What’s the Fastest Way to Erase Cellulite

I’m going on vacation next week and can’t wait to rock my new bathing suit—but I’m just a little self-conscious of the dimples on my legs. I’m going to start using the foam roller to help, but are there any quick fixes for cellulite? —Simone S.

You’re right that using the foam roller every few days will help reduce the look of cellulite over time—but if you’ve only got a couple of minutes before hitting the sand, it’s still possible to smooth out the backs of your thighs temporarily.

My favorite green beauty expert Alexis Wolfer—you might know her from her blog The Beauty Bean or her book, “Recipe for Radiance”—stopped by Thrive. We swapped our fave dimple-blasting beauty routines: dry brushing for me, and a DIY coffee scrub for her.

Method 1: Dry brushing

Using a dry brush on your skin daily is a fast, painless way to get glowy skin. Like foam rolling, it gets the lymphatic system moving and increases circulation. The action of lightly buffing with the dry bristles has a gentle exfoliating effect and plumps the tissues directly under the skin, reducing visible signs of cellulite. Dry brushing is really great for sloughing off that top layer of dry skin to reveal brighter, younger-looking legs. Some experts have even told me the process helps fade the look of stretch marks because it stimulates collagen production and healing.

The method

Do about 3 minutes of brushing along the thighs or wherever you see cellulite before you hop in the shower, and you should see smoothing results that last for the next 12 hours. And if you start this regularly

Method 2: DIY body scrub

Have leftover coffee grounds from this morning’s brew? Upcycle them into a two-ingredient scrub that you can use in the shower to diminish leg dimples (and get a subtle golden glow, while you’re at it!)

In most of the expensive cellulite creams on the market, you’ll see time after time that the “secret” ingredient is caffeine. It works almost exactly the same way as skin brushing: Caffeine temporarily increases blood flow to the skin’s surface and flushes water out of the connective tissue beneath it. The one-two punch of plumping and deflating makes dimples disappear, if only for a few hours—and leftover grounds work just as well as store-bought coffee scrubs. Here we combined them with vitamin E oil, an emollient that encourages healing, as the base.

Cellulite-Concealing Coffee Scrub

Active Time: 2 minutes
Total Time: 5 minutes

Ingredients

½ cup caffeinated coffee grounds
¼ cup vitamin E oil

Instructions

Mix the coffee grounds and vitamin E oil together to form a thick paste. Standing in the bath to reduce mess, apply the mixture to cellulite-affected areas. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and let it sit for 30 minutes.

Remove wrap and vigorously massage the mixture in upward circular motions for at least 5 minutes. Rinse clean with warm water.

Since the results of this scrub are temporary, repeat daily for best results.

Press play to hear our tips and tricks on how to wave goodbye to cellulite—if only for a few hours! Remember, your body is beautiful as is, and we all have a few dimples here and there. All we care about is that you feel amazing in your skin, and if a little dry brushing can help with that, we’re all for it!

You can find Alexis Wolfer on Facebook and Twitter