I was quite excited at the prospect when I was asked by Beauty Judge to trial these. I always see the adverts for these sort of products, usually with a 'before and after' shots where the model is clearly sucking in her stomach and think 'yeah, right'. And whenever I do cave and use one of these products, I never manage to keep track and work out if it actually did anything. So I was quite interested in keeping an eye on it and give a 'real person's' review!

***Appearance, Comfort and Wear.***

Okay well, these make Bridget Jones' knickers look skimpy! They start from right below the bra line and cover the upper thigh. Pretty full on! Mine is in beige and not the sexiest garment in the world! They're pretty teeny off the body though, I found it very difficult to get them on the first time I wore them! But once on, I found them pretty comfortable. I could breathe easily and didn’t feel like the circulation to my legs was being completely cut off – as has been the issue with other slimming pants I've tried previously. There was quite a bit of give in the material – obviously this may vary depending on your size and the size of the shapers, but I had size s/m which is designed for UK 8-14 and I'm usually dress size 12-14. The material is very soft and smooth – probably partly due to the imbedded shea butter.

In terms of long term wear, they're not too bad. Wearing them eight hours a day can be a bit tiring but not actively uncomfortable. Though I did find my legs started to ache a little in the last hour or so of wear and I was very happy when it was time to take them off. I found they were fine to wear when I was just sitting at a desk or on the sofa. However, when walking around I found the legs could roll up and cut in to me and the top fall down a little. This got a bit annoying. The time of most discomfort was if I was wearing them at meals! I do wonder if the long term slimming results come from the fact that it functions as a kind of external gastric band! I found it very difficult to finish meals whilst wearing it and felt very full very soon! However, I can't eat large meals when wearing regular tights so this might just be me! As I was wearing the pants for slimming effects though, this portion control side effect certainly wasn't a bad thing!

The biggest problem for me though in terms of long term wear, was the fact that there is no breathable area in the crotch. It is all made out of the same synthetic material and as far as I can tell, even the crotch area is infused with the caffeine and shea butter! As a product designed for women I feel this is a big oversight, as natural breathable materials are very important for feminine hygiene and health. As it is built in panels and there is a separate crotch panel I would have thought that it could have been constructed from some other material without affecting the slimming properties. As I am unfortunately a rather sensitive lady, I became very concerned about wearing this product whilst active as, without getting into too much detail, there is no way for heat and sweat to escape. Even sitting at a desk it could get a bit uncomfortable. I would never want to wear these in summer and kept my trial wear limited to periods of inactivity for as much as possible!

***Results: "Instant Correction" Immediate Slimming Effects.***

Unfortunately this wasn't very effective at all for me. You can see this in the photo review gallery before and after pics [no holding of breath or sucked in stomach!], there's very little difference. At the beginning of the trial I took measurements of my waist, stomach, hips and upper thigh circumference with and without the shapers. There was no difference between any of them except for my upper thigh measurement – this was reduced by 2cm. My stomach was slightly held in and my bottom lifted, my waist slightly cinched and hips flattened. *Very* slightly. Perhaps I don't have enough 'lumps and bumps' to get the full effect of slimming underwear as I've had this issue before. To smooth my stomach I would think I need an added panel or line across the middle of it whereas this only has one large panel covering the majority of the stomach and then panels to the sides. Whilst this compresses, there’s still enough give for my stomach to sit as it does naturally. My thighs, however, are flabbier and so I saw a great difference here as it compressed them and smoothed out the shapes. Unfortunately this doesn't really notice a great deal under trousers and so it wasn't ever visible! Oddly, this isn't one of the 5 'efficiency zones' that is says it targets! Shame it didn't do the same for my hips!

The buttock shaping areas did lift my bum a bit and cut in under the cheeks so there was more definition. I wasn't sure if this was an entirely flattering effect though, as the fat still has to go somewhere and it created a slightly bumpy silhouette! It did force me to sit up slightly straighter than I usually do though and slightly improved my posture which was a nice side effect.

Basically, it wasn't really worth me wearing it under my clothes for the instant slimming effect, I only continued wearing it for the claimed long term slimming effect (and the fact I was trialling it for Beauty Judge!). The effectiveness may depend on your body type and size however.

***Results: Long Term Slimming Effects***

No one was more shocked than me to find that after 3 weeks of wearing the shaper I have lost 1 centimetre off my waist, 2 cm off my stomach, 1 cm off my upper thighs and 2 cm off my hips! I have made no changes to my diet or exercise regime in the time I was wearing it – in fact, in some ways I've been *worse* than usual as I've eaten out quite a bit! Also, although I did my best to wear it for the full amount of time specified, I didn't quite manage the recommended time – largely due to my feminine hygiene worries, but also because it can be quite draining. I took my measurements very carefully and checked them several times – I also made the effort to take them at the same time of day as I took my 'before' measurements so that meal time bloating would have minimal effect on the results.

The product also promises "moisturising and firming results". I have definitely noticed a difference here. My skin feels very soft and moisturised in the area the pants cover. My bum also definitely feels a bit firmer. I haven't noticed any difference in cellulite though. I also think that my waist looks a bit more defined and shapely but I can't quantify that and it may be my imagination!

***Conclusion***

I clearly had some results from this but it's hard to tell exactly how much is down to the product and what may be due to other factors. Would I pay £40 for this product? Well considering I don't get much from the 'instant slimming effect' and I don't have to pay anything to do a few sit-ups... no I wouldn't! It's really nice to think that you can tone up without having to do anything except wear some pants, but realistically the healthier way is the good old fashioned method of a balanced diet and some exercise! If you eat unhealthily whilst wearing them, they're not going to magically absorb the calories and fat! I also worry about potential side effects of long term wear on circulation etc. If you're looking for something to hold you in then this might be effective for you, but it's hard work to wear them for enough time to produce a result and I would consider the long term slimming effects as a potential added bonus rather than a given outcome of using the product.