THE TREATMENT: After a massage with botanical creams, a detoxifying thermal clay and algae mask are applied to flush out toxins.
The clay channels a mild electric current which is said to boost cell production and make the muscles contract and firm up. You also use a stimulating serum and gel at home. Five weekly one-hour treatments are recommended.
WHAT IS IT LIKE? The clay feels warm and there's a lovely smell of pine aromatherapy oil. When the faradic current is applied, the involuntary muscle contractions feel strange, like doing a workout without moving, but it isn't unpleasant.
RESULT: No difference after one treatment but after three my skin felt smoother and after five I could not feel the lumps any more, although you could still see dimpling on my thighs if I tensed my muscles.
By the end of the course, 90 per cent of the cellulite had gone. I can't wait to get my shorts on and show off my legs.
COST: £45 per session; £225 for a course of five.
CONTACT: 01753 833900. _____________________________________
KARIN HERZOG'S SILHOUETTE CREAM
TESTER: Kate Walker, right, 22, a nurse, is single and lives in Blakedown, Worcs.
THE PROBLEM: I've had cellulite on the backs and sides of my thighs since my mid-teens. The skin feels lumpy and gritty. My circulation is sluggish and I don't like drinking water even though I know it helps to remove cellulitecausing toxins.
Since I cut out snacks and sweets a year ago, the cellulite has improved slightly, but I still have lumps. I'm desperate to get rid of it.
THE TREATMENT: Kylie Minogue, Sharon Stone and Uma Thurman are fans of Karin Herzog's Silhouette Cream. It is infused with oxygen to stimulate the body's circulation, which helps eliminate cellulite-causing toxins.
The improvement is said to be accelerated when used with Herzog's Tonus B12 - a body toner with vitamin B12, green tea and avocado, which is said to energise the skin. The products should be used twice a day for at least a month.
WHAT IS IT LIKE? I was told to use light, sweeping movements to apply the white cream but not to massage it in.
When first applied, it felt unpleasant, like stinging nettles, but after a few days I no longer noticed any discomfort.
After the cream has dried for ten minutes, you massage in the Tonus B12. I used both treatments twice a day for a month, after my morning shower and before bed.
RESULT: My skin felt silky after one day, and a week later my thighs felt firmer and looked smoother.
By the second week, my skin was less mottled and brighter. By the end of the month, I could barely feel any bumps or lumps.
I'm so pleased that I'm going to keep using the products - and for once I won't feel self-conscious baring my thighs on the beach.
COST: Silhouette Cream, £28.50 for 150ml. Tonus B12, £26 for 150ml.
CONTACT: 0800 0562428. ______________________________________
OXYGEN CELLULITE TREATMENT
TESTER: Sabire Djamgoz, 48, a company director, is married to Mustafa, 50, a professor of medicine, and lives in North London.
THE PROBLEM: For the past three years - since I took strong painkillers for a neck injury - I've had cellulite on my thighs. I think it was caused by a toxic build-up. In the past year, it's turned from dimples to crevices.
I have tried scrubbing, brushing, creams, sanding with a pumice stone, a personal trainer and the Atkins Diet but nothing has touched it. My husband finds it amusing but I loathe it.
THE TREATMENT: Jennifer Aniston and Demi Moore love this therapy in which pressurised oxygen pumps anticellulite and body firming ingredients deep into the skin.
While you inhale pure oxygen through a mask, an oxygen booster cream is massaged in to the problem areas to encourage cells to regenerate and to stimulate the blood supply. Ten hour-long treatments are recommended.
WHAT IS IT LIKE? The skin on my thighs was exfoliated using a micro-dermabrasion machine to blow tiny crystals all over my skin and suck them up again. It felt tickly!
After a rich booster cream, the therapist used a small pump - which looks like a pen - to deliver pressurised oxygen into the lumpy areas. There was only a cool sensation and the sound of a puff of air. The treatment ended with a cooling serum and firming lotion.
I felt very pampered. For 30 minutes of the hour, I was inhaling pure oxygen, which relaxed and energised me at the same time. It was an incredibly uplifting feeling.
RESULT: Having tried so many treatments without success, I didn't expect this therapy to work. So I was amazed when I noticed a change in the texture of the skin after the first treatment: it looked slightly smoother and less crater-like.
After three weeks, the big bumps - I call them the 'ravines' - were far less noticeable. By the end of the month, there was a 70 per cent improvement in the skin on my thighs.
I'm so pleased with the results that I'm going to have another six sessions.
COST: £40 per treatment; £400 for a full course.
CONTACT: 01775 722 243 ________________________________
LIPOCONTOUR
TESTER: Nicola Capacci, 33, a finance analyst, is married to Robert, 34, a project manager. They live in Staines, Middlesex, with their children Luce, four, and Mia, four months.
THE PROBLEM: Since my early 20s, I've had bumpy, squidgy skin on the backs of my legs and bottom but it's become more like cottage cheese since having my children.
I hate wearing shorts, and on holiday I wrap myself in a sarong the whole time.
The cellulite doesn't seem to bother my husband, but it's left me with very little confidence about my body.
I've tried creams, detox diets and exercise, but with two young children to look after it's difficult to focus on myself.
THE TREATMENT: Lipocontour claims to speed up 'lipolysis' (the body's natural ability to eliminate fat) and flush out excess water and toxins that are said to cause cellulite.
The so-called magic ingredient is Kephaslim. It also contains caffeine, ivy plant extracts and red algae, which stimulate the circulation.
A course of ten one-hour treatments is recommended.
WHAT IS IT LIKE? It was so relaxing because all I had to do was lie on a couch and be pampered.
My legs and buttocks were exfoliated with a soft wax containing papaya extract and a warm metal ball was rolled over the problem areas to encourage absorption.
Then I was wrapped in plastic film infused with the Lipo-contour gel and left to 'cook' for 20 minutes while the therapist gave me a lovely scalp massage.
When the wrap was removed, the gel residue was massaged in and I was sprayed with the Kephaslim. I was told to avoid alcohol but drink lots of water to help flush my system.
RESULT: No difference at all after the first treatment but after three weeks, my skin was considerably smoother. By the end of the course, my legs and bottom looked much more even.
The cellulite was still faintly visible but I didn't mind too much as I'd also lost three inches from around the problem area. Fantastic!
COST: £40 per treatment; £400 for the full course.
CONTACT: 01784 259 988. |
