The Bottom Line |ALLURE July 2006 | page 156 
By Liz Kieger

The Bottom Line

Dimple, pucker-adorable words become less cute when they refer to the thighs. New machines and lotions fight back.


We can split the atom, splice the gene, and scour the surface of the moon. But permanently get rid of cellulite? We're still waiting. Even though the dimpled skin plagues nearly 90% of all women, science is only now coming up with treatments that offer hope.  The latest possibility is a pill containing such trendy ingredients as fish oil and ginkgo biloba that may actually reduce cellulite and girth. The other strategies either attack the problem with heat, which prompts the body to produce more collagen and makes the surface more resistant to the bulging fat cells below, or with massage, to break up the bulky fat pockets manually. The methods are based on exhaustive research on cellulite structure and causes: it occurs when fat cells deep in the skin swell, become encased in connective tissue, and jam up against the skin's surface, causing the dreaded cottage-cheese texture. The cells enlarge from any number of possible causes, including age, stress, dehydration, and genetics. Worsening the situation, tissue bands around the skin become tighter, yanking down over those bulging cells. The current temporary treatments may not be a giant leap for mankind,  but for women seeking smoother skin, they may be a welcome small step.

Pill Case

An effective anti-cellulite pill sounds too good to be true, but it seems as if it may be a real possibility. Two different pills containing combinations of grape-seed extract, borage oil, fish oil, ginkgo biloba reduced 145 study participants' thigh and abdominal circumferences, as well as dimpling of the skin. Howard Maibach, professor of Dermatology at the University of California San Francisco, wrote a preface to four clinical studies of cellulite for the International Journal of Cosmetic Science. He hopes to publish his full assessment in the future, but in the mean time, he praised the studies' scientifically rigorous methodology as "a significant leap forward".

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