“I have studied, researched and provided cellulite treatments for 24 years now, the first 10 years of which with cellulite-specific massage, both manual and mechanical. We now use at the clinic a combination of deep, strong radiofrequency, ultrasound and phototherapy, which is much more effective than massage. However, cellulite massage still has an important role to play, especially when these technologies are not available; when budget is low; or to support the technology based treatments at home. Here I am presenting the principles of a proper cellulite massage and touch on the importance of real cellulite creams and an overall healthy lifestyle.”
The ultimate guide to cellulite treatment at home
Cellulite massage treatment at home | In summary
How to reduce cellulite with proper cellulite massage, a good cellulite cream and 100+ expert tips
Cellulite massages come in all shapes and sizes, from effective to downright ridiculous
A real anti-cellulite massage at home
How to massage cellulite on legs at home - properly
How to choose a real cellulite cream to boost your cellulite massage
Cellulite creams: focus on the active ingredients
100+ more things you can do about cellulite, besides massage and creams: nutrition, exercise, lifestyle
Start reducing cellulite at home now
Cellulite reduction at home: frequently asked questions (FAQs)
Does massage help cellulite? Can you massage cellulite away?
What is the best cellulite massager?
Can massage “break up” cellulite?
Have a skin tightening/cellulite treatment in London with the cellulite experts
The Cellulite School™: Get advanced training in cellulite reduction and skin tightening
Cellulite massage treatment at home | In summary
Cellulite can be reduced at home with a simple yet effective approach: a strong massage, a quality cellulite cream, and some sensible lifestyle changes. The key is focusing the massage on the layers of skin where cellulite actually forms — not too deep, not too superficial. Using your hands and a bit of oil, the best techniques include firm skin rolling, skin kneading (think bread dough), and long upward strokes. Done for 20–30 minutes every other day, this massage can make a real difference to the appearance and health of your skin — especially on thighs, hips, and buttocks.
Many popular massage methods are, frankly, useless or even harmful — from dry brushing and coffee scrubs to cupping and fascia-blasting tools. A proper cellulite massage doesn’t require expensive gadgets or gimmicks, just the right technique and consistency.
Pairing your massage with a genuinely effective cellulite cream boosts results. Most products on the market are packed with marketing hype but lack active ingredients — or include them in tiny amounts. Look for creams containing proven ingredients like caffeine, gotu kola, horse chestnut, or green tea extract, and ideally a combination of several. It’s not about magic solutions — no cream or massage will completely get rid of cellulite — but the right products can support your efforts.
Finally, long-term success depends on your lifestyle. Exercise, balanced nutrition, and healthy habits form the foundation of any cellulite reduction plan. Without these, improvements won’t last. With them, and a bit of patience, it’s absolutely possible to reduce cellulite at home, improve your skin, and feel better in your body — no salon needed.
How to reduce cellulite with proper cellulite massage, a good cellulite cream and 100+ expert tips
How do you improve the health and appearance of your legs and whole body at home, without professional treatments (or useless gadgets, none of which works)?
Here at LipoTherapeia we have a tried and tested, evidence-based, three-point cellulite removal plan:
Perform a 20 minute cellulite massage every second day (detailed instructions on how to do a proper anti-cellulite massage below)
Apply a good cellulite cream once a day (given that most cellulite creams are such in name only, we give you some tips on how to choose a real anti-cellulite cream)
Read our extensive guide comprising 100+ tips on what to do - and not do - to reduce cellulite (while at the same time improving your whole body health and appearance)
That’s all you need to do to reduce cellulite at home without treatments:
Strong cellulite massage
Concentrated cellulite cream
Healthy, anti-cellulite lifestyle
Cellulite massages come in all shapes and sizes, from effective to downright ridiculous
There are countless types of cellulite massages, some involving, among others:
Medieval ‘cupping’ that all that gives you is bruises - and nothing else
Silly ‘fascia blasting’ tools that don’t even target cellulite
Pathetic dry brushing that literally scratch the surface
Ridiculous ‘happy slapping’ - really, you can’t make it up…
Delusional ground coffee scrubbing that messes up your bathroom for nothing
Missing the point ‘deep tissue massage’ - good for the muscles, pointless for cellulite
Sticky ‘honey slapping’ - yes, these things exist and people believe in them
Vacuum suction massage, that breaks your veins and loosens up your skin
Obnoxious heating, cooling or foul smelling oils
Useless cellulite massagers and vibrators
Most of them don’t work and don’t make any sense at all, and some are actually downright dangerous.
This article is about what kind of cellulite massage makes sense and works. It is very, very simple and requires little more than your fingers and a little oil - no expensive gadgets, fancy skin products or need to buy a ridiculous 30ml bottle of oil at £60, which should be sold for a fiver...
Combine with a real cellulite cream and healthy living (more on those later on this article) and you have a nice home cellulite reduction program. Not nearly as effective as deep-acting, high-power radiofrequency/ultrasound, the gold standard in cellulite reduction, but perfect for home cellulite removal, at low cost.
And above all, cellulite massage is great for cellulite prevention and keeping the skin on your calves, thighs and buttocks healthy in general, due to improved blood circulation and lymphatic drainage.
A real anti-cellulite massage at home
What do I mean by “real cellulite massage”?
I mean a STRONG massage that works SPECIFICALLY on the hypodermis and dermis, where cellulite “lives”. Neither too superficial, nor too deep - just focused on the hypodermis and dermis.
So how do we do that? There are three main massage “moves” and they all act on those layers (plus the subcutaneous fat, which will also improve in health and appearance).
STRONG SKIN ROLLING: This is also called “palper-rouler”, but performed with hands. Hand palper-rouler is actually superior to mechanical palper-rouler performed with vacuum suction and mechanical rollers (endermologie massage), as it does not stretch the skin and does not cause thread veins, both of which mechanical palper-rouler causes.
STRONG SKIN KNEADING: Yes, exactly as you knead bread
These are the two massage moves you can do by hand that will affect the hypodermis and cellulite, more than any other tissue.
In addition we need to stimulate some lymphatic drainage / venous return, which is simply achieved by:
LONG, STRONG, UPWARD STROKES
Apply those moves in some logical way and with strong pressure for anything between 20-60 minutes on the lower legs, thighs, hips and buttocks and you have the perfect home-made, cellulite-specific massage.
Professionals normally perform 60 minutes of this massage several times a day, but even for them it is very tiring and probably not good for their fingers in the long run, but it’s the best cellulite massage that can be given.
So for home use, something like 20-30 minutes every second day are more than enough (you need to leave one day between sessions to allow tissues to recover).
Obviously it is far easier to do the calves, the areas above the knees, the front of thighs, the sides of your thighs and hips (and the stomach, if you have any cellulite there), than it is to massage your buttocks or back of thighs.
But you can still do a few minutes of massage on those two areas without getting a muscle cramp on your back or tiring your arms/hands.
How to massage cellulite on legs at home - properly
It’s simple:
Always start an area with STRONG, LONG UPWARD STROKES for a few minutes
Then proceed to STRONG SKIN ROLLING and STRONG SKIN KNEADING for several minutes
And then always finish with STRONG, LONG UPWARD STROKES again for a few more minutes
Here are some useful points:
You can spend a few more minutes on the areas with more severe cellulite but don’t spend your full thirty minutes on one small area - you will just cause unnecessary irritation / inflammation
Use some oil - not too little, not too much. Too much oil will not allow you to grab the skin and manipulate it. Too little oil will mean you start rubbing the skin surface rather than the hypodermis, which is pointless. You may use some cream, but make sure the cream does not dry too easily or flake after a minute, as this will just make the massage awkward and messy. Most creams are not suitable, while most oils are fine.
In deep tissue massage we use muscle kneading. In cellulite massage we use skin kneading. Grab the skin and knead it with the same technique, which is quite similar to making dough.
Skin rolling / manual palper-rouler (grab and roll) is similar to skin kneading, but as the name suggests involves rolling the skin with the fingers
Stroking is self-explanatory and refers to the usual “effleurage” (long strokes) technique in normal massage, but applied more firmly and with not much oil
Don’t do it too hard (you will injure the skin unnecessarily) and don’t do it too lightly (light cellulite massage is a waste if time)
If instead of plain oil you use a highly concentrated cellulite cream or oil, you will add another benefit to your massage. However, the problem with most of so-called cellulite creams is that they simply do not contain enough actives to make any real difference. Plus, most creams can dry too easily, as mentioned above.
Try to avoid essential oils, as it is not a good idea to breathe them continuously for 30 minutes, day in, day out, for weeks on end. You will end up developing intolerances to them. If you really want to use an essential oil, use it in low dilutions and alternate with another one every couple of weeks.
If you follow these guidelines you will apply a pretty good cellulite massage on your skin, improving both its health and appearance.
How to choose a real cellulite cream to boost your cellulite massage
The problem with most commercial cellulite creams is that they contain:
The wrong active ingredients: Usually proprietary ingredients based on a couple of fake, non-peer reviewed studies, just for marketing or "exclusivity” purposes
Very few active anti-cellulite ingredients: One of the most popular “cellulite creams” actually contains NO active ingredients. I know, it’s crazy, but it’s true.
Very low concentration of active ingredients: This is the rule for 95% of products on the market
Low purity active ingredients: Low active molecule concentration of the ingredients. Again this is the rule in body skincare.
And why is that? Simply due to manufacturers’ cost minimisation / profit maximisation.
It is easy to manufacture a high quality £50/50ml face cream, rich in active ingredients, and make a very good profit out of it. And likewise, the public is happy to pay £50/50ml every 2-3 months.
But legs and buttocks have 12x times the surface area of the face and would require 600ml of cream, i.e. £600 every 2-3 months, if the same profit margins were to be maintained.
In fact, you need more than 12x times the active ingredients, simply because the tissues to be treated on your bum and thighs are much thicker than your face’s. So cost goes even higher.
So either content of active ingredients or profit margin has to give.
And given that it is marketing, not quality, that sells skincare products (this is a BIG truth), most companies opt to compromise on active ingredients and keep profit margins intact.
And they then fill the gap with marketing instead, which offers good “shareholder value” - at your expense.
Smart, right?
Cellulite creams: focus on the active ingredients
So how do I know what cream to choose?
Look for well researched active ingredients, such as caffeine, gotu kola extract, horse chestnut extract, green tea extract, pine bark extract, turmeric extract, coleus forskohlii extract, green coffee berry extract, butcher’s broom extract, rutin, hesperidin and cocoa flavanol extract, among others
Look for a combination of three or more of those active ingredients (not just some plain old caffeine)
Look for high concentrations of actives - of course no manufacturer will give you their formulation, but look for creams that focus on high concentration of actives (on the other hand, 10% caffeine and nothing else in a cream is both excessive and pointless)
Look for active molecules, rather than questionable extracts that may contain very little of the active molecule. For example a green tea extract in a cream may contain 0.1% EGCG, the active molecule in green tea, or 95% EGCG. Obviously a cream containing pure EGCG (90% purity or higher), will be much better than one containing a generic “green tea extract”.
Look for well researched ingredients, as opposed to amazing new “secret” ingredients, with zero peer-reviewed research on them
I know it is hard work to research and compare, but it can make the difference between buying something of high quality and wasting your money.
Will using such a cream get rid of all your cellulite? Contrary to tabloid hype, of course NOT.
No method can get RID* of cellulite, not on its own and not forever, whether it is a massage, a cream, a treatment or an exercise.
But at least you will know you use the best possible cellulite cream, with a good concentration of focused active ingredients, that adds to your cellulite removal efforts.
* It’s all about reducing cellulite, not getting rid of it, which for 90% of women is impossible with ANY method of any kind, including surgery - especially NOT with surgery.
100+ more things you can do about cellulite, besides massage and creams: nutrition, exercise, lifestyle
Of course, the basis of any cellulite removal regime is “nutrition, exercise, lifestyle”, because it is the lack of exercise, bad eating habits and unhealthy lifestyles that cause cellulite in the first place.
Unless those change, cellulite will not be reduced effectively and/or it will come back in no time.
We have plenty of advice on what to do nutrition-wise, exercise-wise and lifestyle-wise on our detailed “How to get rid of cellulite” article.
That guide also contains an extensive section on what not to do, given the crazy number of misinformation and urban myths around, which will save you a lot of time and money.
Start reducing cellulite at home now
We hope this guide has been of help. Do your cellulite massage right away and then read our extensive, detailed guide to start reducing your cellulite now - not next week / month / year.
And for faster / more impressive results, have a LipoTherapeia® Plus treatment with us in London.
Cellulite reduction at home: frequently asked questions (FAQs)
We hope all is now clear regarding cellulite removal at home with cellulite self-care with cellulite massage and other measures.
Below are some straight, quick answers to the most common questions related to this subject, to clarify finer points and add more detail.
Does massage help cellulite? Can you massage cellulite away?
As described above, massage can indeed help with cellulite prevention, primarily, and cellulite reduction, to a lesser extent.
Sure cellulite massage is not as effective as deep-acting, high-power radiofrequency or deep-acting, high-power ultrasound cavitation but it is a good and economical choice if you do not have access to those technology-based treatments (most other cellulite technologies are either ineffective and/or unsafe).
Strong, professional cellulite massage is obviously more effective but also home massage is quite valuable as it can be done much more often, albeit at a lower intensity.
Now, can you massage cellulite away? No, in most cases you can’t. If cellulite is very recent and very light you can eliminate it completely (for a few months/years, at least). But if cellulite is progressed or established for a few years, you can only reduce it - up 60% in most cases.
What is the best cellulite massager?
The best cellulite massager is your hands. No machine beats the human hands in terms of agility and detail. Most cellulite massagers are based on vibration or suction and both are problematic (can cause thread veins, for example), not very specific and not as effective as the human hands.
Don’t fall for expensive (or even cheap) gadgets: use your hands, as described above.
Can massage “break up” cellulite?
There is no such thing as “breaking up” or “breaking down” cellulite - these phrases mean nothing.
But massage can help with fibrosis reduction, circulation improvement and, if performed properly, some skin firming and some hypodermal fat reduction too.
It is not as effective in those respects as deep, strong radiofrequency or ultrasound but it does help.
Have a treatment in London with the cellulite experts
At LipoTherapeia we have specialised 100% in skin tightening and cellulite reduction for more than two decades and 20,000+ sessions.
This is all we study and practise every day and have researched and tried hands-on all the important skin tightening equipment and their manufacturers.
As strong, deep acting radiofrequency and deep-acting, high-power ultrasound cavitation are the technologies of choice for skin tightening and cellulite reduction, we have invested in the best RF/ultrasound technologies in the world.
(Of course, we keep looking for new technologies every day and if/when a better technology materialises we will be the first to provide it. However, we will never follow the latest ineffective gimmick, just because it’s good marketing to offer the latest hyped up - yet ineffective and/or unsafe treatment.)
Furthermore, over the last two decades we have developed advanced RF and cavitation treatment protocols in order to make the most of our technologies, for maximum results, naturally and safely.
And for even better, faster results, we now combine our RF/ultrasound treatments with high-power red/infrared light LED treatment.
Our radiofrequency/ultrasound/LED treatments are comfortable, pain-free, downtime-free, injection-free, 99.5%+ safe and always non-invasive.
(No unsafe and ineffective RF microneedling or HIFU and no safe but ineffective acoustic wave therapy, superficial RF (bipolar/tripolar/multipolar etc), low power RF/cavitation, electrical muscle stimulation, lymphatic massage, cupping, dry brushing and no ridiculous bum bum creams.)
Our focus is on honest, realistic, science-based treatment, combined with caring, professional service, with a smile.
We will be pleased to see you, assess your cellulite, skin laxity or fibrosis, listen to your story, discuss your case and offer you the best possible treatment.
The Cellulite School™: Get advanced training in cellulite reduction and skin tightening
Why train with The Cellulite School™?
We all know that training in cellulite reduction and skin tightening is as basic as it gets. It is typically a 4-6 hour training, involving only basic instruction from the manufacturer on how operators can use the machine; lots of myths, erroneous information and misconceptions; and some basic health and safety on how to use the machine.
There is no proper, real training in the science or cellulite, skin tightening, radiofrequency, ultrasound and all related technologies is non-existent - worldwide.
Do you want to deeply understand radiofrequency, ultrasound cavitation, LED phototherapy, cellulite and skin tightening?
Get proper training based on 25-year theory and practical application of cellulite reduction and valuable insights from 24,000+ sessions and 4,200+ clients.
Now you can get instant access to our expertise and save yourself literally thousands of pounds, dollars or euros of expensive mistakes and thousands of hours of study, research and practical application by attending one of our half-day, 1-day, 2-day or 3-day professional consultancy / training courses.
Deeply understand and get properly trained in the science of radiofrequency, ultrasound cavitation, LED phototherapy, cellulite and skin tightening and confidently offer your clients the safest, strongest and most effective treatment possible.
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