Daily Mail - 16 June 2008

NIP AND TUCK PANTS

Can a pair of such shorts REALLY let you permanently lose inches without plastic surgery, exercise or dieting?

It's the stuff of which dreams are made - a way to lose inches while sitting around in our pants.

But that's exactly what the makers of the Lipo Contour briefs claim their product can do. In only 12 weeks, the shorts apparently refine and lift the body and take inches off the hips and thighs, without the wearer having to go for a single, panting jog.

Sales of the stretchy pants - which look like a pair of particularly snug cycle shorts, have doubled since they were introduced last year.

Like the Spanx pants beloved of celebrities such as Katie Holmes and Gwyneth Paltrow, the briefs have an immediate shaping effect, smoothing down the hips and thighs and sucking in stomachs.

But if worn for eight hours a day for eight to twelve weeks, women might experience more permanent results.

The elastic shorts have two thin, tight layers of mesh fabric over problem areas, according to the designer, Italian cosmetic surgeon Professor Marco Gasparotti. He says, that the micro massage action of which the layers increases blood circulation and helps to break down fatty deposits and therefore smoothes out cellulite.

By assisting the body's lymphatic drainage process the pants also help to eliminate toxins from the body.

The garment, which is specifically designed for women's bodies, was originally meant to be worn by patients recovering from liposuction and lipo Contour treatments. But then the designers realised that it had inch-loss effects of its own. Now, it is available to all women, and can be worn under clothing to work and even to the gym while working out. The product will work without exercise but a little bit of gym time can help. It works more effectively the more active you are. A very active person might see results in four weeks.
The garment is considered particularly suitable for new mothers keen to whittle themselves back to their pregnancy figure.

Case Study

GINA Grundy says she lost inches from her waist, hips and thighs after using the Lipo Contour pants for four weeks. I went from a size 12-14 to a size 10, she said. It has given me a new lease of life. It gives you so much more confidence especially as an older woman. Mrs Grundy, 46 a garden designer lives in Barnett, North London, with her husband Ron, a postman and children Danny 18 and Sarah 12.

The weight crept on gradually and I went up and down trying various diets. It was especially hard after having children, she said. I tried my summer shorts on from last year and they are almost falling off me! It has also improved my skin texture. I don't think you can get rid of cellulite completely but it's definitely improved. Mrs Grundy lost an inch from her waist and two inches from her hips. Each thigh was diminished by one and a half inches while the circumference above her knee was an inch smaller.

I'd always been unhappy with my lumpy thighs and flabby bottom, said Mrs Grundy, I'd tried various ways to shift the weight - aerobic classes to diets, cycling and swimming, and I'd even considered liposuction. She was approached to test the pants after signing up to receive information about weight loss products on an internet website.

I admit that I was dubious to start with - I couldn't understand how a pair of pants could help you lose inches. But in just a month I could see a huge difference. Now I don't feel so self-conscious about wearing a bikini. The one draw back was the effect that the pants had on her husband. He described them as the best form of contraception he had ever seen.