Sunday 14 November 2010

Karin Herzog Dynamic Duo - Dynamic Waste or Mirace Cure

For the past two years I have been an occasional user of the Karin Herzog Dynamic Duo cellulite creams. It all started when I attended a business school in the UK and my roommate told me about how great it was.

I did some research and saw a range of case studies on various websites which seemed to show that Karin Herzog creams really do work. After a lot of deliberation I invested the most I've ever spent on a tube of cream and spent £45 on the Dynamic Duo set. The set comprises one large tube of Silhouette cream (a 4% oxygen cream) and Tonus B12 (a cream packed with various antioxidants and caffeine). The instructions were a bit misleading about whether to use Tonus B12 first or Silhouette first. I opted to spread a reasonable amount of Silouette on my thighs and stomach each evening after my shower. I then waited about 10 minutes to allow the Silhouette to absorb into my skin before rubbing in a small amount of Tonus B12.

I am a beauty cream skeptic generally so I had low hopes for what it would do to my rear. However, it really did seem to work. I don't have a lot of cellulite as I'm in my twenties and quite slender. I eat healthily and exercise moderately. I therefore know that my cellulite is mainly just a natural part of being a woman. I've seen all different types of women on beaches and almost all of them have a little bit of cellulite. I think it comes from the weight of my bottom pushing down on the tops of my thighs and compressing the fat there. Therefore unless I were to be a skeleton pumped with steroids to rid my body of all of the naturally occurring female fat or one of the lucky percentile who don't have it, I think cellulite will always be a part of my life. However, Karin Herzog Dynamic Duo does seem to really tone up, tighten and smooth my thighs.

I don't use it every day as I don't have the time. I just use it whenever I feel my thighs getting a bit wobbly. Recently though, I have started to worry about what is in the cream. The main ingredient is Hydrogen Peroxide and I'm not sure that putting it on my skin is a good idea so I have really dropped off in my use of it.

A few days ago I happened upon a great website called Paula's Choice. She is a skeptic like me who goes around the world investigating the reality of cosmetics and whether they actually work. I wrote her an email about the Dynamic Duo. I received the below email from one of her helpers:

Thank you for your email. Karin Hertzog’s Dynamic Duo is, unfortunately, just a dynamic waste of money where affecting cellulite is concerned. Cellulite cannot be changed by rubbing products into skin, vitamin B (or any antioxidant) or hydrogen peroxide will have no impact on the formation or breakdown of fat cells in the skin. Hertzog’s product duo blames cellulite on “toxins that block the capillaries, causing uneven, bumpy skin,” and that cellulite can be “washed away” with “trapped toxins.” This could not be further from fact.

Women have a unique skin structure, forming honeycomb connective fibers, which acts as a mold for fatty tissue to form the familiar pattern of cellulite. These connective tissues are too weak to prevent the dimpling of cellulite (there is some research that indicates that vascular changes may be to blame, but this is in its early stages and should be considered causal inference, at best.)

The claim of toxins as the cause of cellulite essentially follows that purging the body of pollutants is the answer, and there is no evidence to support that this is even possible. Detoxifying the body where science is concerned translates to a reduction in the cellular damage with a mixture of antioxidants or other enzymes that have proven capabilities of reducing undesirable cellular functions from occurring. There is certainly helpful for the body, but there is no evidence to support a connection to cellulite, and the benefits have no impact on fat accumulation when applied topically. Cellulite has no relationship whatsoever to toxins from the environment, but rather by accumulation of fat on the body because of caloric intake and exercise imbalance. That is not new knowledge, unfortunately!

The claim of detoxifying the body is an ironic one where Hertzog is concerned, as hydrogen peroxide has extensive research provide its ability to impede the production of healthy skin cells, and oxidizing agents have a destructive effect on the skin by causing free-radical damage. Hydrogen peroxide does function as a disinfectant, but the accumulative effects that result from using such a damaging substance to skin cells on a regular basis will result in cellular destruction and a reduced healthy cell function.

Hertzog’s Tonus B12 is just a collection of various conditioning agents and some antioxidants (its not known how much of each, as the ingredient list is not available on their website.) However, this is irrelevant as avocado, green tea, jojoba oil or any other antioxidant or conditioning agent will not have an impact on cellulite in any way. Skin cannot be “energized” by a skin care product applied topically.

I would recommend that you adhere to your initial reaction, that no skin care product can deliver miracles outside of what is scientifically possible, or evidentiary.


Pretty damning stuff. I don't know where I stand on this. I definitely think he's right - apart from the exercise and caloric intake bit because I'm pretty okay on both of those. On the other hand, I do notice an improvement when I use the creams. I think I will need do get a response from Karin Herzog.

If any of you guys have tried Karin Herzog Dynamic Duo or any other cellulite treatments then let me know!

Back from my studies

It's been a long time since my last blog, I've been very busy taking my two ACA advanced stage exams. Having taken 12 exams already, in order to complete the ACA professional stage, I was pretty bored of the whole thing by the time my technical integration tuition started. Luckily one of my ACA tutors in Nicosia gave us all a relatively inspirational speech about the merits of passing these two first time so that all that would be left would be the case study.

I don't think I've ever done as much preparation for an exam as I did for these two. I studied every weekend and some nights after work too for about 6 months. By the time it came to the exams I knew the whole syllabus completely. However, there were massive building works going one next to my apartment and I sat my Business Reporting exam in a state of total sleep deprivation. You can also always rely on the ICAEW to mix it up and give you a paper that is different to any of the past papers or mocks. I really wonder what the point is of the ICAEW writing mock papers if they are not going to be representative of the real exam.

Needless to say Business Reporting may end up being one I have to retake. I think Business Change went okay but you never know. Fingers crossed.