Chocolate-Greedy: An Ode to All Things Chocolate
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It’s hard to put a finger on when my obsession with the bitter-sweet Food of the Gods began. Maybe it was that first sip of chocolate milkshake my uncle teasingly fed me as an infant. Maybe the first Malteaser when I barely had teeth to chew with.
Either way, I was likely already a confirmed chocoholic by the time I started speaking at the tender age of 7 months, and my history with chocolate probably deserves its own Facebook timeline.
- As a pre-schooler, one of my favorite TV commercials as a pre-schooler was Nestle’s Crunch bar; I experienced an exciting “Eureka” moment when it dawned on me that people were actually ALLOWED a whole bar of chocolate for themselves.
- I read and re-read “Charlie and The Chocolate Factory” so many times my paperback was tattered and stained by countless delightful afternoons eating forbidden treats sneaked from the kitchen.
- When I was 10 I fantasized about a cavernous warehouse filled from floor to ceiling with bottle upon bottle of liquid chocolate; a lifetime supply. (Chocolate waterfalls were too messy; bottles were portable and could be rationed.)
- And before this sidetracks into a post about food, I will bring up one of my favorite makeup ads from L’oreal in the mid-90s featuring the drop-dead gorgeous Patricia Hartmann in monochromatic shades of rich, lush chocolate brown on lids, lips, and nails; “such a feast for the eyes”… [I remember some of the ad copy - that was how obsessed I was]. Nevermind that I looked horrible as a teen in brown lipstick.
- Then in college, I discovered Allure magazine and a new online forum community called ‘MAKEUPALLEY”. I started exploring online shopping and niche scent brands like Demeter and Comptoir Sud Pacifique. I went nuts over Amour de Cacao, a blend of bitter orange, vanilla and cocoa. My dad also went nuts; I borrowed his credit card for that purchase.
- When I started making my own money, the first expensive niche scent I bought was Thierry Mugler’s Angel, acknowledged as a modern chocolate-based classic. I am still obsessed with any fragrance with a chocolate note to this day.
Nevermind that I am one of those sad people whose chocolate smell-sensors are blocked or obliterated by the presence of any patchouli, which is quite commonly paired with cocoa in fragrances. (Go figure, Mr Turin!)
I’m still obsessed with rich, lush, chocolate makeup, but I wisely keep it to the eyes these days. I have an arsenal of browns in my makeup collection; probably enough to paint my entire family various luscious shades of cocoa ten times over. Some women collect more pinky-nude lipsticks, more pinky-peach blushes and more shimmery beige shadows than they will ever use. It is their security blanket; it makes them feel prettier, smarter, sexier, more bullet-proof, because it never fails them.
I am like that with any chocolate worn on the outside. I’d pick a milk cocoa shadow for work, and bitter cocoa shadow for partying. It’s the one color that makes me feel both safe AND sexy, much the way it smells and tastes.
Do YOU have a similar obsession?
