Weight-Loss Drugs Are Reshaping Beauty and Skin Care Sales, Says L'Oreal
The rise of weight-loss drugs is now affecting beauty and skin care sales, beauty giant L'Oreal has said, as it designs products to specifically target some side effects of rapid weight loss. The shift shows how the boom in so-called GLP-1 medicines is reaching far beyond the pharmaceutical market.
The company's head, Nicolas Hieronimus, said the beauty market was proving resilient in a challenging global context, and that the use of GLP-1s was 'a very important phenomenon for us'. He made the remarks during a call with investors.
Hieronimus told the investor call that the rise in their use was 'having an impact on beauty consumption and skin care consumption in particular'. In other words, people using weight-loss drugs are developing new kinds of skin concerns, and those concerns are changing both what sells and how beauty companies plan their products.
L'Oreal, which owns popular brands including Maybelline and La Roche-Posay, announced on Thursday that sales in the three months to September rose by 7.7%, above analyst expectations. The comments about weight-loss drugs came alongside that stronger-than-expected sales announcement.
The use of GLP-1s has boomed in popularity in recent years. Drugs developed to treat diabetes, such as Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro, were found to also lead to significant weight loss because they suppress the appetite, and their use spread rapidly after that discovery.
While it is not caused by GLP-1 drugs directly, rapid weight loss can, for some people, come with a side effect of loose skin — including around the face. The sagging is understood as a possible consequence of losing weight quickly rather than a direct effect of the medication itself.
L'Oreal says it is already designing its ranges with that reality in mind. Hieronimus said the company's brands SkinCeuticals and Kiehl's have products 'that have been designed to work alongside and complement GLP-1 and its side effects on skin sagging' and other effects related to rapid weight loss.
L'Oreal has also moved further into the clinical aesthetic space. Last December it increased its stake in dermatology firm Galderma to 20%, strengthening its position in clinic-based treatments for customers worried about loose skin.
Both companies have been testing products on GLP-1 users worried about loose skin in separate clinical trials, according to Reuters. The trials aim to establish how effective such products are for people whose appearance has changed after rapid weight loss.
Galderma owns popular aesthetic products including Sculptra, an injectable aimed at stimulating collagen production, and Restylane, which is an injectable dermal filler. Growing demand for treatments that support skin structure and facial appearance is driving both firms' interest in this segment.
Last year the aesthetic firm released a report into the rise of GLP-1 use and related concerns about changes in facial appearance. Its own survey of weight loss medication users found the vast majority had noticed changes to their facial appearance after using those drugs.
Taken together, the weight-loss drug wave is no longer confined to the medicines market: it is visibly influencing product design, sales and investment across the beauty industry. L'Oreal's latest comments and sales figures point to exactly that change.
