Forskolin: the most important lipolytic active ingredient

“TL;DR: Forskolin is one of the most important actives you can put in a cellulite cream and definitely the most important lipolytic one. However, due to high cost few cellulite creams contain it and even less in meaningful amounts, with caffeine, its less effective and 10x cheaper equivalent, being preferred.

In an ideal world, a real cellulite cream should contain concentrated forskolin and concentrated liposomal caffeine, combined with multiple other anti-cellulite ingredients.”

Forskolin: a key anti-cellulite cream active

• Forskolin (purified coleus forskohlii extract) is the most important lipolytic anti-cellulite active

• Forskolin: not just lipolysis

• Cellulite creams with forskolin

• What about forskolin serums for cellulite, anti-ageing and skin tightening?

• Not all forskolin-containing creams are created the same

• Forskolin & caffeine: the ideal duo

• Have a skin tightening/cellulite treatment in London with the experts

• Advanced, infrared / red light therapy treatments in London at LipoTherapeia

• Discover our professional training in cellulite, skin tightening, radiofrequency and ultrasound

Forskolin (purified coleus forskohlii extract) is the most important lipolytic anti-cellulite active

Forskolin, is the extract of the South Asian plant coleus forskohlii / plectranthus barbatus. It has been extensively researched for decades for its lipolytic* action and is routinely used in lab experiments when it is needed to stimulate lipolysis in fat cells.

(* Lipolysis refers to fat release from fat cells, leading to fat cell size reduction and, if sustained, eventual fat cell death.)

However, due to its high cost, which is 10x more than liposomal caffeine (the highest quality caffeine), forskolin is rarely used in anti-cellulite creams - although it is way more important than caffeine in this regard.

In the few cases where it is included in skin formulations, it is only included in minuscule quantities, undermining effectiveness.

Forskolin: not just lipolysis

In addition to its lipolytic action, forskolin is also known for its circulation-enhancing, anti-inflammatory and anti-fibrotic action.

In summary, forskolin acts on four out of seven aspects of cellulite, with the lipolytic action being the most important one.

Cellulite creams with forskolin

As part of an anti-cellulite cream containing other similar actives (e.g. centella asiatica / gotu kola, caffeine, green tea etc), forskolin is an essential natural active ingredient against cellulite.

Of course, the application of a cellulite cream should always be combined with exercise and healthy nutrition and exercise. It is pointless to apply a cellulite cream to reduce cellulite if you create new cellulite every day by eating unhealthily / not exercising.

And just make sure you buy a cream that contains a high concentration of high-purity forskolin (plus other actives) and use it daily for several weeks. Occasional or short use of any anti-cellulite product will not work.

What about forskolin serums for cellulite, anti-ageing and skin tightening?

Shallow magazine/web articles like to push serums as being superior to creams. However, the fact of the matter is that serums are way too diluted and too little in quantity to have any effect on cellulite / body skin firmness.

High concentration and high quantity of product are equally necessary: you cannot possibly reduce cellulite or firm up body skin with 5-10 drops of some diluted watery serum.

Especially for body applications, you do need a lot of product. For example, we recommend the use of 10g of the Celluence® Legs cream per day. In contrast, most serum bottles contain 15-30ml (= 15-30g) and they suggest you apply just a few drops, i.e. less than 0.5g a day. That may be just about enough for the face (not even, really), but it is wholly inadequate for body use.

And no, serums do not get absorbed more than creams, they actually get absorbed less, simply because they are only water-soluble and cannot pass through the outer lipophilic layer of the skin. On the other hand, creams are amphiphilic, i.e. both fat- and water-soluble, and can go through both the outer lipophilic and inner hydrophilic skin layers.

Not all forskolin-containing creams are created the same

There are a few coleus forskohlii extracts available, with varying contents of actual forskolin, from 10% to 95%.

• Obviously a cream that contains an 95%+ PURITY FORSKOLIN extract will require 10 times less applications to exert the same result compared to one that contains a 10% PURITY FORSKOLIN extract. Big difference.

• Furthermore, if a skincare product contains 1-3% FORSKOLIN of 95% purity it will be much more beneficial than one containing 0.1% OR EVEN 0.01% FORSKOLIN of the same 95% purity 95%. Again, big difference.

• Of course, there are skincare creams that only contain 0.1% of a 10% purity forskolin extract, i.e. 0.01% IN THE FINAL PRODUCT, just to fool the consumer with some forskolin “label decoration”. These, being 100x times more diluted in active molecule content, are obviously pointless (most products on the market).

So whether you buy a forskolin cream for anti-aging or for cellulite reduction, do your research first, as you would need to use 100 times more quantity of 0.01% creams to have the same effect as an 1% cream.

Forskolin & caffeine: the ideal duo

Forskolin works really well for topical fat/cellulite/water retention reduction when it is combined with caffeine. Caffeine really complements forskolin’s action.

Although this has been known for decades, very few creams combine those two ingredients and even fewer in meaningful concentrations, due to forskolin’s high cost.

Furthermore, chlorogenic aid (from green coffee) and EGCG (from green tea) are ideal partners to caffeine. So all four actives should ideally exist in anti-cellulite creams together.

However, very few cellulite creams combine those ingredients and even fewer in meaningful concentrations.

Again, do your research and look for high concentrations of multiple high-purity actives, to ensure you apply on your skin a worthwhile product.

Have a skin tightening/cellulite treatment in London with the 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.

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, microneedling-free, 99.5%+ safe and always non-invasive.

And 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.

Learn more or check prices and book an expert cellulite / skin tightening treatment at our London clinic (49 Marylebone High Street, W1).

Advanced, infrared / red light therapy treatments in London at LipoTherapeia

At LipoTherapeia we are passionate about phototherapy (also known as photobiomodulation/PBM, red light therapy, infrared light therapy, blue light therapy, LED light therapy etc) and we use the most powerful equipment available today (up to 240mW/cm2), for best results and treatment of large body areas.

We use specialised therapy protocols for skin rejuvenation / anti-ageing, pigmentation / post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation (PIH), moderate/severe acne, skin redness, sensitive/inflamed/irritated skin, wound healing, sports injuries / musculoskeletal pain and overall wellness / well-being.

Our LED phototherapy sessions are comfortable, deeply relaxing and super-safe and are great to enhance our radiofrequency/ultrasound treatments for skin tightening / cellulite reduction.

On our booking page you can book stand-alone phototherapy sessions or combine them with our other treatments, as an add-on.

Learn more or check prices and book an expert LED phototherapy treatment at our London clinic (49 Marylebone High Street, W1).

Discover our professional training in cellulite, skin tightening, radiofrequency and ultrasound

Do you want to deeply understand radiofrequency, ultrasound cavitation, cellulite and skin tightening?

Attend a half-day, 1-day or 2-day or 3-day professional consultancy / one-to-one masterclass and confidently offer your clients the safest, strongest and most effective treatment possible.

Service available via Zoom or at our central London practice.