Behind an unassuming grey gate on one of Kingston's busiest roads, female executives and pampered housewives alike make time to slip in and out for a Hollywood treatment quickly rising in popularity on local soil.

Fashion and beauty magazines including Allure, Glamour, Vogue, Essence, Fitness and celebrity tabloids like Star have long ago revealed the cellulite smoothing Endermologie treatment.

Brown's progress from her first measurement, to treatment #21

And while it has been offered in Jamaica for the past five years, Tres Joli Ltd's Shelley Hendrickson has stepped up the ante, acquiring the latest FDA approved LPG machine on the market putting Jamaicans on par with A-listers everywhere.

It all sounds too fabulously good to be true. so is it? all woman spoke with a 53 year-old client, Mary Brown* who put her scepticism aside to give Endermologie a try.

Medical miracle?
Developed by Frenchman Louis Paul Guitay looking to standardise treatments, to soften the appearance of scars he had received in a car accident, endermologie works to massage fat cells trapped under the surface of the skin, thus kneading out the dimpled look of cellulite. "It doesn't 'get rid' of cellulite," cautions Hendrickson. "Nothing can do that, the cells that are trapped together causing dimples are massaged and freed, so that they no longer clump together, so it reduces the appearance of the cellulite."

Early in 2005 Brown decided to give the treatment a try to tone her stomach area. "Well, I did it because of someone that I know who had done it and they told me about it. Of course, I said in the beginning that I didn't think that it could work, so to be truthful, I went without much expectations," she said. A regular gym-goer, Brown thought the non-invasive treatment would help along results from her exercise routine. "I am not a surgery person - tummy tucks, liposuction. I'm not really into going under the knife," she said.

After coming in for a consultation, Brown was photographed and measured by Hendrickson with a specially calibrated machine. "It has a calliper between the legs so that there's no cheating with standing further or closer apart," said Hendrickson, who re-measures clients in intervals after the eighth treatment to monitor progress.

The treatment consists of 35-minute sessions using the LPG machine to 'knead' the skin at different levels of intensity, increasing with every treatment. all woman tried the machine that felt like light pinches or pulls as it rolled across the skin.

"To me it felt like I was getting one of those massages with a machine, I didn't find it uncomfortable and I think it helped my circulation as well," said Brown, whose comments were echoed by Hendrickson.

Hendrickson noted that the LPG machines were also known for their circulatory benefits. A year later, Brown still goes for treatment albeit with less frequency as she first did and would recommend Endermologie to anyone based on her own amazing results, as shown in these photos. "I think I've lost overall about seven to eight inches. and I saw results, say around three inches lost after the eighth treatment," said Brown who still exercises regularly. Since the treatment she drinks much more water per day, as Hendrickson recommends during treatments.

"I tell all my clients to drink at least eight glasses of water a day, and I can tell if they skip some because then the skin feels too tight when I work."
Brown has kept the inches off since her 22nd treatment, and although she doesn't come in as often as she should, believes that maintaining a healthy lifestyle is part of her success.

"I think that it worked really well, once you do the things that you're supposed to do like drinking a lot of water, then it will work fine," she said.

"Like any other surgery, liposuction or so, the fat will come back if you don't adopt a certain lifestyle," she said.

With Hendrickson's clientele steadily growing, and largely via an effective word of mouth network, as shown in these pictures something must be working. Treatments are arranged in packages, with a minimum of 14, and start at $3,000 plus GCT.

*Client's real name has been changed to protect privacy.

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