Cellulite creams branded useless
PRODUCTS sold for reducing cellulite are more likely to reduce the bank balance than shrink thighs, according to Health Which? . Tests on ten leading creams found that they had no effect on subcutaneous fat.
The Consumers' Association magazine says that, because cellulite is so little understood, the beauty industry is keen to promote cures for getting rid of it. However, six-week tests by volunteers found that the creams only made the skin feel smoother or softer.
Costs ranged from Pounds 9.95 for 200ml of Boots's brand to Pounds 27 for 200ml of Lancom\366e or Estee Lauder products. A Superdrug cream used in the control cost Pounds 1.99 for 200ml. Each tested cream was put in an unmarked container and the cheap cream, with no claim to reduce cellulite, in an identical one. The volunteers rubbed the cellulite cream on one leg and the cheap product on the other. They reported no difference in the amount of cellulite and four preferred the cheap version.
Claims about the value of the creams varied. Dior did not mention the word cellulite on the packaging of its Svelte Perfect, but said that "very soon the silhouette is refined" and the cream would "reshape the desired areas". Clinique claimed that its Firm Believer reduced the appearance of dimpled orange-skin peel. Elancyl said that its Intimate Minceur would "help significantly reduce the appearance of cellulite". Body Shop made no claims, but called its product Cellulite Massage Oil. Claims by some that the cream would shift fat by breaking it down were dismissed by two Which? dermatologists. No known substance could do this simply by being applied to the skin, they reported.
The Consumers' Association asked the manufacturers for clinical proof that their products worked, but some of the theories put forward "bore no resemblance to any proven facts". Estee Lauder and Clinique sent no evidence.
"Making cellulite disappear with a cream is appealing, but virtually impossible," the magazine says. "We suggest you use caution before spending lots of money on any cellulite treatment. If it sounds to be too good to be true, it probably is."
We know cellulite creams are useless; that's not why we buy them. I have a weakness for the expensive cosmetic counter (although the face rather than the thigh zone is more the focus of my wasted purchases) but it has never occurred to me to believe all the sales jargon and pseudo-medical guff. I enjoy it, but I don't fall for it.
I pay money because the actual payment gives me pleasure; the idiotic, almost illicit, expense is part of the whole deal. But with cellulite creams there is another lure. We all know what makes legs look better: exercise. But faced with that or spending money in the pretence that it will work, there's no contest. If it's a choice between an hour at the gym or a day's wages on a pot of cream, the cream suddenly looks like a most attractive bargain.
The Consumers' Association magazine says that, because cellulite is so little understood, the beauty industry is keen to promote cures for getting rid of it. However, six-week tests by volunteers found that the creams only made the skin feel smoother or softer.
Costs ranged from Pounds 9.95 for 200ml of Boots's brand to Pounds 27 for 200ml of Lancom\366e or Estee Lauder products. A Superdrug cream used in the control cost Pounds 1.99 for 200ml. Each tested cream was put in an unmarked container and the cheap cream, with no claim to reduce cellulite, in an identical one. The volunteers rubbed the cellulite cream on one leg and the cheap product on the other. They reported no difference in the amount of cellulite and four preferred the cheap version.
Claims about the value of the creams varied. Dior did not mention the word cellulite on the packaging of its Svelte Perfect, but said that "very soon the silhouette is refined" and the cream would "reshape the desired areas". Clinique claimed that its Firm Believer reduced the appearance of dimpled orange-skin peel. Elancyl said that its Intimate Minceur would "help significantly reduce the appearance of cellulite". Body Shop made no claims, but called its product Cellulite Massage Oil. Claims by some that the cream would shift fat by breaking it down were dismissed by two Which? dermatologists. No known substance could do this simply by being applied to the skin, they reported.
The Consumers' Association asked the manufacturers for clinical proof that their products worked, but some of the theories put forward "bore no resemblance to any proven facts". Estee Lauder and Clinique sent no evidence.
"Making cellulite disappear with a cream is appealing, but virtually impossible," the magazine says. "We suggest you use caution before spending lots of money on any cellulite treatment. If it sounds to be too good to be true, it probably is."
We know cellulite creams are useless; that's not why we buy them. I have a weakness for the expensive cosmetic counter (although the face rather than the thigh zone is more the focus of my wasted purchases) but it has never occurred to me to believe all the sales jargon and pseudo-medical guff. I enjoy it, but I don't fall for it.
I pay money because the actual payment gives me pleasure; the idiotic, almost illicit, expense is part of the whole deal. But with cellulite creams there is another lure. We all know what makes legs look better: exercise. But faced with that or spending money in the pretence that it will work, there's no contest. If it's a choice between an hour at the gym or a day's wages on a pot of cream, the cream suddenly looks like a most attractive bargain.