Anyone from up North can testify to the soothing and restorative nature of a steaming cup of hot cocoa when the days are crisp and cool.

When all you want to do is get home and snuggle under the covers or sit next to a roaring fire, our Hot Cocoa Milk Bath can be just the thing to warm you inside and out.

Not only do you get the benefits of a standard milk bath; known to leave skin soft and supple through the tremendous hydrating power of milk but the addition of cocoa butter adds a whole host of additional healing properties too.

Benefits: Cocoa butter not only works to prevent skin dryness –perhaps the worst bugbear of cooler temperatures- but also fights the signs of aging while healing chapped skin and other skin defects like scars, stretch marks, burns, rashes and even fighting infection. What more could you want in those blustery winter months?

Here’s the step by step recipe so you can indulge your body, your senses and even your sweet tooth!

Ingredients:

• 1 heaping Tbsp of cocoa butter
• 4 Tbsp Milk powder of your choice (we like Meyenberg Whole Powdered Goat Milk or Z Natural Foods 100% Coconut Milk Powder, but any kind will do).
• Optional: Add just a tad of Hydrolyzed Oat Protein or Silk Powder.

Oats have been used since the beginning of time in the treatment of all manner of skin ailments as they offer skin softening, skin soothing, and anti-inflammatory benefits.

Feel free to omit this if you do not have either product on hand.

Method:

1. Combine the cocoa butter and half of the milk powder in a standard food processor or coffee grinder and process the mixture until fine.Don’t worry if it appears on the gooey side –we are working with butter after all.
2. Scrape the mixture out into a bowl and add the rest of the milk powder, stirring to break up any clumps. It should have a more chalky/powdery texture at this time.
3. Use 1-2 heaping spoonfuls at bath time to reap the benefits for your skin.

As an added benefit, we find the subtle chocolatey fragrance to be a positive, and somewhat nostalgic, mood-booster.
If you find your body stiff, sore or have been experiencing more stress than usual, you may want to add 1-2 cups of Epsom salt as well to replenish magnesium levels in your body and promote relaxation.

While you may know that Epsom salt has been used for hundreds of years to ease aches and pains, you may not be aware that replenishing the body’s magnesium levels helps with the production of serotonin, the mood-lifting chemical in the brain that promotes calmness and reduces anxiety.

Sounds like heaven to me!

We hope it takes you to that warm and fuzzy place too.

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