Losing weight is tough, isn't it? Jenny Needham tries an instant inch-loss treatment where the most difficult thing to endure is the indignity.

IT'S every slimmer's dream... lying back, reading a glossy magazine for an hour and a half, while the inches just melt away. All you have to do in return is suffer a few indignities and promise yourself to lay off the toxins - coffee, red wine, strong foods - as much a possible in the future.

The first indignity when you turn up at the beauty salon for a ShapeChangers inch loss and detox wrap is a favourite of beauty therapists. "Could you just strip off and put on those plastic briefs?" asks Sarah Wilkin of Darlington's Beauty Oasis. "I'll be back in a sec to measure you and put on the clay."

Measurements are taken of wrist, arm, abdomen, etcetera... right down to the ankles as Sarah marks the exact place she has measured with a biro. This ensures that the "after-treatment" measurements are taken at the same spot.

The "clay", it turns out, is not very clarty at all. It's more like a khaki coloured cream, which Sarah smears on my back, tummy and top to bottom on my legs.

Then it all gets very strange indeed. Entering the room with a bucket containing a dozen rolls of heated bandages, Sarah proceeds to wrap up first one leg, then the other, then my torso, shoulders and arms. Except for my head, which fortunately has not been bandaged up, it looks like a scene from The Mummy. Then, just as I think the indignities have ended, Sarah produces a set of blue waterproofs. These are put on over the bandages to keep the warmth in and aid the detoxing process. Very attractive. "If the fire alarm goes off now, I'll take my chances here," I tell Sarah.

But if the inches do drop off, it'll all be worthwhile, and the next bit of the treatment is easy. I lie back on the couch while Sarah dyes my eyelashes, a great pre-holiday treat which precludes the need to wear any eye make-up on the beach or by the pool. The whole process takes just ten minutes.

Then Sarah produces the glossy mags and I'm left to my own devices for an hour and a quarter.

The QuickShape wrap is aimed at clients who want to lose excess inches, tighten, firm, lift and sculpt their bodies in a short time without any effort at all. "Most people like to have a wrap before they go on holiday and we get a lot of brides who have a course of three wraps before the big day," says Sarah. "They don't want to get to the morning of the wedding and discover their dress is too tight. It just gives them that bit of extra confidence."

The wrap draws toxins from in and around the fat cells, then flushes them out through the body's lymphatic system, says Sarah. It also contains Vitamin C and Coenzyme A to aid the rapid breakdown and elimination of the fatty deposits which cause cellulite, aloe for moisturising, dandelion to cleanse, rosemary, which acts as a powerful antioxidant and witch hazel, which revitalises dull skin.

When Sarah "unwraps" me, the bandages are wet, but there was no need to shower as the clay had disappeared, and I just had to towel dry. Sarah measured me again at the same points and a total of around ten inches had just melted away.

"Most inch loss is usually from the abdomen, waist and upper thigh area," says Sarah.

The initial thought is that the inch loss is probably due to dehydration/water loss, but Sarah dispels this. In fact, clients are actively encouraged to drink water afterwards to keep flushing out the toxins and advised to eat fresh food and avoid salt, alcohol, tea, coffee and nicotine for at least three days. Then the inches should stay off, providing you don't gain weight.

One extra benefit I noticed was how smooth the skin on the back of my arms and thighs was after the treatment. Due to a sluggish circulation, it's usually dry and rough. I wonder how soft The Mummy's skin was under all those wraps.

READER OFFER

The ShapeChangers Detox Wrap is £45 for 90 minutes and readers of The Northern Echo get a free eyelash tint when booking a wrap in July or August.

Beauty Oasis, Northumberland Street, Darlington (just off Grange Road). Call (01325) 489970 www.beautyoasisdarlington.com