The 5 best cocoa beauty products

Rebecca Gonsalves has gone nuts for cocoa in products from shower cream to exfoliants

Cocoa body exfoliant £34, fresh.co.uk ( )

According to the designers of birthday cards, as a woman it's my duty to be obsessed with shoes, wine and chocolate. The floor of my bedroom may indeed be littered with footwear, my recycling bin may runneth over with empty bottles - but chocolate I can honestly take or leave. Two out of three ain't bad.

It's always rather controversial and even slightly awkward when I confess to not being constantly enslaved by chocolate cravings and reveal that even when I do get the occasional pang, only the cheap, sugary mass-produced stuff will do. But it's a different matter when it comes to my bathroom shelf – a place where chocolate, or rather cocoa, is a very welcome ingredient. I've been using cocoa butter as a moisturiser for years – although not Palmer's. It may be a real treat for skin but I can't abide the sickly sweet smell. And more recently I've gone nuts for cocoa in other products, too.

Oriental dream shower foam

£9, rituals.com

Rituals' softly foaming shower creams are a lovely way to get clean. This scent is warm and sweet without being cloying.

Cupcake

£6.75 lush.co.uk

The peppermint oil in this clay-based face mask means it tingles as it gets to work and smells temptingly like mint choc chip ice cream.

Cocoa butter body lotion

£8, thebodyshop.co.uk

For me this is still the best. The smell reminds me of my mum, who taught me to slather the stuff on to keep dry skin at bay.

Cocoa body exfoliant

£34, fresh.co.uk

This new scrub combines cocoa butter and crushed cocoa with coconut shells to soften and refine skin – a great indulgence for winter-damaged skin.

Bois Nef nourishing bath oil

£25, hotelchocolat.com

Even harder to resist than the brand's salted caramel hot chocolate, this luxurious bath elixir has warming notes of black pepper, sandalwood and roasted cocoa.