Discover 'Cortisol Face,' TikTok's Latest Wellness Obsession
Increased cortisol levels can lead to a myriad of skin and wellness-related concerns, but as it turns out, it's easier than ever to lower your levels and return your appearance to its former glory.
Like clockwork, another wellness trend has emerged seemingly out of nowhere on TikTok. Cortisol face, or moon face as some have dubbed it, is the appearance of a puffy, or slightly swollen, face purportedly caused by increased cortisol levels.
Typically, cortisol—or the body's main stress hormone—increases and decreases based on daily activity patterns, stressors to the body and mind, and diet. With shifting face shape, random breakouts, and mood shifts as some of the leading concerns swirling around the 'cortisol face' phenomenon, plenty of confusion about how increased cortisol levels actually affect the body has arisen.
Thanks to TikTok, increased cortisol levels have become a catch-all of sorts for seemingly unrelated health concerns, and users have taken to the app to share their experiences with the phenomenon.
While it has without a doubt become a broad label used by many social media users, experts have agreed that stress can in fact have a pronounced effect on the appearance of the face.
“Chronic high cortisol levels can lead to facial changes, but such pronounced effects are not commonly seen outside of significant medical conditions. In most cases, everyday stress does not elevate cortisol to the levels needed to produce such a dramatic physical change,” said Dr. Vijay Murthy, leading functional medicine doctor and co-founder of Murthy Health, in a 2024 interview with Healthline.
The bottom line? Many of the concerns around 'cortisol face' are actually side effects from other facets of your wellness routine, and can typically be adjusted with changes to the diet, sleep routine, hydration regimen, and daily exercise. Lowering sodium intake, avoiding certain medications—when possible—that include steroids, and prioritizing plenty of sleep can help reduce the appearance of a puffy face.
“A process known as Lipogenesis sometimes occurs when cortisol increases in the body,” said Abbas Kanani, a pharmacist at Chemist Click, in an interview with Healthline. “It creates fatty tissue especially around the face, neck, and stomach.”
In the case of many young women online concerned with the appearance of 'cortisol face,' shifting appearances in the face during the early 20s are often simply due to normal changes in the body as adulthood fully sets in.
All that aside, increased cortisol levels can be an indicator of a more serious chronic medical condition like Cushing Syndrome, so for those concerned about this possibility, a visit to the doctor may be in order to discuss diagnosis and potential treatment.
“Everyday stress, even if chronic, does not typically elevate cortisol to the levels needed to produce such a pronounced physical change,” Murthy concluded in the same interview.
As with many other trendy wellness phenomenons, the discourse around cortisol face is important in recognizing signs of unhealthy aspects of your lifestyle. Tweaking your daily self-care routine, or adding a supplement like the viral calming, hydrating Nello treatment—beloved by influencers, celebrities, and social media users alike—to your shopping list can prove the greatest steps you can take to combat stress-related effects on your appearance. In this case, the key takeaway from this trend is to prioritize your health in your day-to-day life where you can rather than stressing out on social media.
