Lipo in a Jar.(cellulite cream)

Lipo in a Jar

CAFFEINE BUZZ Anyone willing to settle for fleeting results can grab virtually any tube of cellulite cream. Caffeine has been in most formulas for good reason: It has been proven to work by draining excess fluid from fat tissue. Caffeine "temporarily dehydrates fat cells, making them look smaller," says Leslie Baumann, dermatologist and director of the University of Miami Cosmetic Center. Certain marine extracts are thought to smooth the puckering in the same way. Carrageenan and alginic acid are two compounds that "can conceivably draw water into the skin, giving it the appearance of being more firm," says Howard Fein, a Palos Verdes, California, dermatologist. "[But] the effects, if they occur, last 24 hours or less."

FAT BURNERS If shrinking fat temporarily sounds tempting, actually rubbing away unwanted inches for good is truly tantalizing. The latest ingredient to cause a frisson in the lab is forskolin, derived from a root used for centuries in Ayurvedic medicine to treat asthma and heart disease. Forskolin has been shown to trigger lipolysis in the laboratory, a process that causes fat cells to release their own fatty acids, which are safely expelled from the body, according to David Heber, director of the UCLA Center for Human Nutrition. In his studies, women who applied a lab-made forskolin cream to one thigh twice a day for two months lost up to two inches more than they did on the control thigh. "Forskolin is only one of several compounds that stimulates lipolysis when applied topically," Heber says. "Caffeine is another." Osmotics and Estee Lauder blend both forskolin and caffeine into their anti-cellulite potions. Retinol has been shown to keep fat cells from maturing in laboratory tests done by Neutrogena. And conjugated linoleic acid speeds up lipolysis, according to studies by Estee Lauder on its Body Performance products. But doctors tend to scoff at the idea that any ingredient can sink far enough into the skin to affect the fat and connective bands underneath. "Since cellulite is mostly a structural problem of the tissue beneath the skin, I don't expect to see anything soon that would be capable of penetrating to the depth of the problem -- let alone have any effect," says Richard Glogau, clinical professor of dermatology at the University of California, San Francisco. But at least one company, Osmotics, claims to have broken that skin-penetration barrier. Its Lipoduction cream is the first formula with a delivery system, called ethosomes, similar to those in topical drugs, says Francine Porter, the company's president. The ethosomes encapsulate key ingredients like caffeine and forskolin, allowing them to penetrate the skin's surface more effectively than other cellulite creams, according to Osmotics research.

THIN SCENTS Circumventing the skin-penetration issue entirely, several new creams instead focus on the sense of smell. These potions have a sharp, distinctive fragrance -- and it's not meant to make your thighs smell pretty. Both Shiseido Body Creator and Decleor Slimming Aroma Duo contain a blend of grapefruit, fennel, pepper, and tarragon oils, which is supposed to trip the sympathetic nerve. That nerve activates body's "fight or flight" response, mainly through the release ...