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How to Get Rid of Cellulite

Here's a cheap and cheerful solution to your cellulite woes. Daily skin brushing can help soften and smooth out orange-peel thighs in days. And you'll soon see the results.

You'd be forgiven for thinking that you need a vast budget, and a coterie of beauty therapists and personal trainers to really banish cellulite.

Judging by some of those paparazzi shots of celebrities and glamourpusses baring cellulite-stricken thighs, having lots of cash clearly doesn't guarantee you and svelte, smooth behind. In fact one of the most inexpensive ways to tackle a dimply bottom is to give it a good firm brushing.

Most beauty experts and authorities on cellulite agree that regular body brushing can dramatically enhance the texture of your skin and help the dimples appear less noticeable.

The advantages are you can do it every day in the comfort and privacy of your own home, that it takes no more than three to five minutes of your time, and that it costs nothing - well, about £5 for a decent brush. And that you can usually see results within days.

Body brushing can help minimise cellulite in two ways: firstly because it helps remove surface dead cells, which makes the skin on your rear end look smoother and more even textured. Think about how much smoother and more radiant your face looks after you've exfoliated; you get the same effect on your bum too!

Dry skin brushing is also considered an effective way to stimulate circulation and boost lymphatic drainage - both of these systems are believed by some to be major contributing factors to cellulite.

Think about how blotchy and pasty your face looks when you've been sedentary or lolling about lazily for days on end in a centrally heated or air-conditioned room. Compare this to how it looks when you've taken some exercise, washed, exfoliated and patted your skin; boosting your circulation improves skin dramatically.

In fact many experts describe cellulite as a disorder of the lymphatic drainage system and your circulation. When these two body systems work optimally, your circulation delivers oxygen and important nutrients to your cells via blood, and the lymphatic drainage system removes the waste-products.

Think, then, of the healthy fatty tissues on your bottom and thighs; they have a blood supply which provides them with nutrients and oxygen, and a drainage system taking waste-products away.

When this flow of fluid slows down, either because you live the life of a couch potato, or have a very sedentary job, your limbs don't get much action and your skin in that region suffers.

Think of your skin cells that separate the fat cells in your bottom and thighs as bits of elastic. The more sedentary you are, the less nourished they become, and they start become gradually thicker, and less elastic. If you're a confirmed couch potato, the continued sluggish movement of fluid round your body makes these fibres even thicker and tougher.

And, because these fibres lose their elasticity, the fat that lies beneath them ends up bulging out between them, creating the dimples we know as cellulite.

All of this is made even worse by the excess fluid in the bottom and thigh area - which is another result of poor circulation of lymph flow and circulation.

Dry skin brushing, then, can help get your circulation and lymph flowing again. Plus some experts also believe skin brushing helps encourage new skin cells to regenerate and boost collagen production, which in turn helps elasticity.

Convinced? Judge for yourself. Try it every day before your shower or bath and brush your skin in long strokes towards the heart.

How to body-brush:

Start at your feet and brush your soles, toes and ankles and top of each foot gently but firmly with long sweeping movements. Brush the front and back of your lower legs, working towards your knees. Then rest your foot against the bath or a chair and brush from your knees to your upper legs and thighs, waist and buttocks using long smooth strokes. Repeat on both legs.

Many women get cellulite on their upper arms, so don't neglect your upper body. Start at your wrist and brush your inner arm in upward strokes towards your elbow. Then brush the palm of your hand, then the outer side of your hand, and move up towards the back of your arm. Repeat on the other arm. Follow with gentle circular movements over your stomach and chest.

Then shower or jump in the bath to remove the dead surface cells.


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