Embrace your face, warts and all
For Generation Z, naturally imperfect is the new peaches and cream in skin care, writes Mary Ward.
What do Generation Z want from their makeup drawer? According to a survey of nearly 10,000 American young people, the answer is: a lot less makeup.
While the teens of 10 years ago may have been flocking to Kardashian-style contouring palettes, research by financial services firm Piper Sandler published late last year showed spending on cosmetics by those born between 1996 and 2010 had dropped by 20 per cent from 2018, reaching a nineyear low.
For Generation Z, it is skincare, not makeup, that matters most, says Jayme Jo Massoud, a 19-year-old dancer and influencer from Sydney, currently performing in the Australian tour of Billy Elliot.
‘‘I don’t wear makeup every day but I do my skincare routine every day,’’ she says.
When she is wearing makeup, or filming makeup tutorials for her 443,000 Instagram followers, Massoud says she prefers minimal coverage that lets her skin ‘‘breathe’’, noting younger celebrities such as Lorde and Billie Eilish have normalised being seen in public with socalled ‘‘imperfect’’ skin, creating what she thinks is a ‘‘more realistic beauty standard’’.
‘‘I think our generation is really embracing all our very normal ‘flaws’, acne and all.’’
These preferences are reflected in the types of products beauty brands for younger consumers are pushing, particularly those created by members of Gen Z themselves. Even the Kardashians have diversified: despite building their business – and gaining billionaire status – with bold lip kits, Kylie Jenner launched a skincare range last year.
United States beauty mogul Taylor Frankel, 22, co-founded minimalist makeup brand NudeStix with her younger sister Ally and mother (former
MAC product developer and CoverFX founder Jenny Frankel) when she was just 17.
She also believes younger customers are less interested in intense makeup, instead looking for products that enhance their own skin, rather than hiding imperfections.
‘‘My sister and I didn’t want something that would completely cover our skin,’’ she says. ‘‘We still wanted to look like ourselves.’’
As a result, the NudeStix range, which is stocked in Sephora, is largely sheer balms and
Jayme Jo Massoud crayons, encouraged to be applied with fingers, and multi-purpose – the brand’s best-selling Nudies Bloom colour sticks are for the lips, cheeks and eyes. Everything is also very compact.
‘‘It’s all designed to fit in a bag you would take on a night out, the size of your phone,’’ says Frankel, adding that she doesn’t think big, bulky palettes have appeal for the younger generation, who prefer simpler products.
Then there’s what we already know: Generation Z care about brand ethics. A 2018 global Nielsen survey found 80 per cent of Gen Z think companies should help the environment, while last year’s WGSN whitepaper Gen Z: Building New Beauty advised brands to strive for ‘‘radical inclusivity’’, noting the success of Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty line – known for its 40 foundation shades – meant brands needed to up their game as younger consumers made choices not only based on their own needs, but on how well brands catered to and included others.
A fan of the Fenty range, Massoud agrees she and others her age do care about the ethics of beauty brands.
‘‘Gen Z wants makeup to be inclusive of all, less intimidating, sustainable [and] ethical, but most of all we want representation,’’ she says.
– Sydney Morning Herald
‘‘I don’t wear makeup every day but I do my skincare routine every day. I think our generation is really embracing all our very normal ‘flaws’, acne and all.’’