Dr Feelgood: Can coffee cure cellulite?

Your weekly health and beauty check-up

Under the microscope: Pevonia Green Coffee Cullulite Wrap (from £55, see www.pevonia.co.uk for participating spas)

In theory: The health-conscious know that caffeinated drinks such as coffee are one of the main culprits responsible for the dreaded orange-peel. Applied topically, however, coffee has had the beauty world abuzz with its dimple-destroying ability. The latest salon superfood is green coffee, which skincare company Pevonia has used as the main ingredient in this body wrap that it claims stimulates the breakdown of fat while firming, slimming and smoothing skin tone and texture.

In practice: Therapist Roxanne cheerily buffed Dr F with a gentle exfoliator before applying a cellulite-busting serum and smothering her in green goo. Dr F was then wrapped in clingfilm and foil and given a soothing head massage while she gently marinated for 20 minutes. The cream is cold on application but heats up alarmingly after a few seconds (busting those pesky fat cells?) so prepare to sweat during this treatment.

Observations: Body wraps always leave you slimmer in the short-term simply through water loss and Dr F noted the reduction of her waist and hip measurements by an inch-and-a-half following the treatment (though sadly she was back to her standard stats a day or two later). However, the improvement in skin tone and texture was marked.

Analysis: It's treatments such as this that make you realise why pampered celebs (who are in the salon as often as most of us are in the supermarket) look so glossy. Although Dr F doubts whether slathering your skin in green coffee is really going to get to work on your fat cells (especially if it's a one-off), there's no doubt that the exfoliation, massage and moisturising will improve your skin sufficiently to camouflage the orange peel a little.

Prescription: This is a quick-fix for feeling more confident in your party dress. But if you're looking for a permanent solution to cellulite, you're not going to get it here.

Further experiments: It's not just coffee that's good for your skin – Ole Henriksen's African Red Tea treatments for face and body have fantastic anti-ageing properties (www.olehenriksen.com).