Like thousands of other menopausal women (I’m 51 now), my health and my figure have been transformed by weight-loss injections.
I started using Ozempic in April 2023 and I was thrilled to lose a stone-and-a-half in nine months – I now microdose Mounjaro to maintain my weight.
But while I love the effect on my body, I’m less excited about the wrinkled paper-thin skin on my neck and noticeable hollows under my eyes.
I don’t feel ready for a Kris Jenner-style face and neck lift yet and tweakment options such as under-eye fillers also don’t appeal, so when I was asked to try out the first ever cream created to reverse the effects of Ozempic face, I jumped at the chance.
Hot off the plane from Florida‘s Palm Beach, VOL.U.LIFT (£105 for 57g, volulift.co.uk) landed at UK cosmetic clinics last week and is the first of its kind – a facial moisturiser specifically designed to tackle the signs of dreaded Ozempic face.
It was created by German plastic surgeon Dr Marc Ronert who saw an alarming rise in Ozempic face both in and out of his clinic.
‘GLP-1-induced skin ageing is a new phenomenon affecting patients in different ways,’ Dr Ronert tells me.
After losing weight using Ozempic, Olivia Falcon jumped at the chance at trying out the first ever cream created to reverse the effects of Ozempic face
‘The most common facial changes include significant deflation in the cheeks, deepening of wrinkles, sagging around the jawline and an overall sunken and tired appearance.
‘What’s most fascinating when it comes to the aesthetic effects of rapid weight loss, especially with GLP-1 (Ozempic) and GIP (Mounjaro) medications, is how dramatically, and quickly, the face can appear older because of volume loss.’
And, he warns, Ozempic face can happen to you whatever your age: ‘From women in their 30s to perimenopausal ones in their 40s and 50s. They’re all ageing faster than they expected.
‘When fat and muscle volume drop quickly, the skin can’t always bounce back, leading to a prematurely aged appearance. On a personal note, two of my sisters-in-law each lost more than seven stone during their weight-loss journeys.
‘Seeing what they went through, the pride in their progress, but also their frustration with their skin changes, inspired the development of VOL.U.LIFT.
‘I realised there was a huge gap in the market. VOL.U.LIFT was created to help restore lost volume and support the skin through this transformation.’
As the first UK-based beauty editor to trial the moisturiser, I have been using it morning and evening for the past six weeks on my face, neck and decollete.
VOL.U.LIFT is a facial moisturiser specifically designed to tackle the signs of dreaded Ozempic face
On first impression, I note it has a great texture, it is not too heavy or greasy and sinks seamlessly into my dehydrated skin – dehydration is a common side effect of using weight-loss jabs.
Within a couple of days I’m looking slightly less sallow and after a week my skin has had a palpable texture upgrade. It has a velvety feel that I love and looks more radiant.
What I am not so keen on though is the slightly chlorine-like smell which the brand says could come from an ingredient called Kangaroo Paw, a potent Australian flower extract which contains ferulic acid that significantly brightens skin and prevents wrinkles.
If you’ve ever tried a product like SkinCeuticals C E Ferulic Serum, you’ll be familiar with this musky smell, but thankfully in this formula it doesn’t linger.
So what is the magic recipe? The ingredients are intriguing.
I spy some of the usual suspects: Bakuchiol a gold-standard plant-derived antioxidant often used as a substitute or alongside Retinol. It is independently clinically proven to reduce lines and wrinkles by increasing collagen production.
There is also L-Ornithine, an amino acid acclaimed for its skin-plumping power as it works to inhibit the release of fatty acids in the adipose (fat) cells. So not very new so far.
But there are also ingredients I wasn’t so familiar with, such as HA Silanol, a new-generation hyaluronic acid which is combined with silicium (a silicone) to give a mega boost of hydration and it also stimulates collagen to restore a youthful plump. The most intriguing flourish in this highfalutin formula though is the brand’s patent-pending XOSM technology.
They call it a smart delivery system that takes important antioxidants such as astaxanthin, Vitamin C and plant collagen fragments and fast tracks them deeper into the skin for more significant repair.
I’m also sent before and after photos and data from an initial 12-week study, conducted by the brand, on 30 women (and men) aged 35 to 65, all undergoing rapid weight-loss programmes. The photos are compelling with noticeable signs of improvement in the nasal labial folds (those bulldog-like folds of skin that hang around the mouth).
Most of the trial subjects (90 per cent) were on some type of GLP-1 or GIP and had already lost at least 10 per cent of their body fat before using VOL.U.LIFT, and continued to lose weight during the study.
Using tools such as ultrasound scanning to track changes under the skin, the results revealed participants were actually increasing their skin volume by up to 17 per cent as they lost weight.
For me, it’s still early days using VOL.U.LIFT and I must confess I’m lucky in that I don’t have massive amounts of sagging to correct, but does my skin feel firmer and bouncier?
VOL.U.LIFT was created by German plastic surgeon Dr Marc Ronert who saw an alarming rise in Ozempic face both in and out of his clinic
One hundred per cent yes. After a few incredibly stress-filled weeks travelling for business and sadly dealing with a family bereavement, I’ve been averaging only five to six hours of sleep per night. Nevertheless the compliments are flying from my fellow beauty editors, who are all convinced I’ve had ‘work’ done.
The crepey skin on my neck is less noticeable, and I am thrilled as the texture and tone of my skin is much improved, plus it looks plumper.
Still, I’m under no illusion that any cream alone would be able to deliver the same results as a surgical intervention. Although I’m impressed with VOL.U.LIFT, I’m doubtful any topical treatment can actually lift skin.
Given that most cosmetic surgeons would agree that if you want to significantly lift sagging skin you’ll need a procedure, I wonder how this cream will stand up to scrutiny?
Image Skincare’s marketing director Michele Snyder explains, ‘We’re not claiming VOL.U.LIFT is a cure-all, but it is a massive help in the anti-ageing arsenal of Ozempic face.
‘It’s an alternative for those who don’t want to have volumising injections and it can be used alongside fillers and other clinical treatments to enhance results as this formula is reconditioning stressed, depleted skin.’
Over the last six weeks, the best improvements have been the megawatt radiance all over my face and the improving plumpness of the thin skin on my neck.
As a beauty editor, I’m incredibly lucky to be gifted a lot of new products, but this is one I would repeat-buy myself. In fact, I’ve just ordered two more tubes.
- Olivia Falcon is the founder of @TheEditorsList.
