“Skin first, makeup second" generation

What the makeup category’s slump and the rise of skincare say about the next generation of beauty consumers.

The big picture

by Mallaury Boudier

Skin first, makeup second, is the motto of Glossier, a.k.a the newest beauty unicorn and millennial beauty consumers’ favorite, valued at $1.2 billion. 

And it all makes sense now.

18 of the 20 largest prestige makeup brands in the US saw sales fall in the first six months of 2019. Overall sales for the sector fell 4% (NPD, 2019).

Source: The Business Of Beauty, 2019

SKIN IS IN.

Skincare is growing faster than makeup for the first time in 3 years, proving right the forecasted decreased interest of Gen Z in the makeup category in favor of skincare.

Urban Decay’s : -19% in sales for H1 2019 vs 2018. Anastasia Beverly Hills: -24%. Nars: -7%.

Traditional makeup-first brands try to make the move to skin: Kylie Jenner launched her skincare range, Huda Kattan is about to, and Too Faced introduced its “hangover” line.

WHAT IT TELLS ABOUT THE UPCOMING GENERATION OF BEAUTY CONSUMERS

Gen Zers are the ‘True’ generation. This increase of interest in skincare over makeup highlights the most crucial generational shifts to understand the under 24 consumers.

1) Ultra educated, over critical, savvy consumers

Gen Zers are “hypercognitive” investigators, multiple-sources of information processors. They want to know everything behind your brand in a quest for transparency. As a result, they are willing to spend more into pricey skincare products than makeup they can easily find dupes for in a drugstore - as long as you are able to prove your claims with facts. 

They want transparency from brands, but also from their peers - in a world full of filters, they crave to see what’s behind the mask.

2) Fluid, diverse, raw

Gen Zers navigate in an “Undefined ID”. 48% of Gen Zers said they value brands that don’t classify items as male or female. ‘Millennials and Gen-Z also crave individuality and a “mask-less” sense of self to heighten objective beauty’. They want to show their real self to the world, craving for authentic representation. As diversity has been the main battle for makeup brands in the last few years, skincare keeps speaking universally to all skin tones and genders. 

Skincare, by its essence and use, aligns with these desires of fluidity/neutrality and of realness, versus makeup.  

3) Feel good > look good

Raised in years of economic stress, Gen Zers are showing great interest in wellness and ways to get a feeling of comfort and stability. Glamorizing facemask selfies & #SelfcareSundays, Gen Zers are hunting “products, brands and retailers that provide an escape from their everyday stressors”. Women born after 1990 increasingly consider skincare as a wellness product (54% until 1999, 59% from 2000, versus 43% for Gen Y). Furthermore, youngest Gen Zers (2000-2004) don’t consider as much makeup as a wellness product (39%) anymore, versus 90’s women (51%).     

3 WAYS IT WILL IMPACT THE BEAUTY INFLUENCER MARKETING

Left: @namvo is an example of ultimate skinfluencer, obsessed with the glow and product crash-tests / Right: @thepouf made herself famous for her masking selfies in the bathtub.

The rise of the Skinfluencer

Skinfluencers embody Gen Z characteristics by their highly practical and researched content - their quest for products that work and/or transparent ingredients. “Their strategy is more along the lines of “research, research, research” than “snap, filter, post.”. Brands will have to let go of over-the-top trips and PR packaging ( influencers and their audiences have already expressed signs of fatigue from them) to focus on tangible and meaningful content. 

A long term approach versus one-off product placements
Skincare takes time. If a 10mn selfie slash product placement can show a new lip color, a serum needs more dedication and patience. To convince connected consumers, creators will gain credibility from long term ambassadorship and in-depth reviews.

Blurred target audiences, turning into tribes

Skincare neutrality also questions traditional audience segmentation. Traditional demographics are not as accurate as before. Teens are already researching anti-aging ingredients such as retinol, a twenty-something man might be interested in the same eye cream than his mom. These target audiences will blur into passion tribes: the most sustainable conscious will turn to clean beauty, the highly pragmatic to Doctors’ founded brands… as Gen Zers buy into values rather than product USPs.