Sweet Heart chocolate box - sensual kit discontinued by Kama Sutra - review by Lara

Kama Sutra's Sweet Heart chocolate collection is a potpourri of sensual, edible goodies for you and your lover. The set is designed for long, lingering sexual exploration and doesn't really lend itself to quickies or brief rolls in the hay.

Each product in the kit is dermatologist tested and hypoallergenic. As this information is surprisingly difficult to come by when searching online, I've listed the ingredient list of the individual products bellow in the interest of those who may have particular allergies or sensitivities:

Body Souffle - water, ethylhexyl palmitate, cetyl alcohol, glyceryl stearate, capric triglyceride, cocoa extract, glycerin, dimethicone, cetearyl alcohol, flavor, polyacrylamide, C13-14 isoparrafin, laureth-7, PEG-100 stearate, carbomer, sodium saccharine, sodium hydroxide, potassium sorbate, tetrasodium EDTA, phenoxyethanol

Body Paint - corn syrup, cocoa powder, ethyl alcohol, sugar, palm kernel oil, hydrogenated palm oil, nonfat dried milk, soya lecithin, vanillin, water, food starch, gelatin, potassium sorbate, sodium benzoate

Honey Dust - corn starch modified, cocoa, corn starch, calcium sodium borosilicate, titanium dioxide, silicon dioxide, sodium saccharine, sodium benzoate, fragrance

Each of Sweet Heart box's three products have their own unique consistency.

The chocolate honey dust, as its name would imply, is a light powder that goes on like the gentlest, finest baby powder. Its unique dry silkiness makes it an excellent massage powder as it allows your hands to simply glide along your body without the sticky residue that comes with many massage oils.

The body souffle is more of a creamy consistency - much thinner than a balm but much thicker than a lotion. It smooths on easily and a little goes a very long way. Although it can be used as a massage lotion, it absorbs far too quickly to have the massage last very long. It leaves the skin very soft and aching to be touched.

The body paint is the thickest and the stickiest of the three. Although I won't be putting it on my ice cream sundaes anytime soon, the rich, creamy texture certainly alludes to those more decadent desserts. The accompanying brush can be used to dab and paint the chocolate on and the thickness of the product means it will stay in place until you decide to take it off. Because of its thickness, you may find it easier to spread after warming it up in a water bath or in a microwave. If it is still too thick, consider diluting it a bit with a few spoonfuls of water.

The body paint is the only product that should be stored in the refrigerator after opening to guard against spoilage.

It's no surprise that each of the products in the Sweet Heart box taste and smell exclusively of chocolate. The smells are certainly strong, but only overpowering when used in excess. As long as you keep in mind that a little goes a long way, the aroma is easy to keep in check.

Each of the products are also edible. I'm certainly not going to replace my dinner with the body souffle anytime soon, but the tastes are very palatable. There's no unpleasant aftertaste or lingering residue on the tongue.

When thinking about sensual products, my overriding concern is whether or not they serve the purpose they were designed to. Does this cream/lotion/powder/candle create a sensual environment that encourages gentleness and sexual intimacy or is there one feature that is so prominent that the product gets more attention than my partner? Any smell that is strong enough to drive one to distraction defeats the purpose of creating a more sensual atmosphere. Any taste that I can't bear takes away from the attention I'd rather be lavishing on my partner.

At its very best, a good sensual product contributes to creating a particular environment, but it doesn't steal the show. When used in moderation, the Kama Sutra Sweet Heart box does just that. Half of the responsibility for that lies in the product and half of that lies in the user.

The products themselves are rock solid. They smell nice, they work well, and they taste fine. The added value comes when using them to enhance intimacy rather than focusing on using the paint, lotion, and dust as an end in themselves. Were I to have slathered my partner with the chocolate body paint, we would have ended up with a sticky, brown, smelly, unsexy mess that is reminiscent of a completely different sexual practice (and one that I'm totally not into). A dab of chocolate paint under the ear, using the brush to smear a bit of paint on his nipples... now that's what I call a good time.