Brushing up on your leg health is the best step to take

Former beauty journalist Kate Shapland has one of the most interesting companies in the business. Legology is focused on leg health, cellulite, shape, and health. The brand is only a few years old and it came from Kate’s negative experience in the media around the area of cellulite and leg issues. Some years back, the beauty writer visited a London clinic where she met a Californian masseuse who used ‘chari’ - a method using thumbs to dig and push the skin; changing the shape of the body through massage. Kate learned that the secret to ‘great legs’ is a combination of eating the right food (avoiding white carbohydrates etc.), better circulation, and specific treatments specialising in the leg area.

A fter some research, Kate found that cellulite and bad circulation comes from deep within - the lymph. The lymph slows down when we’re not moving and can build fluid retention around the fat cells. Unlike blood circulation, which is stimulated by your heart, the lymph doesn’t have an automatic pump to push it around your body: it only moves when you move, and given the desk-bound life many of us lead, is one reason why our bodies can feel bloated and cellulite can develop.

Being less sedentary has more than one benefit, as Kate explains, ‘Circulation works to the principles of supply and demand: when you move more, blood vessels respond with increased flow, pumping blood faster into arteries and veins, taking oxygen and nutrients to organs like your brain and skin. With its circulation up, the body detoxifies more readily too, because the lymph, which only moves when you move, shifts waste more efficiently.’

Kate recommends using body brushes, loofahs, and warming oils such as ginger, juniper, or lemon to warm and stimulate lymph, using this method.

‘Body brushing is all about coaxing along the lymph with the gentle abrasion of bristles’ she says. ‘This helps remove the waste that gets trapped between fat cells, pushing them out of line and causing the unevenness we call cellulite, but regular use is key.’ The process is fast too, Kate explains, ‘Body brushing is supposed to be done very gently, in quick, light flicks, all over your body. The whole process need only take 30 to 60 seconds. It’s a good sign if your skin looks pink after brushing. This means the circulation has also been activated and fresh, nutrient-rich blood brought to the surface of the skin. This has the added benefits of making skin look more toned, and helping the product you apply afterwards absorb more quickly.’

Kate Shapland’s Legology range is available at Arnotts and Brown Thomas.