Ionithermie treatment

The ideal treatment for those people who've successfully shed the pounds and need help to tone and firm

Ionithermie claims to be the ideal treatment for those people who have successfully shed the pounds yet still need help to tone and firm.

Volunteer Sam Lucas

Sam Lucas wants to sport a slimmer body for the summer holidays. For two weeks she's received Ionithermie body treatments to help her tone up. 

Sam's story - "Please help me before my holiday to Lanzarote later this year. Since turning 30 last year and successfully giving up smoking I have put on a stone in weight, seemingly all in the middle! I have had stretch marks since giving birth 7 years ago but they never really bothered me until now, the extra stone has made so much difference and I will not wear a bikini this year without help. My stomach is a wobbly saggy mess. I am 5 foot 6 (and a half!) and now weigh 9 stone 13, which isn't really overweight just heavier than I like. I have been going to the gym but my stomach is no better and to make it worse I am now getting my first cellulite, surely I can't be on the decline already! I wanted to enjoy my flirty thirties not hate my flabby thirties!"

Ionithermie hip & thigh sculpture
It's equivalent to 600 steps in 30 minutes on the Stairmaster. In other words, it's a simple shortcut that's more cakewalk that catwalk.

Here's the low-down on our Hip & Thigh Sculpture
1. Treatment starts with a full rubdown and body scrub using hot mitts and a verbena scented exfoliating cream. It not only revs up circulation (so it warms you up better than a boy toy) but sweeps away dead cells to prepare skin for our kick-ass ampoules and gels.

2.  A thermal clay and algae mask goes over the areas to be treated, but this isn't only good for pear-shaped hips and heavy thighs but also puffy knees and flabby tums.

3. Your mood gets as much of a lift as your bum, thanks to the addition of pine aromatherapy oil, which is stimulating and diuretic (great for those water-retention days), and cypress oil (which revs up circulation, tones the skin and balances hormones). By the time the treatment is over, you'll have a serene smile like a porcelain doll.

4. Before you lie back and think of Toytown, pads are placed on the outer thighs and inner knees.

5. While the rhythmic electrical pulses get your muscles moving for the next 30 minutes, there's a pleasurable pressure-point massage to the face and scalp.

6. After half an hour, the now-hardened clay cast is peeled off and thrown away like last year's model, while your newly-trimmed hips, thighs and stomach are now smoother, firmer, tighter, and perkier - and the most bootilicious in Toytown.

While a single session gets noticeable improvements, an average course of five is recommended, with home-care products to maintain benefits. Treatment time: 75 minutes. Price: From approximately £45 - £60 per session. Available at salons nationwide.

Feeling "strange"

Since having some of the treatments, Sam describes them as "really strange!" ...A mixture of mud and electrodes on your body. She says they are not relaxing at all - you couldn't fall asleep during! It actually can be quite uncomfortable, she added. Sam says there is a difference - not a huge amount but noticable to her. She says her stomach has definitely reduced a bit and feels slightly more toned.