Ozempic Face: Prevent Skin Damage During Weight Loss

[Intro] Hey, everyone. Welcome to Facially Conscious. I'm Trina Renea, a medically trained master esthetician here in Los Angeles, and I'm sitting with my rock star co-host, Rebecca Gadberry, our resident skincare scientist and regulatory and marketing expert.

We are here to help you navigate the sometimes confusing and competitive world of skincare. Our mission is to provide you with insider knowledge on everything from product ingredients to medical procedures, lasers, fillers, and ever-changing trends. With our expert interviews with chemists, doctors, laser reps, and estheticians, you'll be equipped to make informative decisions before investing in potentially expensive treatments. 

It's the Wild West out there, so let's make it easier for you, one episode at a time. Are you ready to discover the latest and greatest skin care secrets? Tune in and let us be your go-to girls for all things facially conscious. Let's dive in.

01:18 Trina Renea: Hello, hello, hello. How's it going? Hi, Rebecca. 

01:23 Rebecca Gadberry: Hi, Trina. How are you? 

01:23 Trina Renea: Good to see you.

01:24 Rebecca Gadberry: How are you?

01:25 Trina Renea: I'm good. I'm excited to talk about this next episode because it is a real issue in the industry right now, and it's called Ozempic face.

01:39 Rebecca Gadberry: I know. It's an issue about tissue. 

01:42 Trina Renea: Issue about tissue. 

01:44 Rebecca Gadberry: Yes. The skin tissue. 

01:47 Trina Renea: Yes. And right out of the gate, I just want to say it's not Ozempic’s fault. 

01:53 Rebecca Gadberry: No. 

01:55 Trina Renea: But it is called that because it is like an issue, as I'm pulling my face back. So, let's jump into this because it's pretty simple. Basically, I just want to say from the start, don't do rapid weight loss.

02:21 Rebecca Gadberry: Of any type, whether it's with Ozempic or intermittent fasting, like I did. I lost 40 pounds on that a few years ago, and I still do it. It's wonderful. 

02:32 Trina Renea: Me too.

02:34 Rebecca Gadberry: It's very good health. Right. But when you do it quickly, you get what we now call Ozempic face. But Ozempic as a drug, the drugs that are in that category that everybody's using, Mounjaro or Ozempic or some of the other ones, they have nothing to do with the way your face looks, except for the fact that they are causing you to lose weight really quickly.

02:58 Trina Renea: Well, they're not causing you to lose weight really quickly. You’re taking too fast and then taking advantage of eating bad food and not working out and, therefore, you’re having rapid weight loss which is causing all of your muscles and skin tone and everything in your body on the outside to fall.

03:21 Rebecca Gadberry: Well, that's because skin is an elastic or stretchable organ. And when we take away what's underneath, it's just collapsing. I think of it like when you blow up a balloon and, you know, it's nice and stretchy and everything. When you blow it up and then you let out all the air, the balloon never returns back what it was originally.

03:46 Trina Renea: Oh, it kind of looks like an Ozempic face.

03:48 Rebecca Gadberry: Yeah, it does, doesn't it? You can you can draw a little happy face and some eyes on the balloon and then let it out, but anyway…

03:56 Trina Renea: Like, this is what you look like when you're older.

03:59 Rebecca Gadberry: Thanks a lot. Well, I'd rather get older than not.

04:04 Trina Renea: Not you, the balloon.

04:07 Rebecca Gadberry: Oh, I know. I'm teasing. 

04:08 Trina Renea: It's a big, round balloon, and then it loses all of its air and then it looks like Ozempic face.

04:14 Rebecca Gadberry: So, there's a couple of things that we could talk about here. I know that it's a really big issue, though. In the past, we used to go on crash diets. Now we call it intermittent fasting sometimes. Intermittent fasting I think you eat healthier than you do on a crash diet. Whatever it is, however you’re losing weight, when you do so quickly, whether it's on Ozempic or whatever, your skin is going to look hollowed out. Your skin does not shrink as quickly as you can lose weight. That's because the skin is stretchable. It's got to be stretchable. Otherwise, it would tear when we gained weight or it would tear when we flex, like at our elbows or our knees or whatever. So it's got to be a flexible organ with that.

05:03 Trina Renea: And that's our subcutaneous fat in there. That is you're losing very fast so you're losing it. 

05:10 Rebecca Gadberry: That plumps out the skin, yeah.

05:12 Trina Renea: That plumps out the skin, so you're losing that part, your fat pads in your skin. And so when you lose it so fast, it's really hard to get that back. All of a sudden, you look like what they're calling Ozempic face. If you could just go a little slower with it, you could prevent that. 

I have been personally on Ozempic for a year now, with my diabetes, but I go very slow and I have not had that issue at all. So I think that you also eat very healthy for being a diabetic. And I think if you eat your proteins with your fat and your carbs all together in each meal and you eat healthy and you go slow with your GLP-1 medications, you won't have that problem.

And it's not those drugs that are causing that problem. It's how you're doing it.

06:14 Rebecca Gadberry: Right. So if you don't do it in a healthy manner, you're going to get that gaunt, hollow appearance because the fat pads underneath your eyes, under your cheeks and on your cheekbones, around your mouth, and on the sides of your forehead, this is where we have our fat pads, that, until we get into advanced age, like your 80s or your 90s, don't start to thin out. So when you lose them quickly, then the skin takes on a look like you're in your 80s or your 90s, or you're very unhealthy. 

So we want to make sure that you maintain the skin structures that keep your skin healthy. One way that you can do that is if you are thinking about going on Ozempic or one of these other drugs, you can start prepping your skin for a month or two prior with ingredients that are going to boost the formation of the protein. So key proteins, like collagen and elastin, because they are what suffers when we start cutting protein out of our diet or we lose weight in a very rapid way.

07:32 Trina Renea: So when you're heavy and then you start to lose weight, skin always tends to fall down. But how can we support that skin so that it can move along with us on our journey of weight loss, so that we don't fall so hard? 

07:57 Rebecca Gadberry: Watch your nutrition. A lot of people say, “Well, I'm going to lose weight anyway so I will just grab some convenience food, some fast food.” And they're not watching their nutrition. So we want to make sure we get quality protein. You should get at least 8.8 grams to 1.2 grams per pound or kilo of body weight in every meal. 

08:26 Trina Renea: Yes. 

08:27 Rebecca Gadberry: You need to have good protein. And it can be any type of protein as long as it's a quality protein that offer you the amino acids that the collagen and the elastin need to maintain. That is one of the key elements, because it's the collagen and elastin that start to degrade in the skin. They're also degrading in other parts of the body, like your muscles.

(10:26) Alrighty.

If you do not get enough protein in every meal, then you won't get enough amino acids for your muscles as well as the collagen and elastin in your face and your skin. Not just your face, by the way, other areas also will become crepey, will start to sag, not just in the facial area, your arms, the inside of your legs…

10:55 Trina Renea: Your booty. 

10:56 Rebecca Gadberry: Your booty, your beautiful booty, and your boobies, too. 

11:02 Trina Renea: It all falls.

11:05 Rebecca Gadberry: We call them boobages in my family. I think everybody has their own way of saying it, but you know what I'm talking about. We get that sagging, and that's because the tissue underneath the surface of the skin is starting to tear down. 

So the key elements are, again, to get enough protein, to also get enough fat and oil, because I think people cut out fats and oil thinking that all fats and all oils are bad. They actually help to maintain your skin’s barrier. And they also help to maintain the membranes of your cells so your cells can continue to act healthfully. 

If you cut out too much fat or lipids, your skin is going to get drier. And a lot of people who are on a rapid weight loss regimen, their skin becomes drier. Their skin becomes more sensitive because the barrier is damaged. So to make sure that your skin doesn't become sensitive and gets that hydration that you need and the barriers intact, make sure you eat enough fat and lipids. 

I don't even know what that amount is per day. I eat about a tablespoon to two tablespoons of olive oil every day, or about that much in fats or lipids per day, not just olive oil. 

12:29 Trina Renea: And we're talking about healthy fats like avocado and olive oil.

12:36 Rebecca Gadberry: Even some butters. I think butters is better for you than we used to think. I think margarine is actually worse for you, from what I’ve been reading. So there's that.

So you want to make sure you get these high protein, high quality protein, not just meat, but eggs, fish, your dairy, soy, legumes, like your beans. Beans and rice make a total amino acid group. And if you feel like you're undernourished, some protein shakes or protein bars could help you. 

Also, hydration is really critical here, not because you need to have eight glasses of water a day, but because we've discussed that in the past episode, and that is not true for everybody. But because when you start to be dehydrated, and you can tell when you're dehydrated, because your urine becomes darker, so always look at it to make sure that that…

13:39 Trina Renea: And your skin looks crepey. 

13:41 Rebecca Gadberry: And your skin looks crepey and it feels tight. And when you press on it, you don't have the plumpness. It kind of drags instead of springs back. If you're going through that, then you need to drink more water and you need to get that protein.

13:56 Trina Renea: Electrolytes. 

13:57 Rebecca Gadberry: Electrolytes. Good word. I love that word, electrolytes. 

14:02 Trina Renea: And if you don't like the sweet electrolytes, listen to our episode with Dan Frida when he talks to us about adding a little bit of mineralized salt to your waters once a day. That will help. 

14:18 Rebecca Gadberry: That's our seaweed episode, isn't it?

14:20 Trina Renea: Yes, yeah. 

14:22 Rebecca Gadberry: Yeah, from a couple of years ago now, gosh. 

14:24 Trina Renea: But I tell people that almost every day. 

14:27 Rebecca Gadberry: Yeah, it's really important to make sure you get your electrolytes. Or there's electrolyte powders now that you can add as well. And even if you're not losing weight, electrolytes are really important for your skin. 

I think that as long as you do it in a healthy way, this is going to be fine for everybody. But it's when you overdo it. I think a lot of us want to see results so fast that we overdo it and then we pay the price for it.

14:57 Trina Renea: Yes. So basically, if you're new to trying these kind of GLP-1 medications, go slow. Start with lower doses of it, and make sure you’re eating diets that are healthy. A Mediterranean diet, a diabetic diet is always a good one to look at. These are good ways to eat along with taking the medication so that you don't lose that fat in your skin that drops. 

And then using, there's good products that you can use for your skin as well, like peptides, growth factors, retinoids, these types of things that can help along with the process. But it's really about how you eat and how slow you go. 

What are some of the other product ingredients people can look for that can help? And also, Rebecca, what about once they've already passed this? They are now with Ozempic face. 

16:02 Rebecca Gadberry: Their skin has fallen?

16:04 Trina Renea: Yes. What are they going to do?

16:05 Rebecca Gadberry: Okay. How long does it take to recover from Ozempic face? 

16:07 Trina Renea: Yes, please. 

16:08 Rebecca Gadberry: It depends on your age and how resilient your skin is. This is one reason why I said at the beginning of all of this, prep your skin before you go on one of these medications because your skin can become more resilient and less likely to have the elasticity issues. 

So we're looking at peptides here. We're looking at the Peauvita, Peauforia growth factors that we talked about a few episodes ago. These are the growth factors that are stabilized and are delivered into the skin that we know are doing the job. Growth factors, these type of growth factors can really help. Your retinoids can help. 

So there's a number of ingredients, niacinamide at 4% or higher, like 4% to maybe 6% or 7% can do wonderful things for all areas of the skin that could suffer because of losing weight quickly. 

And it depends upon how old you are. If you go on these drugs when you're in your 20s, your skin is much more resilient and it's going to snap back quickly. But if you do it at my age, at 71, it's going to take longer to snap back, if it does at all. So the younger you are, the better off you're going to be. 

And remember that it's the amount of weight that you lose as well. If you lose 200 pounds, it's going to take a lot longer for the snapback, this is what we call it, the snapback effect to occur as opposed to if you lose 30 pounds, it's going to be relatively quickly. When I say relatively quickly, I mean like three to six months.

Now, when I lost a bunch of weight on intermittent fasting, I dropped 40 pounds within a year. It took me about a year to a year-and-a-half to recover.

So it depends on, again, your age, your genes, the amount of weight, and the nutrition that you are, again, feeding your body. I can't tell you enough how important it is to make sure you eat properly while you're losing weight. I think a lot of people think this is a time to just focus on calories. You need to focus on the nutrients as much as you focus on calories, or even more, especially the Ozempic-type drugs. 

18:40 Trina Renea: And for people who are past that point and are on the other side of this, and now they're dealing with this weight loss look in their face, they're getting facelifts younger in their 40s, they are getting threads to pull back their face…

19:01 Rebecca Gadberry: Oh, threading, yeah. 

19:04 Trina Renea: Threading. They're doing Sculptra, which is a face filler that is for volumizing. Lots of filler, trying to fill their faces back up, but this is all temporary. You have to be careful. 

Once you've gone that far, you are in the hands of dermatologists and plastic surgeons. But to prevent yourself from going there, just really, really focus on the health of it. You can’t just take it as, it's not a fast-trick thing. Like, you can’t make money fast. If you lose weight too fast, you’re going to look like that. And if you don’t want to look like that, go slow and eat right. That’s the bottom line.

19:56 Rebecca Gadberry: Right. Absolutely. And an ingredient that we forgot to mention, or an ingredient family that we've talked about several times over this year are exosomes. A lot of exosomes can help with proteins in the skin and your barrier. Ceramides help with your barrier. So there's a number of things that you can do.

One thing that probably will not help is Botox or any Botox-like injectables because those help to freeze the skin. We're not talking about freezing skin here. We're talking about plumping up. 

20:32 Trina Renea: Right. Because the Botox will relax the muscles in your face further. And if they're already drooping, it will add to the droop.

20:40 Rebecca Gadberry: You don’t want to go there. It's not a good look. 

20:43 Trina Renea: Yeah.

20:45 Rebecca Gadberry: So Botox face and Ozempic face, never the twain shall meet. Well, I guess that covers everything. 

20:53 Trina Renea: Botox face is a whole other episode. 

20:55 Rebecca Gadberry: Yes, it is. 

20:57 Trina Renea: Yeah, I think that covers it. Nice and short and sweet and to the point.

21:02 Rebecca Gadberry: Excellent. 

21:03 Trina Renea: I hope you guys understand. 

21:03 Rebecca Gadberry: We’ll see you guys another time.

21:05 Trina Renea: Yeah, and if you have any questions, please email us, send us a message through our website, facially conscious.com, or through our Instagram at Facially Conscious, and we will try and answer questions or guide you in the right direction. 

21:22 Rebecca Gadberry: Also, there's a blog post about this episode, too. So go over to faciallyconscious.com and read the blog post. 

21:30 Trina Renea: Yes, it has a lot more information in there as well. 

21:34 Rebecca Gadberry: Bye, everybody. 

21:35 Trina Renea: All right, thanks for joining. Bye. Thanks. Bye, Rebecca. 

21:40 Rebecca Gadberry: Bye, Trina.

[Outro] Get ready to stay in the know with Facially Conscious, the ultimate guide to navigating the overwhelming world of information. We are your trusted co-hosts bringing you the latest and greatest on all things Facially Conscious. 

Have a burning question or idea you want to share? Don't hesitate to email us at info@faciallyconscious.com. We'd love to hear from you. 

And if you're itching to share your own experience with our audience, contact us, and we just may feature you on an upcoming episode. 

Stay tuned for even more insights and inspiration on our website, faciallyconscious.com, where you can catch up on blog posts and past guest interviews.