The rise of ‘Ozempic face’: the Wegovy side effect that’s here to stay

As Stephen Fry admits he was “throwing up five times a day” while taking the skinny jab, cosmetic doctors are noticing another unnerving side effect. Here the experts tell Katie Rosseinsky how it can be difficult to treat if you get it too young...

For years, women have said they have to make the decision between looking young or being slim (istock, Reuters)

At a certain age, you have to choose between your face and your ass.” This pithy saying tends to be attributed to the actor Catherine Deneuve (perhaps it sounded less blunt in French?), but it has also been placed in the mouths of a whole constellation of stars: socialite Zsa Zsa Gabor, quippy old Hollywood star Mae West, actor and activist Jane Fonda, to name a few. Each time the wording is a little different, but the sentiment remains the same  – that as a woman (it’s only ever a woman) gets older, she must decide whether to focus her time and efforts on looking young or being slim.

Deneuve and co were speaking long before semaglutide – better known under the brand names Ozempic and Wegovy – started being touted as an aid for rapid weight loss. But now, with demand for these drugs rising fast, their devotees are finding out the hard way that there’s more than a kernel of truth to the old face/body trade-off. As the pounds drop off at speed, some users have noticed an unwelcome side effect to the so-called “skinny jab”, as they’re left looking like they’ve just pressed fast-forward on the facial ageing process.

To sum up the predicament, the New York dermatologist Dr Paul Jarrod Frank coined the term “Ozempic face” earlier this year; #ozempicface has been viewed more than 30 million times on TikTok to date, where you will find doctors and civilians alike speculating over before and after photos. According to Dr Leah Totton, non-surgical cosmetic treatment specialist and past The Apprentice winner, the tell-tale signs of “Ozempic face” are “hollowing and increased facial laxity” – that’s a loss of firmness to the skin, in layperson’s terms – along with “a gaunt and sagging” look in the face, “often accompanied with increased lines and wrinkles”.