You Know That Big Old Eyeshadow Palette You’re Trying to Get Gen Zers to Buy? They Don’t Want It!
Hey you! Tarte, Urban Decay, Too Faced….Gen Z doesn’t like you.
Sorry.
I hate to be the one to break the bad news but Gen Z is committing themselves to skincare and color cosmetics are getting a big old shove aside.
Recently research from Kyra Media’s Gen Z State of Beauty Report has found the GenZ consumers are all about their skin care routine. Yes, the color cosmetic bubble has broken and the new generation of beauty lovers aren’t actually makeup lovers but skincare ones.
During the Pandemic a lot of people that adored their makeup found themselves at a lost what to do with their big stash or collection of makeup when they weren’t leaving the house. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. My ritual of applying makeup and getting dressed in the morning even while working at home gave me a complete sense of normalcy that I really needed during a time I felt very anxious about the state of our world. But a lot of people weren’t like that and said screw it, “I’m going to walk around the house in PJs all day, eat cereal for dinner at 2AM, and not wear a stitch of makeup and that’s on periodt.” And that’s ok too! Everyone had a different way dealing with lock down when it happened but one of the most important things that came out of it was the fact that we developed such a fascination with self care and self love. A lot of that self care came in the form of skincare.
I’ve always been a skincare junkie and I’ve always been obsessed with taking good care of my skin. My routine has served me well as not many people realize how old I really am (a new friend just told me yesterday, “You look mid-twenties!” and of course, I got a bit giddy about that!). I really loved the fact that so many people found skincare during lock down and just started to become more invested in taking care of their skin.
One of the biggest groups of people that became interested in this was Gen Z. Gen Z started to study and they studied hard. They wanted to understand what active ingredients were right for their skin, how they worked, and which products would get them their best looking skin. They weren’t interested in foundation or concealer to hide their problems or imperfections! The didn’t want a perfect smoky eye or red lipstick to make them feel beautiful! They wanted products that would treat problems and imperfections that would make them visibly look better.
Tiktok has become one of the primary social platforms for Gen Z to get info about makeup, beauty, and of course, skincare. A simple case study of how easily Gen Zers are influenced would be by taking into account the incredible success and sale increase of Cerave products across the platform. Cerave is one of the more successful brands that made a killing during the pandemic and products literally flew of shelves as creators recommended them.
You’re going to start to see a major shift in the beauty world soon. It’s already started to happen about a two years ago. Brands are going to start introducing skincare to their line up more and more. Tarte, E.L.F., and other brands have already started adding many different skincare selections to their main collection. It’s only a matter of time before many other brands do the same. At some point brands will have as many skincare options as they do color cosmetics.
One of the most important things about Gen Z is they are actually interested in sustainable beauty. I think my own generation has never successfully reached that point. Gen Z does want more sustainable beauty as well as Eco-friendly products that are natural and organic. This makes me very hopeful for the future. It also makes me happy that finally there’s a generation comfortable in their own skin. A generation that’s not worried about layering on a bunch of makeup to make themselves feel their best or most beautiful. A generation that looks to skincare as a way of providing self care and self love.
Gen Z might be able to teach us all something.