Get Your Valentine's Day Chocolate Fix Without the Calories

With Valentine's Day about two weeks away, you're probably already thinking about all the chocolate treats you're going to consume. But you can give your waistline guilt a break with this DIY chocolate soak recipe. Many spas, like the posh Spa Claremont at The Claremont Hotel Club and Spa in Berkeley, CA, has adopted cocoa in its special Valentine's Day-themed packages. And while a trip to the spa (or the SF area) might not be in your future, Claremont's spa director, Stacey Parks, shows us how you can easily get a taste of this chocolate treatment at home.

Cocoa soak: It turns out the cocoa you get from the grocery store can be used for more than just baking. Stacey suggests blending together cocoa and water to create a softening, moisturizing soak. When through, she recommends following it up with a short milk soak for the fingers and toes. "That's going to whiten your fingernails as well, so it has an aesthetic benefit to it, and it feels really good, too," she says. A little hand and foot massage afterward is a great way to finish.