The gluteus maximus is a muscle which almost no man or woman can have enough of, simply because it makes the butt area look strong, beautifully curvy and sexy. However, some people would prefer to have just a toned butt but not too toned or big. How can one do that? It’s simple. Do lots of intensive resistance exercise two to three times a week, for several weeks. And when you reach the stage where your muscles don’t just tone but they start growing bigger, stop and switch to maintenance resistance training for that area, once every two weeks…

This is a common question: “I thought that cellulite only affects the thighs and bum, how come I have it on my arms, stomach and back?” Indeed, cellulite primarily appears on back of thighs, front of thighs and buttocks. But it is sometimes is is also visible on the arms, calves, stomach, flanks, sides of back and even on the breasts. Why is this the case?

Many of our clients ask us a lot of questions relating to skin firmness: collagen, elastin, skin tightness, skin elasticity, collagen powders, skin tightening treatments and creams, how to increase skin elasticity, and of course, cellulite. Here is a concise guide on collagen, elastin and how these proteins affect skin firmness, elasticity and cellulite. Skin is made primarily of rigid protein-based fibres such as collagen and fibronectin and elastic protein-based fibres, such as elastin and fibrillin. Collagen and fibronectin give firmness/tightness to skin and other tissues, while elastin and fibrillin provide elasticity.

So this is what makes a cellulite cream: a fast absorbable cream formulation with - ideally a high concentration of) anti-cellulite active ingredients in it. It’s as simple as that. Without anti-cellulite active ingredients - or with very little in the way of active ingredients - we are talking about a simple body moisturiser. I am sorry to break it to you, but 99% of the so-called cellulite creams on the market are exactly that, basically a body moisturiser…

In August 2018 another young woman died due to complications arising from the so-called “Brazilian butt lift” (BBL) cosmetic procedure. Leah Cambridge suffered three heart attacks caused by fat embolism, i.e. fat from the fat implant crossing into the blood vessels and blocking her heart arteries…

This is a common question many people ask about cellulite treatments or creams. Unfortunately, many people believe that by some kind of very expensive magic they can create permanence on their legs when nothing, absolutely nothing in the entire universe, life overall and human life is permanent…

Deep-acting, high-power radiofrequency and deep-acting, high-power ultrasound cavitation are the two most effective SAFE technologies for cellulite reduction and skin tightening (far more effective and safe than e.g. RF microneedling or HIFU). Depth of treatment depends on the type of ultrasound or RF equipment you use, the settings you apply and even the contact medium you apply on the skin. Power depends on the equipment you use and the settings you apply…

At the time of first writing this article (February 2024) a lot was written about how ultra-processed foods can cause heart disease, cancer and undermine health overall. But what about cellulite? We have made it clear on this blog that there is a big overlap between Western civilisation diseases (diabetes, heart disease, cancer etc) and cellulite. Sure, cellulite does not kill but the same things that cause these diseases to a large extent also cause cellulite. There is no complete overlap but there is a quite extensive one. Ultra-processed foods (UPF), i.e. the exact opposite for fresh, clean foods, rob food from all its nutrients to leave almost empty calories and various chemicals…

Cellular senescence, literally meaning “cell aging”, is the process by which cells stop dividing and enter a senile stage characterised by dysfunction and the spreading of inflammation. Cellular senescence leads to the production of pro-inflammatory mediators that can spread inflammation to thousands of other cells in the vicinity of a group of senescent cells or even throughout the body. Cells normally enter cellular senescence after approximately 50 cell divisions (mitoses) and this normal process is known as "replicative senescence". When a cell enters senescence it is selected to be cleared by the immune system, in a process called senolysis…

A study has recently reported that coffee could help you lose fat by kickstarting a process called thermogenesis in humans. Thermogenesis is basically the process of burning fat in one of two special types of fat tissue called ‘brown fat’ and ‘beige fat’. But what is brown fat and what in God’s name is beige fat? And did you know that there is also a thing called white fat?

Asiaticoside and the other three centella asiatica active molecules (asiatic acid, madecassic acid, asiaticoside and madecassoside) are known for their multiple action against whole body ageing, skin ageing and cellulite. In this new study…

Light therapy, also known as phototherapy and photobiomodulation, is a great aesthetic and wellness therapeutic modality, helping with anything from wound healing, to acne, to mood enhancement to skin anti-ageing. High-power light therapy can also help with cellulite and skin laxity prevention and perhaps a little bit with reduction, but its effect comes nowhere near to that of deep-acting, high-power cavitation and deep-acting, high-power ultrasound radiofrequency, the strongest SAFE...

Although with cellulite fat in the hypodermis is typically characterised by chronic, low grade inflammation and fibrosis (like a lot of adipose tissue does), it is not health threatening or an actual disease per se. Cellulitis, on the other hand, is a bacterial infection of the hypodermis by bacteria. It manifests as diffuse redness on the surface of the skin, it can be health threatening and it usually has to be treated by antibiotics…

Deep-acting, high-power radiofrequency provided under at intensity just under the pain threshold is the most effective SAFE skin tightening and cellulite reduction treatment available today (superficial or low-power RF doesn’t work). Radiofrequency works by stimulating collagen contraction, collagen cell proliferation, collagen and elastin…

Oxidative damage is an important aspect of cellulite, with the other six being fibrosis, skin laxity, glycation, poor microcirculation, inflammation and superficial fat accumulation. Oxidative damage or free radical damage refers to cell damage by ‘reactive oxygen species’ (ROS) / free radicals, such as OO- (superoxide radical), -OH (hydroxyl radical) and H2O2 (hydrogen peroxide)…

Weight gain leads to excess skin to accommodate the extra fat volume. As a result, when weight is lost skin looks loose. The best way to prevent skin laxity after weight loss is to have a skin tightening treatment whilst you lose weight. Of course, if you have already lost the weight and have skin laxity, you can always have a course of treatments then, but it is always best to arrive at your ideal weight with the least possible skin laxity. The most effective SAFE skin tightening technology is deep-acting, high-power radiofrequency…

The last few years there is the generalised perception by the public that if a procedure is very painful, very medicalised, very unsafe, very hyped up, very “instant”, very expensive or all the above, the rewards of taking the risk with such a procedure will be higher and cellulite or skin looseness will apparently disappear “forever” (there is no forever in this universe, let alone the human body). RF microneedling fits all the above requirements and people flock to have it for both body and face. Hence all the RF microneedling horror stories in the media lately, including one of the latest RF microneedling disaster stories here…

The most important aspect of cellulite is fat accumulation in the hypodermis (deepest skin layer). Everything else (water retention, skin laxity, fibrosis etc) is also important, but secondary. Consequently hypodermal fat reduction is the most important step in reducing cellulite. The process by which fat is broken down in fat cells for subsequent release into the bloodstream is called lipolysis…

Dark chocolate is healthy, right? Dark chocolate has a reputation of being “healthy”, especially for the heart, and especially in relation to milk chocolate and white chocolate. Many of the clients that present at our clinic say that they consume dark chocolate regularly, since apparently it is “healthy” and it won’t affect cellulite. But does the hype stand to scrutiny? Here we present all the aspects of dark chocolate in relation to health and appearance…

The main thing that radiofrequency does is to tighten skin. This happens via two mechanisms: RF stimulates existing collagen contraction; RF stimulates new collagen and elastin synthesis. In fact radiofrequency is the best way to achieve both collagen contraction and production. Any other technique is simply not effective enough, unsafe or both.

When it comes to skin tightening / toning / lifting, radiofrequency is the only game in town.

Several aromatherapy oils have applications for cellulite reduction, due to their circulation boosting effects and in some cases even due their lipolytic effects (limited research exists on the latter, though). Examples of such potentially anti-cellulite essential oils include all the pine/fir/cypress essential oils, all the citrus essential oils and menthol-containing essential oils, among others, when used in HIGH concentrations...

This has been a very common question at the clinic throughout the years. Sometimes there is truth in that statement/question, while sometimes there isn’t. Let’s have a look. Most women, when they compare themselves to other women, believe that they are less good looking and that their skin blemishes, excess weight etc are really bad - when in reality they are not nearly as bad. This is in direct contrast to men, who actually typically believe that they are much better looking, slimmer, smarter, successful etc, than they really are…

I purchased a red light device just to see if it'd take care of some keloid issues I had and am amazed! Now these buggers are collagen based. I still cannot figure out how one reduces collagen rather than just turn off the TGF-beta driven collagen factory. Red light, I'm reading, can also increase transcription of the collagen degrading matrix metalloproteinase 1 (MMP1). I'm still trying to figure things out. In your treatments, do you think you get rid of the cellulite adipose tissue first or the collagen matrix that it lives in?…

When you suffer from post-lipo fibrosis you want to have a treatment that actually breaks down fibrotic collagen (i.e. progressively stronger massage and/or ultrasound) rather than one that creates more fibrotic collagen. On the other hand, RF microneedling is also based on burning the skin at 60-90ºC (depending on the machine used) and creating not that well “controlled” fibrotic collagen/“neocollagenesis” on the hypodermis and dermis. There is a reason that microneedling is called ‘collagen induction therapy’ and RF microneedling goes one step further in producing fibrotic collagen by combining needling with extreme RF heat…

Blue light LED treatment is mainly used for acne reduction and psoriasis. Blue light acts on porphyrins inside bacteria (including the Cutibacterium acnes bacteria, which cause most forms of acne), to inactivate them. Blue light is ideally combined with red and infrared light, which are known to stimulate skin…

Hundreds of salons and clinics in London now offer cellulite reduction and skin tightening with some sort of machine and everyone seems to be claiming instant, amazing and permanent results that will last until the end of time with something like 1.5 miracle sessions, at a cost of anything from £75-£3,500 each. Obviously, it cannot be all true. And with each of them using a different machine and technique, they cannot all be right.