June 2019
ELEMIS Targeted Toning Body Moisturiser 200ml £55.20
My wobbly bits aren’t quite so free-spirited now I’ve discovered Elemis’ new body moisturiser, but I wish I’d done my homework a little sooner. Anyone need an unwanted granny swimsuit…?
I BOUGHT a skirted swimsuit. What possessed me? I’m not 19, with the body of a nymph. On holiday I looked like one of those plump Italian grannies you see wallowing in the shallows for hours on end with their chums, all chattering at once. Except without the chums, of course. I had to make do with a husband who could barely suppress his mirth.
Even wriggling into the thing was a monumental challenge - two layers of cripplingly hot stretchy stuff - and drying it after swims took aeons. I binned the thing on day three and spent 60 euros on the only other one-piece I could find on our tiny Greek island - equally unsuitable (frills!) but less bulky. Needs must.
My legs have gone, you see. Not the bottom halves, they’re passable on a good day, with a slathering of fake tan. But the thighs, oh, the thighs. What are they like?
I’ll tell you: concertinas. My mum’s when she hit her 80s. I’ve no idea what happened.
Hence the swim-skirt, for a modicum of coverage. But what I should have been relying on was a tube of Elemis Targeted Toning Body Moisturiser. That's the tragedy of hindsight.
Even more distressingly, I had some on the bathroom shelf back home. Racheal had given me some to try and I’d failed to read the leaflet, which explained that this isn’t just really excellent body moisturiser (although it is) but has clinically-proven credentials on the cellulite-busting front.
Used in combination with a daily massage routine, it’s designed to improve the appearance of those hated dimply bits - and it does, according to the 30 women who trialled it, who all said it visibly reduced the appearance of cellulite after eight weeks of use.
Nigari Salt and Jania Rubens are the magic ingredients here - no, me neither, but ask Racheal and her girls, they’ll know - and they help to tighten, tone and firm up the wobbly bits, but the massage is key to success.
I’d just been slathering it on and thinking, ‘wow, amazing’, because it’s gorgeous, transforming from rich cream to hyper-nourishing oil when you apply it. It’s worked wonders for my sun-exposed limbs, sinks in almost instantly and feels like silk.
Then Amelia mentioned the price, which isn’t insubstantial, and gave me a gentle ticking-off for not using it properly, looking at me as if to say, ‘what are we going to do with you?’
No longer. My homework is done, and the Targeted Toning Body Moisturiser and I are firm friends. I’m treating that tube (a gorgeous deep aquamarine, by the way) with due reverence.
If you’re off on holiday and want to tone up beforehand, give it a try. Take some with you - it’s a beautiful body cream in its own right (try some from the tester tube when you’re next in the salon).
I might never have needed that frilly number if I’d only read up on it as I should.
Conclusion? It’s well worth the suitcase space. And your limbs will love you for it.
