Forskolin: the most important lipolytic active ingredient

Forskolin from the Coleus Forskohlii plant: 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 (10x more than the highest quality caffeine) it 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 more 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 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 “label decoration”. These, being 100x times more diluted in active molecule content, are obviously pointless.

So whether you buy a forskolin cream for anti-aging or for cellulite reduction, do your research first, as you would need 100x 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.