Lose inches without breaking a sweat! Yes please, sign me up! Losing pounds and saving pounds both appeal to me in equal measures, so when I saw a Shrinking Violet Body Wrap with an epic discount advertised on Groupon, I didn’t hesitate. These wraps full price are around £50-£70 each, the saver deal was 2 wraps for £39. Absolute bargain!

Inches lost – 30.5″
(16.5″ then 14″ over 2 treatments 3 months apart)
Price – £39
Effort – Zero
Sleep – 2 hours
Pro – All of the above
Con – I can’t do it weekly

My treatment was with the lovely Chelsie at Mirror Mirror in the Polwarth area of Edinburgh, Chelsie is so friendly and quite happily chats away without being too intrusive, or worse, being totally fake and uninterested in what she’s talking about (happens a lot). The treatment room is downstairs and is calm and inviting with relaxing music and a cosy, warm atmosphere with a nicely fluffed pillow and velvet blanket on the bed.

First stage of the wrap is to unwrap. Yes, I may have felt a little silly/embarrassed standing there starkers but for my pants, but I figured like a Dr, a beautician has seen it all before and couldn’t give two hoots. I was right. Chelsie took a note of all my measurements from my calves up. Knees, thighs, waist, belly, hips, upper arms. Measured and recorded.

I was then body brushed. This helps with blood circulation, shedding dead skin cells and promotes a smoother and brighter skin. After this the Shrinking Violet oil was applied and rubbed in. Then comes the bit where you feel a right eejit. It’s not cling film but looks very like it, the film is a lot stronger and I was very carefully wrapped up, essentially mummified but thankfully able to move (just).

My legs were individually wrapped as were my arms, free to move if I wanted, I had visions of my arms being stuck to my body so was relieved I would be able to attempt an itch scratch if I needed. I was also a little anxious about being trapped, so was thankful in the unlikely event a fire alarm did go off I’d be able to walk out, not attempt to bunny hop up the stairs to freedom.

Once I was fully wrapped, I carefully and oh so ungracefully hopped/flopped onto the bed to relax for an hour. In the cosy room and wrapped up in a velvet blanket I relaxed easily and promptly fell fast asleep. While I snoozed, the oil and cling film got to work and after some much appreciated shuteye Chelsie woke me up and all my measurements were taken again. I was also told to drink lots and lots of water as the oil keeps on working for a good few hours once you have been unwrapped.

Shrinking Violet works best with a course of treatments, it’s usually around 6 are recommended for maximum impact. However if you’re short of time and for a last minute fix I’d totally recommend this and as you can see from my results even a solitary session can make a significant difference. I’ve had 4 now, have loved them all and have felt an immediate difference. After my most recent one I had to shuffle for the bus home, hands in pockets holding everything up, after not bringing a belt and my waist disappearing so rapidly.

Keeping the inches off is a different matter. Like any weight loss treatment, obviously if you neck all the gin and eat all the cake those inches are gonna find you again. Immediate inch loss sorted. Keeping it off, that’s the bit I need to work on.

* The Science bit. Shrinking Violet works through lyposis, totally pain and effort free. While you lie and relax, the heat (thanks to the wrap, oils and blanket) builds causing the active ingredients to penetrate your skin. The heat works on a fatty subcutaneous layer below your skin and the fat is transformed from a triglyceride (within the fat cell) to a free fatty acid. Free fatty acids can be more easily removed from your body and are simply excreted in tissue fluid into the wrap.

Posted by Edinburgh Mummy