the last word on a product that claims to remove cellulite in 9 minutes



Smoke & mirrors:
this incredible transformation
apparently took place in 9 minutes.
But what actually happened?



Seasoned Leg Room visitors will know that this blog is not destination rant. But as a beauty journalist with a passion for leg care, The Legologist has firm views about how the beauty business best serves consumers. And one of the observations made while writing this blog, indeed while writing about beauty generally, is the way decent beauty products, developed from often quite impressive science, are increasingly misrepresented by marketing. In fact sometimes it seems that the marketing team hasn't even spoken to the company whose interests its guards, let alone the lab that developed the product, because their take on the concept is so off the scale in terms of what has actually been achieved. Take Adonia LegTone. This is a product which has impressive superficial firming benefits on the skin - I've tried it. It's a product which, it is claimed, both 'removes 47% of cellulite in 9 minutes' and 'removes the appearance of 47% of cellulite in 9 minutes', depending on the information source. Obviously there is a big difference between both claims. Last year, I explained this to Adonia's marketing team, yet every time I have Googled the word 'cellulite' since I have come face-to-face with an ad for Adonia LegTone accompanied by the slogan 'removes 47% of cellulite in 9 minutes'. Then, when I got another press release recently telling me that LegTone is a 'miracle serum which has been proven to banish cellulite by 47% in just 9 minutes' I asked for the clinicals. You can read them here. Don't worry, the tests (they were done for performance in 9 and 42 minutes) are neither long nor complicated to understand, but what's interesting is that both are entitled 'an investigation into the efficacy of topically applied product to reduce the appearance of cellulite in 9/42 days'. You'll also see that the conclusions to these tests, sponsored by Adonia, were drawn by comparing photos (as above) using a method called the Fitzpatrick Evaluation Scale, a '10 point monadic scale' which basically compares light and dark shadowing as a way of seeing whether the subject's cellulite has improved or not. It does not make clear that the 47% of cellulite is lost from both legs or just one - indeed the tests do not prove that Adonia LegTone removes cellulite at all. Visual 'proof' like this is not hard clinical evidence, but then I don't think Adonia's scientists were looking for that in the first place. When I asked them for a quote I got this from a Dr Marc Franco: "Adonia LegTone removes the appearance of cellulite by 47% in 9 minutes". So there you have it. Dr Franco knows the limitations and achievements of his product. He evidently knows the responsibilities he has to consumers too. It's just a shame his voice has been drowned by overzealous marketeers - Adonia could have had quite a credible product on their hands.