When Branneisha Cooper began receiving the GLP-1 injection in Mounjaro in late 2022, she heard online that she could experience temporary hair thinning and was prepared for the worst.
But it was about a year before she started noticing her hair falling out in clumps. Cooper said it was especially shocking because he has always had thick hair.
“I really hoped it wouldn't happen,” Cooper, 29, told CNBC. “What my provider had told me is that since you are taking the medication that allows you to lose weight at a faster rate, that is what can cause hair loss.”
Desperate to counteract the side effect, Cooper said she began prioritizing protein in her diet, taking vitamins meant to help her hair and investing in hair care products meant to stimulate the scalp to encourage growth.
She is one of a growing number of GLP-1 users who are experiencing temporary hair loss due to the medications, creating a new market for hair treatment products amid the weight-loss drug craze.
Cooper turned to social media for support, where he found that many other GLP-1 users were experiencing the same thing. While the speech was less frequent at the beginning of her weight loss journey, the rise of GLP-1 has meant more people are flocking to her page to commiserate and strategize.
“There's been an increase in people wanting to know how to address it, but there's also a lot of people wanting to know how they can prevent it, and that's something I don't have the answer to,” Cooper said.
According to Gallup, the use of GLP-1 medications has more than doubled since the beginning of 2024. The KFF Health Tracking Survey found that about one in eight American adults, or nearly 13%, are currently taking a GLP-1 medication.
By 2030, JPMorgan estimates that approximately 25 million Americans will use an LPG-1, up from just 5 million in 2023.
Profit amidst loss
Many GLP-1 users have seen significant weight loss results. But medications also come with a multitude of side effects.
Zepbound, manufactured by the pharmaceutical giant Eli LillyIt advertises common side effects on its website including hair loss, nausea and vomiting, fatigue, and more. Mounjaro, also a Lilly drug, warns of similar side effects, as well as NordiskIt's Ozempic. Wegovy also includes hair loss among its possible side effects.
It's a common risk with any type of significant weight loss due to body changes, according to Dr. Heather Woolery-Lloyd, dermatologist and chief medical advisor for hair care brand Nutrafol.
“When you're losing weight, whether through GLP-1 or any other type of weight loss, you may be taking in fewer nutrients, less protein, and weight loss itself can be a stressor,” he told CNBC.
According to Circana, those consumers have been increasingly looking for solutions to make the physical process easier. The Chicago-based market research firm estimates that GLP-1 households spend approximately 30% more on beauty products than non-GLP-1 households.
“Hair loss solutions remain a prominent growth segment in hair care, sustained by prolonged consumer stress since the pandemic and the use of GLP-1 medications emerging as an incremental tailwind,” said Larissa Jensen, beauty industry advisor at Circana. “Many GLP-1 users report temporary hair loss, resulting in increased demand for at-home hair growth treatments, scalp serums and supplements.”
According to Woolery-Lloyd, the hit to a GLP-1 user's self-confidence due to hair loss can mean even more stress.
In his practice, he said he has seen a noticeable increase in patients coming in specifically with concerns about hair loss, many of them due to GLP-1 side effects. Woolery-Lloyd said the last time she saw an influx of patients with these concerns was during the pandemic, due to unexpected amounts of stress on the body.
Hair loss caused by GLP-1 is one of the biggest side effects the beauty industry is seeing, according to Audrey Depraeter-Montacel, global beauty industry leader at Accenture.
“GLP-1s have not only changed the way people lose weight, but also the way consumers expect beauty and personal care to address the situation,” he told CNBC, adding that it's not a “one-size-fits-all” solution.
Depraeter-Montacel called the size of the GLP-1 market “unprecedented” and said the business opportunity for the hair treatment market with this growing population sets the stage for innovation.
“In the life sciences space, we are seeing many pharmaceutical brands raising funds to pursue innovation and new solutions,” he said. “So a lot of money has been raised in the name of this opportunity, which I think confirmed that there is definitely a business opportunity here as investors poured dollars into this from both sides.”
Consumers who will buy into the GLP-1 hair treatment market will also stay, Depraeter-Montacel said. Because hair treatment products typically take a few months to start showing results, these customers are expected to be very loyal.
Taking advantage of the market
Brands are taking notice. At the beginning of April, Ulta CEO Kecia Steelman told Yahoo Finance that the company is seeing more consumers purchasing hair treatment products as part of the GLP-1 craze.
Redken, a hair care company owned by L'Oréalcreated a full line of hair treatment specifically for consumers with fine hair called Acidic Grow Full System.
“We wanted to ensure that the Acidic Grow Full System range was tested on this specific population of GLP-1 users, as they may have unique hair care needs,” Mounia Tahiri, US CEO of Redken, told CNBC.[It] “was tested on current GLP-1 users who, upon using the products, immediately noticed that their hair looked fuller and felt thicker.”
Tahiri said the company has also seen an increase in Google searches for hair loss and weight medications and plans to continue innovating its hair treatment products as the GLP-1 population grows.
Nutrafol CEO Cindy Gustafson told CNBC that the hair care brand is also seeing increased demand for hair health products.
“While we do not break out the performance linked to the use of GLP-1, overall growth is being driven by increased awareness and a shift toward personalized, clinically supported solutions,” he said.
Gustafson said the company expects this growth to continue as more people begin taking GLP-1 and seek products to prevent or counteract hair loss.
KeraFactor, another scalp health company, told CNBC that it is seeing 100% year-over-year growth in its direct-to-consumer store due to increased interest from GLP-1 users.
“We saw many [hair loss] “During Covid, that was actually the first kind of surge of patients coming to KeraFactor, and then after Covid, it kind of calmed down,” Lauren Bartholomeusz, the company's chief commercial officer, told CNBC. “And now, we're seeing that rise again with the LPG-1 craze.”
Bartholomeusz said KeraFactor has changed the way it treats patients from a more preventative perspective to get ahead of potential hair loss while they are taking the medications.
For Cooper, the 29-year-old LPG-1 user, there may be light at the end of the tunnel.
She has experimented with many hair products over the past three years taking weight loss medication, hoping to get her hair back to its previous thickness.
“I've been paying more attention to it for about a year and I've noticed it's coming back,” Cooper said. “A lot of people get nervous when their hair falls out, because they think, 'Oh, I'm going to be bald for eternity.' But the hair comes back, so that's what allowed me to be at peace with it. But it was scary.”
