Forget diamonds. A woman's real best friends are chocolate and lingerie. In fact, chocolate is so appealing that surveys have revealed that women would often rather eat chocolate than have sex.

But why choose when you can enjoy both with the sexy combination of Cote D?Or chocolate, the ultimate in chocolate luxury, and La Senza lingerie ? guaranteed to bring out the sex goddess in even the meekest of girls?

Lecturer Janelle Vermaak, 26, says the relationship between the two is obvious. "They both make you feel good," she says. "They are the epitome of decadence and they make you feel sexy."

Lingerie's appeal lies in its ability to adorn your body in beauty and highlight the most flattering aspects. After all, as they say, when you look good, you feel good. This, combined with chocolate?s natural high, is a recipe few women can resist.

A different love affair

Women's addiction to the two has a long history. Chocolate, first discovered by the people of Mesoamerica, who enjoyed it as a bitter beverage, was called the "food of the gods" more than 2000 years ago and was used as a form of money by the Aztecs.

But it wasn't until the Spanish conquered Mexico that the beloved cocoa bean found its way to Europe, where it rapidly grew in popularity. In fact, according to the Field Museum, from 1759 to 1788, nearly 12 million pounds of chocolate were consumed each year in Madrid, Spain.

Women's love affair with the sweet delicacy can be traced back to this time. An artwork in the Museu de Ceramica in Barcelona shows women of the European courts enjoying the treat.

Legend has it that the French court's love of chocolate was sealed when its new, self-confessed chocoholic queen, Anne of Austria (daughter of King Philip III of Spain), married Louis XIII in 1615.

And so, the Field Museum says, chocolate became an instant status symbol, and by decree, no one but members of the French aristocracy were allowed to drink it.

Chocolate reached its solid state at the time of the Industrial Revolution when condensed milk was added to the mix and the rest, as they say, is history. Women have enjoyed the rich indulgence of chocolate ever since.

Sparking desire

"Who can resist chocolate?" says Janelle. Very few. And chocolate really is sexy ? hence its natural pairing with beautiful lingerie. Researchers at San Raffaele hospital in Milan, Italy found that women who ate chocolate regularly showed higher levels of desire than women who did not have this habit.

"Chocolate can have a positive physiological impact on a woman?s sexuality," the study found. It seems our ancestors were right when they prescribed chocolate as a treatment for poor sexual appetite.

Lingerie, too, has a long history. The sexy wear has evolved over time to appeal to the tastes of the era. Long ago in Crete, lingerie was not to accentuate the female form by covering it up, but rather to reveal it. Women wore boned bodice corsets that pushed their breasts up and out but did not cover them.

The purpose has always been to titillate men with the most appealing aspects of a woman?s body: the breasts and the bottom. But lingerie does more than just that; it gives the wearer a sense of her own sexuality and sensuality and makes her feel beautiful and desirable.

In the 1800s corsets were used to create the ultimate silhouette with a tiny waist that men could literally put their hands around. The brassiere entered women?s fashion in the 1930s.

Then of course in the 1960s, burning the bra was the done thing as lingerie, and the bra in particular, were seen as instruments of feminine oppression. But the love affair was soon rekindled when the fairer sex once again rediscovered the beauty and utility of delicate lingerie.

A love match

According to a 2006 report by the French Fashion Institute, French women spend nearly 20 percent of their annual clothing budget on lingerie, pushing overall sales of the flimsy undergarments to ?2.6-billion. And a follow up study revealed that British women were outbuying their French counterparts in the lingerie department.

The allure of chocolate and lingerie cannot be overestimated ? it?s a love match that entices every woman at some point in her life.