Even with the very best intentions in the world I dont think there’ll be many people who can say they managed to stay away from calorie laden chocolate eggs et al this past weekend.  If you did then I send you the most heartfelt congratulations (and just how the heck did you manage it!!!).

So I thought we would dedicate this weeks blog to one of the worlds favourite indulgencies. First of all I’d like to run a few facts by you for good measure….

It is thought that Cocoa is a mis-spelling of the Mayan word Cacao meaning ‘God Food’ originating over 2500 years ago. It was held in such high regard that it was even used as currency.

17000 people in Belgium work in the chocolate industry.

It takes up to 270 cocoa beans to make up 1 pound of chocolate.

Almost half of the worlds chocolate is consumed in America.

More than twice as many women than men crave and eat chocolate and it has been observed that no other sweets or candies can satisfy the craving – just the chocolate itself.

Chocolate notes crop up in fragrances with quite some regularity, and apart from the obvious choices such as Thierry Muglers Angel series of perfumes, which are seen as the quintessential chocolate scents, there are quite a few others on the shelf that may surprise you.

Ralph Lauren launched Big Pony (for men) which has a winning combination of velvet musks and dark chocolate.  Armani Diamonds for men is another best seller, but this time the chocolate is hidden away in the base notes, and so leaves a subtle trail in your wake.  If  just a hint of indulgence is required, then Lacoste Elegance (another male fragrance) combines chocolate with spicy nutmeg and fresh top notes for a surprisingly light scent.

Womens scents include Gucci Flora Glamorous Magnolia which uses a subtle cocoa hint to anchor the citrus zest and green leaves that make up the main composition. Boutique desinger Annick Goutal used creamy chocolate notes to balance girlish playful blackcurrant buds and luscious vanilla pods in her Eau de Charlotte fragrance.

We have a good range of chocolate and candy fragrances to curb that craving without the calories – and you cant say fairer than that can you! How about a chocolate lime or a chocolate orange, or even good old fashioned sweets such as peardrops, lemon bonbons and strawberry laces.

If it all gets a tad too much, it has been noted that a splash of vanilla across the wrist does a sterling job of sating the appetite. Well thats all from me, I’m off for a penny chew or two

I happened to be shopping in our local town centre on Saturday where i stumbled upon the filming of The Passion for Easter, and of course I couldnt resist a quick pic with Jesus – well who could?

It did however start me thinking about how fragrances and oils have been used throughout the ages, especially when the sunday supplement was full of retro 1970′s fashions. It seems that once again long forgotten fragrances are being revived, as teenagers begin to embrace all things retro in an effort to smell the way their parents did some 30 years ago, and we all try to revive our youth!

Seeing as we start the first day of Lent tomorrow I thought I would have a look into what, if any, oils and perfumes were mentioned in biblical times and forge myself a path back from there…..

Oils such as cumin, dill and mint all had honorable mentions as tithes in the Old Testament, presumably being used as incense bases alongside woods and resins. Mary Magdalene annointed the feet of Jesus with precious oils of  tuberose and Damascus rose with cedar being used by King Solomon during the construction of the temple. It is documented that oil of cedar was widely used to coat papyrus manuscripts to protect them from insects in the Roman times of Emperor Augustus.

Essential oils especially, can be traced quite easily during Egyptian times with Cleopatra herself using oil burners to announce her arrival when enjoying her ‘not so secret’ rendevous with Marc Anthony.

During ancient times crushed woods, resins and fragrant oils were pulped together and applied to the body as a balm, and it seems that perfume has come full circle. More and more of us are seeking out high quality aromatherapy oil to be used in exactly the same holistic way in order to reap the benefits and to de-stress ourselves from our hurried, harried lifestyles, in much the same way as our ancestors did.

I’m going to skip back now to the fantabulous 1970′s revival. It seems that wherever you turn at the moment there is a hint of the good old seventies….from a high street window with flared jeans and a turban headband (will they EVER revive the full on 18inch flared jeans with the pockets that ran the full length from your knee to the bottom hem – what on earth should we have stored in those? and maybe more to the point, how did we reach to the bottom of them!!!), to the recent episode of Come Dine with Me featuring that once sought after but now seemingly elusive prawn cocktail with marie rose sauce! (Oh how i miss those simplistic days……).

There has also been the recent revival of fragrances such as ‘Old Spice’ with its tongue in cheek YouTube ads, and not forgetting the good old dads favourites – Kouros and Brut. In terms of ladies fragrances I think the most memorable for me would be Charlie by Revlon – a happy go lucky blend of sharp florals and womanly (? – your guess is as good as mine!) woody notes. The box featured a young trouser suited woman who was meant to symbolise the working woman of the 1970′s. Then we had the darker, more evocatively exhuberant scents such as Opium and Tweed, all of which hold their own time related fragrance memories for many of us.

So now you have all been warned, dont be surprised if you find yourself at a summer barbecue this year sipping Blue Nun or Mateus Rose, stabbing at your prawns as they swim in their thick rose tinted sauce trying to dig your Starsky and Hutch sunglasses from out of the hem of your bell bottom jeans!! I’ll be the one hiding under my afro with my false bib blouse and my smelly Afghan floor length coat smelling of Anais Anais!!

What was your favourite fragrance from the past? Or maybe the fragrance memories you have of your parents or grandparents?