For years I have been looking forward to getting back to work panty as it gets cooler. On the beach I wrapped myself in sarongs and flowy maxi dresses and avoided shorts.
Not because I like the look, but because of my cellulite.
The condition affects up to 90 percent of women – and at 52 years old, I am no exception. What started as a few faint dimples in the backs of my legs in my late 30s has grown into a full-blown orange peel, wrapping around my thighs and creeping up to the tops of my knees.
As a beauty editor, I’ve been testing cellulite treatments for more than two decades, and until now, the cheapest, low-tech daily body brushing has been the most effective, providing mild texture improvements. But nothing Real helped.
So I was excited to become the first British journalist to try a brand new injectable treatment, Alidya, developed by Italian plastic surgeon Professor Pasquale Motolese. Would Alidya – which has been available in Europe for a while but is relatively new in the UK – give me the confidence to wear gym shorts this summer?
Before we get to the injections, a little (somewhat gross) biology. Cellulite is a structural change under the skin in which fat pushes upward while fibrous bands that connect the skin to muscle pull downward, creating the familiar dimpled area.
Hormones, genetics, circulation and collagen, the protein that makes skin firm and resilient, all play a role. Women are especially sensitive to this because the ligaments under our skin run vertically, making it easier for fat to bulge out between them. In men, these fibers form a criss-cross pattern that holds the fat in place more evenly.
Like most things, menopause doesn’t help: fluctuating hormones cause more fat to be deposited around the thighs and hips and the skin to thin, making any dimples more visible. They also deplete the body’s collagen stores.
Olivia Falcon was the first British journalist to try a brand new injectable treatment, Alidya, developed by Italian plastic surgeon Professor Pasquale Motolese
Before and after images of Olivia’s treatment show her skin looks significantly less patchy and has less pronounced dimpling
Some researchers also believe that low-grade inflammation – from stress, poor diet and environmental toxins – can play a role in damaging the skin’s supporting structures over time.
That makes Alidya so interesting. Rather than simply trying to tighten the skin or shrink fat cells – like many treatments I’ve had in the past – it claims to target some of the biological changes associated with cellulite, including oxidative stress and fibrosis – the gradual stiffening of those collagen bands under the skin.
I went to Wigmore Medical in central London, where I met aesthetic doctor Anna Baker, owner of the Retreatery clinic in East Grinstead, West Sussex, and one of the few British doctors trained in Alidya.
She examined my thighs and told me I had moderate grade 2 cellulite, skin that shows visible dimpling when standing that often disappears when lying down. (There are three grades: grade 1 is mild dimpling and grade 3 appears more severe on a deeply padded mattress). “Grade 2 cellulite is exactly the type Alidya was designed for,” she said.
I asked the obvious question: Would it really work?
Anna was careful not to overpromise. “Results may vary,” she said. ‘But in the right patient we do see a major improvement in skin texture and firmness. It works gradually by improving the underlying environment of the tissue. Most patients need around seven treatments (from £250 each), spaced a week apart.
‘You should see gradual improvements with each treatment, but you can expect full results a few weeks after the last.’ Alidya is administered through a series of very small injections (I had about 70 injections on each buttocks, cheeks and upper thighs) just under the skin using a fine needle. The solution itself contains a combination of amino acids to help restore skin’s resilience, antioxidants such as calcium ascorbate to neutralize oxidative stress in tissues, and other agents that help clear and eliminate heavy metals that build up in tissues and slow lymphatic drainage.
Anna warned me that I would get a ‘pins and needles’ feeling, but for me the injections were bearable.
An esthetician told Olivia she had moderate grade 2 cellulite, in which the skin shows visible dimpling when standing that often disappears when lying down
After eight weeks and six treatments, Olivia went on holiday to Sweden and said the ‘orange peel’ effect on her outer thighs was gone
The whole process took about 40 minutes. Towards the end, my thighs had what looked like a constellation of mosquito bites, but it didn’t hurt. Over the next 24 hours, the area remained bruised and tender for about three days. Anna assured me that this was normal and would go away and prescribed skin creams and collagen drinks designed to soothe persistent bruising.
“I didn’t expect any immediate change,” Anna said. “The first thing people usually notice is a slight improvement in skin tone and puffiness after a few weeks,” she said. ‘Structural changes take longer.’
By week three, the skin on the back of my thighs looked significantly less patchy. The dimples were still there, but felt less pronounced, as if someone had ironed them. Eight weeks (and six treatments) later I was confronted with the holiday test. I was going to Sweden and would be surrounded by ultra-fit Scandinavians, so it was a big one.
Standing in the bathroom of our coastal cabin, I saw my reflection in the harsh Scandinavian daylight – the kind that shows absolutely everything and forgives nothing. The cellulite was faintly present, but it looked less dense and less shadowy. The skin had a slightly more even tone and the worst orange peel effect on the outer thighs had disappeared. I felt lighter and clearer.
I wore shorts to breakfast, which felt liberating. No one said anything or let their look linger in disgust – believe me, it’s happened before – and that was enough for a win.
Alidya is not a panacea. Science shows this to be true No clinically proven ‘cure’ for cellulite. But for me, it changed the texture and appearance enough to make a visible, confidence-inspiring difference.
After my course of six treatments, I am signed up for bi-monthly booster sessions, which are recommended to maintain results. Yes, it’s an expensive new habit. But without them, I can imagine the skin returning to its previous state. I have finally accepted that cellulite is not something to be conquered, but it can certainly be improved.
