WFAA-TV

Four out of five women have cellulite, and all of them hate it, which is the exact reason why more companies are marketing products to reduce it.

Katrina Bowcom is among the many American women who spend millions each year on products, often called "Cinderella creams," meant to say goodbye to cellulite.

"I didn't know which to choose, so I started with the most expensive because you get what you pay for," she said.

Bowcom said she has used cellulite creams for three years.

"And what they would do is give me a false sense of tingling and redness," she said. "So, you feel something, obviously something is happening, is working."

That "feeling' is because many creams are loaded with exotic sounding minerals and emollients.

Retinol is supposed to work by increasing collagen production, making skin thicker and hiding the dimpling fat.

But according to some experts, caffeine is the ingredient in almost every cellulite-reducing product that shows any benefit.

Caffeine, as many coffee drinkers know, is a diuretic that flushes excess fluid from the body. Experts say it can work the same when applied as a lotion to the skin, which means drinking a latte won't do the trick.

"Basically, you're dehydrating your tissue in the area that you're applying it," said Tina Jackson, paramedical aesthetician. "I call them Cinderella creams because you've got about thee or four hours, then you've got to be trotting off the beach pretty quick."

The question is, how much caffeine in cream-form is needed to achieve even temporary results? No one seems to know the answer.

With prices ranging from $10 to more than $70, many believe there's little difference between products that contain caffeine.

Bowcom said she got no benefit at all.

So, she turned to technology at Timeless Med Spa in Dallas hoping for results a little more permanent and a little less Cinderella-cream-like.

E-mail jstjames@wfaa.com