Chocolate not just for eating

Now let’s talk about what it does when applied on the skin.

This magical delicacy is full of antioxidants, rich in flavanol, and has almost 329 mg of antioxidants.

It fights against UV and environmental damages on the skin, increases blood flow to the skin, decreases pore size, combats dryness by preventing transepidermal water loss (TEWL), improves collagen, thus improving the elasticity and thickness of the skin, and works as an anti-cellulite agent.

With lots of research, we now know that external environmental factors play an important role in skin aging than your own hereditary and DNA. The more you protect your skin from oxidative stress, pollution, UV light, the later you show signs of aging like sunspots, fine lines, wrinkles, and pigmentation.

Cocoa is rich in polyphenols, which are a type of antioxidant. ‘Polyphenols possess anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and DNA repair properties and can be used for the prevention of a variety of skin issues caused by excessive exposure to solar UV light’ – said in one of the studies. This is one of the reasons using cacao-based facial products will help aging skin to restore its health and if started early, prevent early environmental damage.

Keep a habit of using dark chocolate face masks once to twice a week to combat extrinsic aging, fight pollution, and rejuvenate your skin. As we age, our skin relaxes and our skin pores get relaxed and dilated. Cocoa is one product just like tea and coffee along with its antioxidant properties has astringent properties because of xanthine contents. Xanthines are aromatic organic compounds which occur widely in nature. Cocoa is rich in two well-known Xanthines which are astringent and can work in anti-cellulite.

After sleepless nights or stressful days, let the puffiness around your eye melt down with a cosmetic-grade cocoa pack. It will tighten skin around the eyes, relax wrinkles, and help the puffiness to go down.

Studies have shown that eating excess chocolate can lead to acne in acne-prone skin, but application on the skin has substantial benefits on the skin.

Below are some Clinical studies quoted about the benefits of cocoa on the skin.

In moderately photo-aged women, regular cocoa flavanol consumption had positive effects on facial wrinkles and elasticity. Cocoa flavanol supplementation may contribute to the prevention of the progression of photo-aging’. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT02060097.

Flavonoid compounds in CPE (cocoa pod extracts) contributed to the functional cosmetic properties of CPE. The CPE, which is nontoxic to skin cells, helps to reduce wrinkles on the skin after 3 weeks of application. CPE can be used as the active ingredients in anti-wrinkle products, and prolonged application may result in significant visual changes to the naked eye.