What happens at the doctor’s office has a way of influencing the beauty industry—and of all the forces that have influenced aesthetic medicine over the last five years, few have been as insanely influential as GLP-1 medications like Ozempic. Cue the skin care.

Brands are starting to market, even formulate, skin care especially for GLP-1 users. Clinique slyly nodded at “Ozempic face”—a gaunt sunken look— in an Instagram post this spring about “loss of facial volume from rapid weight loss,” alongside claims that their Smart Clinical Repair Lifting Face + Neck Cream will visibly lift and smooth skin on the face and neck. And two plastic surgeon-owned brands recently launched formulas specifically for GLP-1 users— Dr. Few DermaReverse was created by Julius Few, MD, a board-certified plastic surgeon in Chicago and Beverly Hills and Image Skincare Vol.U.Lift by Marc Ronert, MD, a, board-certified plastic surgeon in Florida. SkinCeuticals just dropped the A.G.E. Interrupter Ultra Serum, which addresses skin laxity and volume loss for Ozempic patients (more on that in a minute). Meanwhile, PR agencies are sending beauty editors like us pitches for “Ozempic face” facials and shampoos for GLP-1 users. (Studies have shown that semaglutide use may be associated with hair loss.) So… do you need a skin-care overhaul when you start taking a GLP-1 like Ozempic, Wegovy, or Mounjaro?

It’s not out of the realm of possibility. Doctors are hearing firsthand from patients that going on GLP-1s seems to change their skin—and they’re seeing it with their own eyes, too. While operating on GLP-1 patients (who might need body lifts or tummy tucks following rapid weight loss), plastic surgeons are noticing a marked difference in their skin quality, with collagen and elastin fibers that can be thinner and weaker than expected. On a more surface level, these skin changes might look like a general aging of the skin, that’s not always full-on Ozempic face: “People who are on GLP-1s have got new fine lines and wrinkles, brown spots, textural changes and roughness, and just have lost that glow,” says Ava Shamban, MD, a board-certified dermatologist in Los Angeles. In one study sponsored by Galderma, 48% of GLP-1 patients reported significant facial changes within three to six months of going on a GLP-1, including more wrinkles, duller skin, an overall tired appearance, and loose or sagging skin. We don’t know exactly what’s causing these signs of aging to creep up so quickly, but the ways in which GLP-1s may (or may not) impact the skin is an emerging field of research. There is some evidence that GLP-1s might decrease collagen and moisture levels in the skin, for example, by “turning off” adipose-derived stem cells which, would otherwise stimulate fibroblasts in the skin to produce collagen, elastin, and hyaluronic acid, Steven Dayan, MD, a board-certified plastic surgeon in Chicago who has researched the impact of GLP-1s on skin, has told Allure. This could be because GLP-1 patients lose some of the fat where adipose-derived stem cells reside: It’s called dermal white adipose tissue, and it comprises “little niblets of fat within the dermis—it’s previously underappreciated fat,” explains Saami Khalifian, MD, a board-certified dermatologist in Encinitas, California. When you lose this fat, you’re also losing a “reservoir of cell signaling” that’s supposed to help keep skin looking younger and firmer. This, alongside decreased cell support from nutrition, can compromise skin, he hypothesizes.

What we do know for sure, says Dr. Shamban, is that rapid weight loss and lack of nutrition can affect skin. As Dr. Shamban explains it, if your appetite is suppressed and you’re eating less protein and getting fewer vitamins, that lack of nutrients could potentially make skin duller and might impact collagen, our body’s structural protein that keeps skin looking young and firm. One study, published in the Journal of Biomedical Science and Engineering earlier this year, explains that “lifestyle changes that promote gradual weight loss tend to preserve skin integrity better, albeit with less dramatic weight reduction outcomes.” If you plan to go on a GLP-1, the study concludes, “ensuring supplementation, combining semaglutide with a nutrient-rich diet, can help preserve skin elasticity and overall health during weight loss. However, some patients may still experience a reduction in overall food intake, potentially leading to deficiencies in essential nutrients such as vitamin D, B12, and protein, all of which are crucial for maintaining skin health and elasticity.”

“If you look closely at those with Ozempic face, it's not just that they're hollowed out. It's also that their skin is lackluster—it lacks radiance, it lacks hydration, it just seems like a desert,” says Dr. Khalifian. “Patients may be drinking plenty of water, but you wouldn’t know that from their skin quality.” Dr. Khalifian says physicians see an “absolute skin quality decrease” in GLP-1 patients, but it doesn’t necessarily happen right away. “Once they start really accelerating their weight loss, that's when we start to see a decline in skin quality.”