Gen Z vs Millennials: Two Completely Different Skincare Mindsets That Are Reshaping the Beauty Industry

The generational divide is instantly apparent when you walk into any major beauty store in London or New York. It’s not about who is shopping, but rather what they’re buying and why. A twenty-year-old is examining a niacinamide serum’s ingredient list at one end of the shelf, looking for sulfates and cross-referencing the brand’s sustainability credentials on her phone. A few aisles away, a thirty-seven-year-old is comparing two different retinol formulations; she is more interested in clinical studies demonstrating the product’s actual effects than in what isn’t in the product. The same store, same category, but radically different perspectives on skin.

There is a purpose behind this divergence. Millennials and Gen Z developed their skincare philosophies in very different contexts, influenced by disparate social media platforms, disparate standards of beauty, and disparate perspectives on aging. Cosmetic formulators and beauty market analysts who monitor both groups’ purchasing patterns say the outcome is more akin to two separate industries operating under one brand.

Gen Z, who were primarily born between 1997 and 2012, came to skincare through TikTok and a cultural movement that had grown weary of the filtered, Instagram-polished look that their forebears had contributed to. Their guiding concept is “prejuvenation”: begin the maintenance regimen early, avoid problems rather than fix them, and view skincare as a long-term investment rather than a quick fix. They entered the world of product knowledge with a vocabulary that most adults in their thirties are still learning: pH levels of cleansers, ingredient percentages, and comedogenic ratings. According to a 2024 Kantar/Mintel survey, 86% of Gen Z adults who shop online find beauty products through social media; however, peers and micro-influencers, not brand campaigns or celebrity endorsements, are the trust mechanism. The dermatologist-endorsed advertisement is no longer as powerful as the peer-shared ingredient review.

Millennials had a different upbringing. The YouTube tutorial era and the early Instagram decade, when a perfect base, a sculpted contour, and a defined brow were the ideal, were their formative beauty years. They take a layered, comprehensive, product-intensive, and increasingly correction-focused approach to skincare. Now in their late thirties and early forties, older Millennials are managing the first noticeable hormonal changes and starting to pay attention to the substances that their younger counterparts have been talking about for years: retinol, peptides, and bakuchiol. Millennial women between the ages of 25 and 44 purchase the most beauty products of any demographic group, making up 38% of market spend, according to TABSanalytics data. They have made an investment in their routines. They have faith in well-known companies with a clinical stance. They want results they can see, backed by something more rigorous than a viral video.

These two philosophies produce immediately readable aesthetic results. The “Clean Girl” look of Generation Z is dewy, textured, and purposefully unpolished; skin is visible, freckles are present, lip oil is applied over lipstick, and blush is heavily applied in a wash of color rather than a precise sculpted placement. It conveys the idea that the skin is what matters. The “Soft Glam” of millennials, on the other hand, consists of a flawless base with coverage that produces evenness, neutral eye shadow that extends without taking center stage, and a coordinated finish that appears to have been purposefully put together. It conveys the idea that the face is a meticulously crafted canvas. Both positions make sense aesthetically. Neither is coincidental.

It’s intriguing to note how the two groups view imperfection in different ways. According to a 2021 Y Pulse survey, 70% of Gen Z participants said they enjoyed imperfect brand content. 62% of respondents claimed that brands over-edited their photos. This generation has deliberately created an aesthetic centered around authenticity, or at the very least, a version of authenticity that looks good on a different platform and in a different manner than Instagram did. It’s genuinely unclear whether the “unfiltered” TikTok aesthetic signifies true comfort with imperfection or just a different kind of curation, and it’s probably both at the same time. It has undoubtedly moved a substantial amount of money. One of the market’s most Gen Z-aligned brands, E.l.f. Beauty has continuously been placed among the top teen brands in Piper Sandler surveys.

Born roughly between 1993 and 1998, this crossover group—sometimes referred to as Zillennials—navigates both worlds with what BASF’s generational beauty researchers describe as the practical, ingredient-conscious approach of Gen Z and the empathy of Millennials. They developed routines that are more structured than Gen Z’s skinimalism and more ingredient-aware than the typical Millennial’s trust-the-brand approach. They also grew up shortly before smartphones became commonplace and are comfortable using both Instagram and TikTok. They are currently the most sophisticated skincare consumers on the market.

Observing this category’s evolution gives the impression that the industry is heading toward a synthesis regardless of the preferences of any one generation. Both groups are seeing an increase in skin-first makeup, such as tinted SPF, serum foundations, and products that blur the distinction between treatment and coverage. Millennials also care about cruelty-free certifications and ethical sourcing, but they are a little more willing to trade them for effectiveness. Despite their divergent philosophies and aesthetics, both generations are challenging the heavily edited, airbrushed beauty standard that prevailed ten years ago. It appears that everyone agrees that skin should look like skin, regardless of how you choose to care for it.