chocolate sauce, to a massage with chocolate and espresso-truffle oil. Chocolate is hand-blended into a thick emulsion with an essential oil, from rosewood and mandarin for rejuvenation, sandalwood and ylang ylang for relaxing, and grapefruit and clary sage for healing, filling the treatment room with a fulsome, mouthwatering aroma. Not only does cocoa beautifully nourish skin, making it super-soft, but it also boosts serotonin levels and feel-good endorphins to leave you in a happy state of mind. As the chocolately properties penetrate the skin you’ll feel truly divine and smell good enough to eat. All this without adding an inch to your waistline – unless, that is, you inadvertently lick your lips.

Enjoy delicious chocolate-based spa treatments to put you in the mood for love.