GLP-1 Is Reshaping Professional Skin Care But Most Brands Are Still Flying Blind

GLP-1 has moved far beyond a healthcare headline. It is reshaping patient expectations, treatment pathways, provider economics, and brand opportunity across dermatology and medical spas. Yet many professional skin care brands are still responding tactically, launching products, testing claims, or chasing “Ozempic face” messaging. 

To explore what this shift means, Marcela Chifu, Senior Marketing Manager spoke with Corrine Maier, Project Manager of Kline’s new study, GLP-1 Customer Journey USA: Unlocking New Ways to Win in Beauty.  

Below, they examine where brands may be underestimating the impact, what early data suggests about evolving consumer and provider behavior, and why understanding how GLP-1 users move through their beauty journey is becoming essential as the market evolves. 

Marcela: 1) What are you already seeing in the professional skin care market as GLP-1 adoption increases? 

Corrine: Our professional skin care research suggests that GLP-1 usage is already influencing downstream demand, from injectables and biostimulators to postprocedure care and corrective topical regimens. At the same time, GLP-1 is also altering how patients allocate aesthetic spend. Medication often becomes a primary investment, which means every additional product or procedure must justify its place more clearly. 

Marcela: 2) What makes the GLP-1 consumer different from traditional aesthetic patients? 

Corrine: GLP-1 users are simultaneously navigating beauty, wellness, and medical care at the same time. They often experience rapid physical transformation, which can create new aesthetic concerns quickly. For instance, we’re seeing shifts in interest around skin laxity, volume loss, dehydration, and texture-related concerns. They are typically high-value consumers, but also highly selective and traditional segmentation models don’t fully capture that fluidity. 

Marcela: 3) Where do you think brands are misjudging the opportunity? 

Corrine: Many brands are currently reacting with product launches, but innovation alone without journey context can create misalignment. Key questions that often go unanswered:  

• At what stage in the GLP-1 journey is this product most relevant? 

• Is it positioned as preventive, corrective, or maintenance? 

• Who is driving the purchasing decision – the provider, patient, or social influence? 

• How does it compete against injectables, devices, or procedures during the same visit? 

Without mapping these dynamics, brands risk strong clinical logic but weak commercial performance. Education may not match provider reality and claims may not align with actual consumer concerns at specific stages.  

Marcela: 4) How does professional skin care compete and complement other aesthetic spend? 

Corrine: This is one of the most critical dynamics. GLP-1 patients are often evaluating injectables, biostimulators, energy-based devices, supplements, and wellness protocols at the same time. Skin care is part of a broader system of spend. 

The brands that succeed will not position products as standalone add-ons. They will position them as essential components of a larger aesthetic strategy, aligned with timing, procedure recovery, and long-term maintenance. 

Marcela: 5) What is the biggest blind spot in the market today? 

Corrine: Most companies recognize that GLP-1 is impacting skin, but what’s missing is a clear understanding of the full GLP-1 customer journey: 

• How do consumers enter GLP-1 treatment: telehealth, clinics, referrals? 

• What do they expect before starting versus what they experience after? 

• When do aesthetic concerns intensify? 

• How does provider recommendation behavior shift? 

• How do purchasing patterns evolve from early adoption to long-term maintenance? 

Marcela: 6) How does Kline’s upcoming GLP-1 Customer Journey USA: Unlocking New Ways to Win in Beauty study address this gap? 

Corrine: The study is designed to bring clarity to a rapidly evolving intersection of beauty and healthcare. Through a blend of qualitative depth and quantitative validation, we identify: 

• Distinct GLP-1 consumer segments based on treatment duration, motivations, skin and aesthetic concern, and investment behavior 

• Critical inflection points including early anxiety, visible change moments, post-procedure recovery, and maintenance phases 

• How skin care competes with and complements other aesthetic and wellness spend 

• Provider realities that influence recommendation and attachment in practice  

GLP-1 is creating meaningful new opportunity in professional skin care. As the market matures, early clarity allows brands eyeing this space to shape education, attachment, and long-term loyalty more intentionally. 

Kline’s GLP-1 Customer Journey USA: Unlocking New Ways to Win in Beauty helps brands move beyond reactive product launches and toward structured, commercially grounded strategy across both beauty and healthcare ecosystems.