Do Sakara Life's Beauty Chocolates Really Improve Your Skin?
By Sarah Kinonen. Photos: Getty Images, Courtesy of Brand.
Can eating chocolate actually give you clearer, more radiant skin? (You know, aside from the quick zip of energy a nibble can bring during the 3 o'clock slump?) Sakara Life seems to think so. The company behind the plant-based meal program is selling the concept with its new edible Beauty Chocolates: decadent sweet treats promised to plump up your skin.
The Sakara Life Beauty Chocolates, which, yes, are actually made of real chocolate, contain a a blend of organic raw fair trade cacao nibs, organic coconut sugar, and organic raw cacao butter. They're also supercharged with 70 milligrams of plant-based, collagen-promoting phytoceramides. According to Sakara Life, those phytoceramides promote the "daily dose that's actually proven to deliver visibly plumper skin." As a quick reminder, ceramides occur naturally in the skin's sebum to hold together the cells of the epidermis and reinforce the skin's protective barrier.
Sure, Sakara Life's Beauty Chocolates are made with a plant-based ceramide, but we're slightly skeptical of the notion that consuming two bite-size treats twice a day (Sakara Life's recommended dosage) will give skin that coveted lit-from-within glow. Unconvinced, we reached out to Elizabeth Tanzi, founder and director of Capital Laser & Skin Care and associate clinical professor, department of dermatology at the George Washington University Medical Center, for the full — no BS — truth about snacking on chocolate and its effect on the skin. "I'm skeptical," Tanzi tells Allure. "Although there are strong antioxidants in chocolate, the combination with sugar most likely negates the effects for the skin."
Meaning, yes, while there are free radical-fighting ingredients packed inside each tasty morsel, unfortunately thanks to the added coconut sugar, there's probably not much skin-plumping happening. (Studies have found consuming sugar contributes to skin aging.) Instead, you're more likely to experience a quick mood boost.
The Beauty Chocolates join Sakara Life's lineup of clean, good for your bod (and skin) products, including the Beauty Water and Beauty Water Concentrate. "Beauty foods [are] a category where we plan to continue to bring the best ingredients to support beauty and anti-aging," co-founder Whitney Tingle told Women's Wear Daily. "We want to make it easy, fun, and enjoyable to the consumer."
So, if you're looking for a way to plump skin overtime, your best bet is to incorporate a topical, hydrating hyaluronic acid product into your skin-care routine. (Quick refresher: Hyaluronic acid is a sugar molecule found naturally in the skin, which increases skin's moisture content and prevents water loss. It can hold 1,000 times (yes, 1000!) its weight in water. (We like Dr. Jart+ Water Fuse Water-Sure Gel). That's not to say a couple bites of cacao won't hurt. You can shop Sakara Life's Beauty Chocolates for $45 for a month's supply at sakara.com.
This story originally appeared on Allure.
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