Transdermal Fat Emulsifying Gel - WTF?

Factual Questions
1

So I get this catalog in the mail today.

In it are two products (well, more because the crap is insane, but I’ll focus on these two): Dermalin APG and Sovage Tummy Flattening Gel that seem related by the literature in the catalog, though the website isn’t as detailed. They’re both touted as “clinically proven” and both contain “Epidril Gel” so I figure they’re the same thing made by different people. The Dermalin stuff even has what looks like a NDC# on the box like real prescription medication, but it’s obviously some fake because it’s an NBG#, which I’ve never heard of and can’t find anything on.

A cursory search through Google came up with thousands of sites selling it. Found a few sites that claim that “the Washington Post dubbed it ‘Dream Cream’” but can’t find anything in a searchof The Post’s site and it has archives online going back to 1990. I also can’t seem to find anything online that’s anecdotal.

I know it’s gotta be bunk because they all say that “you must increase exercise or reduce caloric intake” (duh!) but it’s still oddly tantalizing.

So what the hell is it? Why does it do? I’m WAGing that it temporarily tightens the skin while your increase in exercise takes care of the fat. Why can’t I find anything about what the clinical results actually were?

Also, why is it impossible to think that one day someone actually will find something that can be applied transdermally a la nicotine patches/motion sickness patches, etc.? And why can’t I find anything but the same ads, over and over again?

Oh, and has anyone ever tried this stuff? I found that there’s also a product out there called Ripping Gel which is the same crap, different target market.

2

Aha! They ARE the same.

I go to the Klein-Becker (maker of Dermalin) website and look for contact info. I see an addy for testamonials, which leads me to this site which has Klein-Becker and Sovage listed as the same “family” of companies.

Slick. It’s definitely BS.

Okay, all my other questions apply though.

3

They make the Ripping Gel too.

[BS detector]WARNINGWARNINGBEEPBEEPWARNINGWARNING[/BS detector]

4

The Ripping Gel link doesn’t give ingredients, but this one does.

Okay, we know what lecithin, water, fragrance, vitamin E, BHA, Citric Acid, and caramel color are.

Which leaves these to look up:

Octyl Palmitate Aminophylline: Not found on FDA’s website. Under Google, besides Ripping Cream, also shows up under things like “female body building” and “thigh cream”. So it’s a skin tightener, I guess.

Propylene Glycol: is anti-freeze. I’m assuming that if you rub it on your skin, it also acts as a skin tightener.

Propyl Gallate: showed up in a Google www.harcourt.com/dictionary/def/8/1/9/3/8193100.html+Propyl+Gallate&hl=en&start=10]cache.

So I’m guessing it’s there to stabilize the “thigh cream”, keep it from “turning” while it’s on the shelf. It’s also found in Clorets and Certs, BTW. :smiley:

DMDM Hydantoin: It’s a preservative. http://www.lindachae.com/urea_dmdm.htm

lodopropynyl Butylcarbamate: Shows up in a lot of different things, from shampoo to face cream to “eye serum” to bar soap to Ripping Gel to health food. I’m guessing it’s either a preservative or a stabilizer of some kind.

So, what’s in Ripping Gel? It’s basically a hand lotion/cream, with skin tighteners and stabilizers, and fragrance, and Vitamin E.

Does it “melt fat”? Not according to what I learned about “How the Body Works” in 6th grade health class. :smiley:

5

Damn. And I thought you were here to compliment my Google skills.

:stuck_out_tongue:

6

Antifreeze, Duckie? Antifreeze??

Well, guess I’ll just have to get rid of the bags o’ fat the old fashioned way. Wait, that would involve eating less or exercising more . . . .

Well, guess I’ll just have to live with the bags o’ fat. :slight_smile:

7

Sure sounds like a scam to me!

8

Octyl palmitate alone is used as an emollient and thickening agent, not sure about this stuff.

This is safe for use in cosmetics and is pretty common. In cosmetics, among other things, it works as a moisturizer, water-binding agent, etc. USDA approved in cosmetics. (cite: Don’t Go to the Cosmetics Counter Without Me, Paula Begoun - kind of a “Consumer Reports” for cosmetics)

9

Pretty good sleuthing, Ducky, except for these two:

I’m pretty sure this is a typo; these two are separate ingredients. Octyl palmitate is an emollient ester, popular as a carrier for oil-soluble ingredients and as an ingredient in creams of all sorts. Aminophylline is an aminated form of theophylline, an asthma medication; it was touted several years ago as a “fat-burner” by some doctor who claimed that he had prove that rubbing his cream on chubby thighs would make them thinner.

Ethylene glycol is anti-freeze; propylene glycol is great stuff. It’s non-toxic, it solubilizes oils in water, and feels very nice on the skin. It’s probably in this product to keep the aminophylline from flopping out in crystals.

10

Ethylene glycol is the antifreeze used in cars and is poisonous. It tastes sweet and a few dogs and other pets have died from drinking it from radiator leaks. As you know it is colored green

Propylene Glycol is non toxic and is used as antifreeze in domestic water systems, boats and RVs. This is the pink colored antifreeze and it is more expensive.

11

I hear commercials all the time on my local radio station for this junk. They describe it as a herbal compound. There are two other products being sold by what is obviously the same company. One cures baldness; the other increases breast size. Personally, I suspect all three products are the same (and equally ineffective). However, if I’m only half right, and these are a single product but actually works, then there’s a miracle herb that will simultaneously make you lose weight, grow hair, and have big boobs.

I can see the TV ads now: “Hi, I’m Pamela Anderson and I’d like to tell you about a product that changed my life…”