Chocs away...

If your idea of bliss is being cocooned in chocolate, then the beauty world can deliver cocoa heaven - minus the calories.

Wallow in a syrup bubble bath, slather your skin in cocoa butter, and beautify with a lip-smacking choccie gloss without so much as putting on a pound.

There's no need to send your weighing scales into shock over Easter. Indulge in the dark stuff to your heart's content with choc-inspired beauty that pampers your skin rather than brings you out in a bout of spots!

Cocoa beans can be your friend, not foe, when it comes to a glowing complexion.

They have a fibrous coating that breaks down harmful free radicals and bestows antioxidant benefits - and the smell alone can trick your brain into releasing feel-good endorphins similar to a stint in the gym.

So there we have it, the perfect excuse to overdose on guilt-free cocoa beauty treats. Looking and smelling irresistible this Easter has never been so tempting.

:: Choc or mock?

Chocoholics can avoid going cold turkey on Easter Sunday with devilishly good beauty treats that can be mistaken for the real thing.

"The act of avoidance appears to completely backfire when it comes to chocolate," explains psychologist James Erskine.

"The most harmful thing you can do is to tell people not to think about eating chocolate. You have to tackle the (addictive) behaviour by giving women alternatives instead of making them abstain."

Don't dash a dieter's hard work over the Easter period. As an alternative gift to traditional calorific eggs, beauty products in the shape of luxury delicacies and choc boxes will be just the seasonal reward for their hard work.

Swap the confectionery shelves for a candy shop of beauty delights.

Try: MAD Beauty Chocolate Flavoured Truffle Lip Glosses, £6.99 for three (www.whatsabouttown.com); Naughty But Nice Lip Gloss Heaven, £8.75 for four (www.pressies4princesses.co.uk); n-spa Indulgent Chocolate Waffle Bath Syrup, £3.97 (Asda).

:: Cocoa-inspired cosmetics Refrain from popping choccies directly into your mouth and replicate the addictive taste on your pout with a flavoured lip balm or gloss. A sheer formulation is more flattering than a matte brown shade of lipstick.

"An intense chocolate shade on the lips can be draining if you are pale," warns creator of Famous Make-Up, Sue Moxley.

If you're not convinced about wallowing in heady chocolate aromas, try translating those dark desires through your eyes.

"Chocolate eyes are sexy this spring," Sue says. "For daytime, use a paler shade of chocolate eyeshadow and blend carefully.

"For evening, vamp it up and go for full-on dark chocolate in the socket and blend around and under the eye. Add black liner across the top lid, keeping it close to the lashes, and then smudge it in with a cotton bud. Finish with lashings of black mascara."

Try: Lucy B Organic Tinted Lip Balm in Chocolate, £13.60 (www.feelunique.com); Famous By Sue Moxley Chocolate Box Lip Palette, £9 (Superdrug); Nubar Milk Chocolate Creme nail lacquer, £8 (www.beautyshed.co.uk).

:: Sweet treat-ments With all the feel-good properties cocoa boasts, it's little wonder women are craving the brown stuff in their beauty regimes. Even spas are adding a sprinkling of chocolate over their treatment lists to meet chocoholic demands.

"Pretty much everyone loves chocolate," explains Cynthia Chua, founder of Ministry of Waxing who's introduced a 'Wild Berry Chocolate Wax'.

"There's both a naughtiness and a luxury angle associated with it. For women in particular, chocolate treatments let them feel they are allowing themselves something delicious without piling on the pounds."

Re-create the aromatic spa feeling at home by lathering up with choc-inspired products like bubble baths, moisturisers, and hair masks. Lock the bathroom door and melt away your woes with cocoa's mood boosting powers.

The Nutri Centre's nutritional therapist Shona Wilkinson says: "Endomorphins and flavonoids are natural compounds found in cocoa and can be beneficial to improve mood, raise libido, and promote a healthy heart."

Try: Ikove Acai Chocolate Body Polish, £13.23 (01506 848 962/www.ikove.co.uk); Montagne Jeunesse Chocolate Infusion Hair Masque, 99p (www.montagnejeunesse.com); Palmer's Cocoa Body Butter, £5.86 (Boots).

:: Tried & tested KOKO by Cadbury limited edition Oxygen Facial Treatment, from £75, available nationwide. Call 0800 056 2428 or visit www.karinherzog.co.uk for stockists.

I first dismissed this treatment as a bit of an Easter gimmick but this is no April fool. The treatment is in association with Karin Herzog chocolate products, which, combined with oxygen, produce a powerful defence against the effects of ageing. Before my facial, I got into the cocoa mood with a luxurious massage treatment on my back, neck and shoulders to help me unwind. Made from 80% chocolate (and looking just like melted choc in the pot), the smell was divine and instantly felt soothing on my skin. A Karin Herzog Finest Chocolate Cleanser was applied to remove make-up, followed by a scrub to remove blackheads. Next up, described by my therapist as a 'face lift in a tube', the Essential Mask gives my skin a tightened feel. For the grand choc finale, my face is covered in a layer of gauze while a warm mixture of monoi oil and melted down KOKO by Cadbury truffles is massaged into my skin. Resisting the urge to lick off the goo, my face felt surprisingly non-sticky or greasy afterwards. I had concerns this treatment would be too creamy for my combination skin, but my complexion felt super-smooth and looked much clearer and blemish-free than it has for weeks.

:: Buy it now Shun the Easter chocolate and sweeten up with Juicy Couture's new Couture Couture Travel Egg fragrance, £39, available in Harrods, Selfridges and selected Debenhams.

:: Recessionista alert Bag a beauty bargain. Buy Donna Karan's Cashmere Mist 50ml fragrance, £40, and get a free metallic tote, available nationwide from April 5 (0870 034 2566).

Beauty bulletin :: Hair scare Forget clothing nightmares from the past, when it comes to trends, perms have topped the lot, being voted the worst ever fashion faux pas. The Eighties perm hair style was voted the worst fashion trend ever with 69%, closely followed by the Nineties shell suit with 61%, a recent poll by offerssupermarket.co.uk revealed.

:: Star sales The celebrity world's movers and shakers have caused eBay beauty sales to fluctuate. Sales of grey hair dye soared 150% after both Kate Moss and Kelly Osbourne were recently spotted with silvery streaks in their locks. Temporary tattoos are also on the up with an increase of 90% following Sarah Jessica Parker's flaunting of Chanel transfer bangles at the Oscars. And going down? Collagen face cream sales fell 35% after Carla Bruni was pictured looking far from her natural self.