LONDON, May 2 /PRNewswire/ --

- With Photo

NIVEA(R) Body Goodbye Cellulite has been selected as the best performing anti-cellulite treatment in a consumer blind test conducted by Channel 4 programme How To Look Good Naked. Not only has NIVEA Body Goodbye Cellulite been crowned the best performing anti-cellulite treatment, at a purse-friendly GBP9.99 it is also the cheapest of the four products tested.

NIVEA Body Goodbye Cellulite, which was launched in the UK in January of this year, is already the number one anti-cellulite in France(1) and Italy(2). The 'Naked Truth' blind test, which was carried out with 100 women chosen to represent a wide range of ages, skin types, ethnic backgrounds and consumer types, put NIVEA Body Goodbye Cellulite in the prized no. 1 slot ahead of Dior Plasticity (2nd place), Sisley Celluli-Pro Slimming Complex (3rd place) and L'Oreal Perfect Slim (4th place).

Andrew Frost Marketing Director, Beiersdorf UK, commented "We have already seen strong sales of NIVEA Body Goodbye Cellulite since it hit the shelves in January, now that How To Look Good Naked is spreading the word that this is a product that really does give great results, we are bracing ourselves to see it flying off the shelves."

The women were asked to rate the products on efficacy, texture, colour and fragrance. The women were also asked if they would actually buy the product. The Four anti-cellulite products pitted against one another were selected from expensive, cheap and best-selling categories. These products were:

NIVEA Body Goodbye Cellulite (GBP9.99)

L'Oreal Perfect Slim Anti-Cellulite Body Gel (GBP10.99)

Dior Plasticity Anti-Cellulite Corrective Gel (GBP30)

Sisley Celluli-Pro Slimming Complex (GBP85.00)

NOTES TO EDITORS

(1)IRI - May 2006

(2) Source: Nielsen Total H+S, April 2006.

Methodology used for Naked Truth testing

Testers

The programme selected 100 women to test cosmetic products. These women were chosen to represent a wide range of ages, skin types, ethnic backgrounds and consumer types.

Production selection

The four products being tested were chosen in three categories:

1) Expensive

2) Cheap

3) Best Sellers

Expensive product selection

The expensive products were chosen based on research carried out with four top end retailers: Harrods, Space NK, Harvey Nicholls and House of Fraser. The task was to find a popular product in the top end price bracket which was a non shop brand product.

Cheap product selection

The cheap products were selected through research with supermarkets and high street retailers which represent the budget end of the market. These were Superdrug, Boots, Tesco and Sainsbury. The task was to find a popular product in the budget price bracket, which was a non-shop brand product.

'Best selling' product selection

A best seller is a product which is bought more often than any other product. The two best sellers in each category were selected through extensive research with eight leading cosmetics retailers. The eight retailers were:

- John Lewis

- Debenhams

- House of Fraser

- Harvey Nichols

- Superdrug

- Boots

- Sainsbury

- Tesco

We deliberately chose four higher end and four high street / budget retailers, to ensure a wide spectrum of products were included in the final selection of cosmetics for testing.

Once the results for the best selling products had been gathered, a frequency table was drawn up. The final products for testing were selected based on how often they appeared as best sellers in each retailer.

Fairness to brands

Sometimes products got equal ratings, i.e. they appeared the same number of times as other products. Where there was a choice to be made, we made sure the same brands were not featured all the time throughout the series, to the exclusion of other brands.

The Test

The products were then sourced from the manufacturers and shops. The products were decanted into unmarked packaging to ensure that the testers could not be influenced by any pre-existing brand loyalty and then sent out to one hundred women by post. All products were sent out with instruction documents that included all the information contained on the original packaging or accompanying leaflets. (This included instructions for use, ingredients and any warnings.)

The testers used the products for the minimum timeframe recommended by the companies and then answered a questionnaire in order to evaluate their experience of each product. These questionnaires were designed with the guidance of an independent cosmetics testing company (Euroderm Research Ltd - website: www.eurodermresearch.com).

The Questionnaire and Results

The questionnaires consisted of questions that related to the efficacy, texture, colour and fragrance of the product. It also asked the testers if they would buy this product.

Products Tested

The products tested were:

- Anti cellulite

- Bust firming

- Stretch marks

- Eye wrinkles

- Moisturiser with fake tan

- Micro dermabrasion

- Dark circle remover cream

- Anti-aging day moisturiser

Note to Editors:

A picture accompanying this release is available through the PA Photowire. It can be viewed at www.mediapoint.press.net or www.prnewswire.co.uk

Distributed by PR Newswire on behalf of Beiersdorf UK Ltd