L’Oreal tests its products on GLP-1 users in separate studies as consumption of weight-loss drugs increases

Beauty companies such as L'Oreal have adopted a new strategy as consumption patterns change due to weight-loss drugs – they are testing their products on consumers of GLP-1.

Delphine Viguier-Hovasse, L'Oreal's chief innovation and prospective officer, said as mentioned in a report in Reuters, “We are now testing products on GLP-1 users in separate studies, as this group of consumers is becoming increasingly important and represents a significant ‌number of ⁠people worldwide.”

This comes as 53 per cent of aesthetics clinics in the US anticipate an influx of new patients due to the effects of weight-loss medications. As many as 43 per cent believe that this will give rise to a demand for treatments that address weight-loss-medication-induced facial changes.

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Anne-Cecile Chevrier, global head of injectable aesthetics at Galderma that is 20%-owned by L'Oreal, said, "Sagginess is a concern, loss of firmness is a concern, some hollowness can be of concern and dullness can be a concern.” The company ran a study to understand how some of its products react to skin changes associated with GLP-1 drugs. The company makes Sculptra known for stimulating natural collagen and Restylane, a dermal filler.

It is not only L’Oreal, other companies have also begun experiencing the shift.

Beauty companies are developing products to address concerns known as “Ozempic face”, a term that emerged as the diabetes drug became widely associated with weight loss. Experts say the loss of facial volume is linked to rapid weight loss rather than to GLP-1 drugs themselves.

Skin and facial volume changes among GLP-1 users may involve several factors, including age-related declines in collagen and oestrogen production, as well as nutrition. Companies are testing existing products and developing treatments that could combine creams with supplements and other ingestible formats.

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Manuel Krauss, Natura's chief innovation and R&D officer, said the company was testing existing products directly with GLP-1 users while developing a new generation of treatments.

“GLP-1 is creating new beauty needs at unprecedented speed, but it is also showing us that the future of beauty cannot be defined by creams alone,” Krauss said. He added that future innovation could combine different formats, including supplements and ingestibles.

Meanwhile, SkinCeuticals continued to record double-digit growth, supported by a strong performance in North Asia and the success of its A.G.E. Interrupter Ultra Serum, which was clinically tested to meet the needs of GLP-1 patients.

Analysts at US health policy organisation KFF said GLP-1 drugs were used most widely by adults aged 50 to 64. People in this age group are already experiencing declines in collagen and, particularly among menopausal women, oestrogen production.

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“We don't have the research and it is probably going to be a challenging study to do because most of the female patients on GLP-1 drugs are perimenopausal or postmenopausal,” said Heidi Young, a Northern California-based physician associate and co-owner of R+H Aesthetic Medicine.

Young said some people taking GLP-1 drugs did not regularly eat nutritious food, which could also affect their skin. “I think it's definitely multifactorial and I don't think there is a direct answer,” she said.