CALLING ALL MALES: Buy this for your girl! (Guylian Chocolate Sea Shells)

Member Name: anya_lahiri

Product:	Guylian Chocolate Sea Shells
Date:	21/03/05 (2229 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Smooth praline chocolate, supports marine conservation

Disadvantages: They are slightly expensive, eat too many of them and you will become podgy!

I was first introduced to these around 3 years ago and I have been in love with them ever since! They are my FAVOURITE chocolates! To me, no other chocolates even compare to them, but I am also rather partial to Galaxy Chocolate, which also include Ripples! Hehe!

I suppose that telling your boyfriend that these are your favourite chocolates is a bad idea as when the annoy you they know to buy these and it will make it all better! Oh dear, however they aren’t exactly cheap chocolates so it does put him out of pocket! And they don’t get off quite so easy! Also, eatig too many of these chocolates might turn you a bit podgy!

~~~How can I spot them?~~~

Well, there are a variety of styles that The Guylian Seashells come in, little boxes, medium boxes, large boxes and in a tin! I recommend buying the version that is in a tin as you can reuse the tin after use. All of these styles however come with the same standard pattern, a white background with Guylian plastered across the front in a gold font! All packets also have pictures of some of the chocolates that are inside on the front of the box, all of which are pictures of Sea Shells. The review I am writing on is the Guylian Chocolates that are bought in the tin, as this was my most recent purchase, well actually my boyfriend’s most recent purchase!

~~~Okay, so tell me more about the chocolate?~~~

Now you open the tin (which contains 44 chocolates and is 500g in weight), the first thing you see is a cover! It’s a piece of annoying serrated paper which has ‘Guylian’ written all over it in a gold font! Instantly I throw this out of the way, in a frantic fit to get to the chocolates beneath! I throw it straight to the floor without a second look! Stupid piece of paper what does it do apart from hide my yummy chocolates! (Okay, I suppose it is designed to keep the chocolate fresh and to make the product eye appealing!) Instantly I am faced by rows of chocolate seashells! But hang on a minute upon counting them I can only count 22! I check the front of the tin it definitely says 44! Almost frantic I yank this layer of chocolates out and again am faced with some more stupid covering paper! But alas! Underneath is another layer of chocolate seashells and Yes! There are 22 of them there! So 44 Chocolates overall! Hurrah!

Back to the first layer I notice that there are some shiny chocolates, which appear to be darker chocolate and some dull, marbled chocolates, which appear to have milkier or lighter chocolate then the former! Upon inspection there are 11 of each style, and they are also a reflection of each other so the first row of 5 which are a specific kind of seashells and are shiny the opposite 5 are the same pattern of seashells but in the dull, marbled fashion! The other rows each contain 6 of the chocolates, with the same pattern!

Each chocolate is uniquely crafted! They look exactly like seashells! At first glance you do not want to eat them, as they look so delicate and unique, but that feeling only lasts about 20 seconds before the almost mad, rampant, feverish feeling of devour sets in and then you will scoff them down with delight!

~~~Mmm! Tell me how they smell before you devour them!~~~

I pick a shiny one up and I am hit by a heavenly smell, a beautiful aroma of chocolate and milk! It has a really strong scent and does really entice you to eat them! They smell irresistible! What about the dull marbled ones? They smell exactly the same! You can’t smell any difference! But warning do not sniff too closely! You’ll end u with chocolate all over your bugle (nose)!

~~~How do they taste?~~~

Now I didn’t event think what one to pick first! I am so ‘Guylian’ hungry I just grab one and shove it into my mouth! Hmm looking at what line has one missing it was indeed a dull, marbled one! Hmm! Instantly I am met by smooth chocolate, which is easy to chew with your teeth! It practically melts in your mouth! Instantly after eating the highly decorated outer case of the chocolate you are hit by the smooth praline centre! Hmm…it’s so yummy! It is easy to swallow and they are so moreish and smooth. The shiny ones taste exactly the same, which means that the chocolate isn’t light and dark, which you are led to believe; the shiny pattern must just be done for effect! They all taste exactly the same but there are 11 designs of seashells, which are all beautifully crafted!

The contents are praline (hazelnut praline) and I don’t like nuts but I love these! Okay I can see a few bewildered expressions at the moment but these praline centres do not taste nutty they just taste so smooth and moreish! I cannot tell that nuts have been used in the making process and they are my favourite chocolates!

~~~How much do they retail at then?~~~

In Boots you can buy a pack of 4 for 99p. A box of 250g (22 chocolates) for about £6! I got my tin from the journey back of my boyfriend’s visit to the Alps in France and this 500g tin cost £8.99 on the duty free, which does still seem expensive but is cheaper then buying it at normal shop stores! I have seen the Guylian sea shells available at various stores such as Boots, Sainsburys, Safeways, Asda, Morrisons, DUTY FREE etc and obviously pretty much anywhere in Belgium. :-D

~~~What else is there that I need to know?~~~

These Guylian Sea Shell chocolates are made in Belgium out of Belgian chocolate! Also with every packet there is a ‘Guylian Guarantee’ which if for some unbelievable reason you do not enjoy the chocolates you simply fill in this guarantee with all the information that they require such as name, address, place of purchase, when purchased, best before date, what Guylian product you bought etc. Then you simply send the box and its contents with this form to the address provided where Guylian will either replace the box if you wish them to and will refund the postage costs, or they will refund the cost of the box and send you a refund of the postages costs!

Anyone who is allergic to nuts, in particular hazelnuts should not eat this product. But this is also true of people who are allergic to milk or cocoa. For a full list of ingredients simply pick up a packet at any local shops and check out the information on the back! This will give a full list of the ingredients so that if you are allergic to any of them you know not to buy them!

Also, included with every packet is information on ‘Project Seahorse.’ This is basically that every time you buy a packet of Guylian seashells you are supporting this project. This project tries to find and implement solutions to marine conservation problems. Seahorses are threatened by a variety of factors such as climate change, over fishing, habitat loss etc. Also the loss of seahorses will affect other species as well as it will unbalance the ecosystem of the marine environment e.g. seahorses feed on red shrimp, if the seahorses are wiped out there will be more red shrimp meaning that the plankton they feed on will be less available as there will be more red shrimp, affecting other species that feed on plankton as there will be less for them to eat, ultimately these species will decline maybe even causing extinction! Project seashore is devoted to stopping the gradual disappearance of seahorses found in oceans of the world. Project seahorse has workers working in Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, South Africa, Portugal, The Philippines, UK and USA!

To find out more about Guylian Chocolates in general visit:

www.guylian.be

Or email them at:

guymail@guylian.be

For more information on ‘Project Seahorse’ you can visit the Guylian website but I would also recommend that you visit:

www.projectseahorse.org

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