Ozempic Face

About

Ozempic Face is a slang term for common side effects of the Ozempic medication, which is a medicine to treat type 2 diabetes in adults but has also been utilized by people trying to lose weight. The expression "ozempic face" was coined around November 2022 and popularized in 2023 after one of its side effects caused the sagging and aging of facial skin, which was noticed in influencers' and some celebrities' faces who used the medicine.

Origin

The earliest known mention of the "Ozempic Face" was posted on November 29th, 2022, in an article written by Jamie Rosen, titled "What is Ozempic Face?," for Town & Country^[1] magazine. The journalist said the diabetes drug became "a hot topic among moneyed weight watchers" and, according to one of the experts interviewed, "the speed with which weight loss is happening on Ozempic can also compound the issue, not just for the face, but the body as well."

Medical News Today uploaded an illustration by Jason Hoffman (shown below) explaining how Ozempic can affect a person's face as a side effect of its use for weight loss.

Spread

The slang expression slowly grew on the internet in 2023, reaching a peak in interest in late September and early October 2023 as people started to speculate if Meghan Markle's perceived dramatic transformation^[2] was a result of using Ozempic. For instance, on September 23rd, 2023, X^[3] user @sage1411 uploaded a picture of The Duchess of Sussex paired with the caption "The ozempic face is strong here." The post (shown below, left) amassed over 1,000 likes and 56 retweets in five months.

On November 13th, 2023, X^[4] user @CiciTee1 uploaded a close-up picture of Markle's face, saying it was an "ozempic face," which received more than 800 likes and 130 retweets in three months (shown below, right).

The drug's side effect was also a hot topic for creators on TikTok. For example, on July 24th, 2023, TikToker^[5] Dr. Rady Rahban posted a video on his thoughts about the trending expression (shown below, left), which amassed over 1.4 million plays and 17,000 likes in seven months.

On December 25th, TikTok^[6] user @mirandadavidso joked about the drug side effect of losing appetite in a skit video (shown below, right), which received more than 7 million plays and 341,000 likes in a month.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References