Cocoa cosmetics on the rise

A new trend for cocoa-based cosmetics could prove advantageous to chocolate manufacturers as confectionery giant Nestlé leads the way - joining forces with beauty group L'Oreal.

Collaboration between the two companies has resulted in the launch of a 'beauty from the inside' product range, Inneov, targeting the Nutricosmetics category.

Food based ingredients make up part of the fast growing market of organic and natural based cosmetics, a market that is set to continue to grow in coming years leading to ingredients such as organic chocolate becoming more and more popular.

Western manufacturers have rediscovered cocoa, 3000 years after it was first discovered the ingredient is now used in many skin treatments in a variety of salons and finished products.

Paris based company Zelda Gavizon uses chocolate as the main component in its 'Chocolatherapie' treatments with spokesperson, Gabriel Jacquet, stating that 'Cocoa has a lot to give, the Cocoa pod has over 800 complex molecules with 30 of them being beneficial to the skin'.

Antioxidants contained in the cocoa shell are said to help delay the signs of ageing, activate fat-burn and have a psychologically stimulating effect. Prompting Jacquet to state that the 'ingredient is more than just a gimmick and is in fact a cosmetic asset'.

Jacquet claimed that this discovery evolved after a consumer trend for fruit based face creams emerged from London in the new millennium, described by the company as 'tasty treatments'.