Get a beach bum!

Summer's here and it's time to show off your beach bum. But there's no time to diet and liposuction is one step too far. You need a middle way and mesotherapy could be the solution. This cellulite-busting treatment involves injections, not surgery. But is it the answer? Siobhan Murphy went to find out...

'OK, let's take a look,' says the improbably good-looking Frenchman sitting in front of me. Blushing slightly, I stand up, turn around, pull my skirt up and let him run his hands all over my derriere. This is Dr Georges Roman, the man I'm hoping will make my dreams come true - but not in the way you might think.

Using a cosmetic procedure called mesotherapy, he'll be giving me a series of weekly injections that he claims will banish cellulite and give you a 'streamlined figure'. Given that my thighs have more orange peel than a Jaffa orchard, he's got his work cut out. But, with ladies who lunch on both sides of the Channel lining up for this treatment, I've got high hopes.

'Ah, but you 'av zee nice bottom!' Gorgeous Georges exclaims, before explaining that his treatment costs £100 for each area you want treated. For me, that means £300 a session. I knew he was buttering me up with that 'nice bottom' line.

I hop up on the table and almost pass out when he reveals a gunlike syringe topped with a disc bearing five needles. And if that isn't bad enough, he's going to use it several times on each thigh. Thankfully, the pain isn't too bad, a bit like a cat scratch.

Slimming down

By week two, my skin is already smoother and I'm sure I'm less bulky around the thighs, despite not following Georges's advice to exercise and increase the effect.

My mother, furious that I've let a strange man inject unknown substances into me, demands to know what is in this magic concoction. Georges tells me it's a combination of drugs and vitamins that burst the fat cells and improve lymphatic and blood circulation, and vitamins. Sounds good to me. 'You cope with zee pain well,' says Dr Roman, as he wields his syringe, unaware I've wedged the pillow between my teeth.

Afterwards, I can feel my thighs swelling; the heat from them could toast marshmallows. The bruising the next day is depressing, but no pain, no gain, right?

Prior to starting the treatments I bought a dress, which I then discovered was impossibly tight over my jumbo-thighs. As a test I try it on and - miracle - it fits! I am now hopelessly in love with Georges and take special care when choosing my underwear for my third session - which hurts like a bitch but is over mercifully quickly (at this stage he gives you a topical anaesthetic to apply before treatment).

Less is more

At my fourth session, Georges exclaims: 'Ah, but zis iz incredible,' as he contemplates my bum. It's true, my thighs are thinner, my curves are smoother (Georges is a big advocate of curves, claiming women have no idea how sexy rounded buttocks look) and best of all, there's less cellulite. It should be permanent, although Georges - who's still perfecting his treatment - says top-ups may be needed. 'Do all your patients fall in love with you?' I ask. Now it's his turn to blush. 'I wouldn't know,' he says. Yeah, right.

Dr Roman is based at The Devonshire Medical Chambers, 43 Devonshire Street W1. Tel: 020 7323 3901.