At 5-foot-3 and 110 pounds, 29-year-old Moira Carr is in the same boat with most of the rest of the women on planet Earth.
Carr tested a slew of products over a two-week period: Estee Lauder's Firming Body Creme ($37.50), Body Performance Anti-Cellulite Visible Contouring Serum ($50) and Exfoliating Body Polish ($28); as well as Biotherm's Biovergetures Firming Body Expert ($38) and Abdo-Choc ($37), which is touted as a "tightening concentrate."
Volunteer Fran Blackmon tried out an $80 anti-cellulite body wrap followed by a Swedish massage at European Skin & Hair Clinic in Columbia, S.C. (The salon also offers a "non-surgical face-lift" involving low levels of electricity.)
The wrap, said esthetician Lydia Potter, forces a "crusty layer" of toxins --- car exhaust, bad food, stress --- from the body.
Skin renewal slows down with age because collagen and elastin --- the Power Duo of young skin --- start to break down.
Mayo used an array of pricey products by Yonka --- cleanser, two exfoliants, a gel masque, an alpha-hydroxy peel, moisturizer and eye cream.
The one thing that costs almost nothing, Mayo and Begoun agree, is avoiding the sun and/or using sunscreen --- but many women just won't stop tanning.