L'Oreal says weight loss drugs are impacting beauty and skin care sales

ByRachel Clun Business reporter.

Key points

• L'Oreal has additionally moved further into the clinical aesthetic space, increasing its stake in dermatology firm Galderma to 20% last December.
• Both firms have been testing products on GLP-1 users worried concerning loose skin in separate clinical trials, according to Reuters.
• Galderma owns popular aesthetic products including Sculptra, an injectable aimed at stimulating collagen production, and Restylane.
• Last year the aesthetic firm published a report into the rise of GLP-1 apply and related reservations concerning changes in facial appearance.
• Its own survey of weight loss medication users discovered the vast majority had noticed changes to their facial appearance after using those drugs.

As it designs products to specifically target some side effects of rapid weight loss, beauty giant L'Oreal notes the rise of weight loss drugs has affected beauty and skin care sales.

Notably, the company's head Nicolas Hieronimus remarked the beauty market was proving resilient in a challenging global context, and that the apply of GLP-1s was "a very important phenomenon for us".

He informed an investor call that the rise in their apply was "having an impact on beauty consumption and skin care consumption in particular".

L'Oreal, which owns other popular brands including Maybelline and La Roche-Posay, confirmed on Thursday that sales in the three months to September rose by 7.7%, above analyst expectations.

After drugs developed to treat diabetes such as Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro were identified to additionally lead to significant weight loss as they supress the appetite, the employ of GLP-1s has boomed in popularity over recent years.

While it is not caused by GLP-1 drugs directly, rapid weight loss can, for some individuals, come with a side effect of loose skin – including around the face.

Hieronimus remarked L'Oreal'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.

Galderma owns popular aesthetic products including Sculptra, an injectable aimed at stimulating collagen production, and Restylane. It is an injectable dermal filler.

Taken together, the developments around l' Oreal says weight loss drugs are impacting beauty and skin care sales point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.