The Gen Z beauty consumer.
Gen Z is reshaping the beauty industry through different spending patterns, channel preferences, and brand expectations. A data-driven look at what 2025 and 2026 industry research tells us about the Gen Z beauty consumer, the brands they prefer, and what their behavior means for the companies that want to reach them.
Key takeaways
- Gen Z spends significantly above national averages on beauty. Engaged Gen Z beauty consumers in the U.S. spent over USD 2,000 per year on beauty as of 2023, with skincare-focused Gen Z spending USD 84 on health and beauty products in a typical three-month window.
- Gen Z is projected to account for 17 percent of global beauty spending by 2030. This represents substantial growth from current levels and reflects both rising purchasing power and high category engagement.
- Discovery happens on social media, particularly TikTok. Gen Z relies on creator content, peer recommendations, and viral trends to discover beauty products, with traditional media playing a smaller role than for older generations.
- Brand values and authenticity are now baseline expectations. Sustainability, ingredient transparency, ethical sourcing, and brand purpose are treated as table stakes rather than differentiators by Gen Z consumers.
- Trend cycles have accelerated dramatically. Viral beauty trends now reach peak popularity in weeks rather than seasons, creating pressure on brand product development cycles and inventory planning.
Contents
Defining the Gen Z beauty consumer.
Gen Z is generally defined as the demographic cohort born roughly between 1997 and 2012, making them between 14 and 29 years old in 2026. The cohort is large, globally distributed, and increasingly economically significant: Gen Z's average annual household expenditure in the United States was estimated at nearly USD 48,000 in 2022, with substantial year-over-year growth expected as more of the cohort enters the workforce.[1]
For beauty industry purposes, the cohort divides into two meaningful sub-segments. Older Gen Z (roughly 22 to 29) are workforce participants with discretionary income, increasingly active in prestige beauty channels including Sephora and Ulta. Younger Gen Z (roughly 14 to 21) are students with smaller direct budgets but enormous cultural influence through social media, particularly TikTok. Both segments shop beauty actively, but the channels, products, and price points differ substantially.
The most important fact about Gen Z as a beauty cohort is engagement intensity. Gen Z beauty consumers are notably more engaged with beauty content, trends, and brand discussions than equivalent millennial or Gen X cohorts were at the same age. Beauty is a primary cultural category for Gen Z, not just a product category they participate in.
Spending patterns and channel preferences.
The financial picture of Gen Z beauty spending is well-documented through 2024 and 2025 industry research.[2]
Annual spending. Survey data from 2023 indicates that the average annual spend on beauty products by U.S. Gen Z consumers exceeded USD 2,000. This figure is meaningfully higher than equivalent millennial spending at the same life stage and reflects both higher engagement and a willingness to spend on premium categories.
Recent purchase patterns. Per YouGov data from late 2024, U.S. skincare enthusiasts aged 18 to 29 spent an average of USD 84 on health and beauty products over a three-month period, approximately USD 26 above the national average for the same window.
Channel mix. The retail channels Gen Z uses for beauty differ substantially from those used by older cohorts. Amazon leads at approximately 57 percent of recent Gen Z beauty purchases, followed by Walmart (43 percent) and Target (31 percent), per YouGov 2024 data. Sephora and Ulta remain dominant in prestige beauty, particularly for older Gen Z entering the workforce. Direct-to-consumer brand websites are increasingly important for niche and indie brands.
TikTok Shop and live commerce. A more recent development worth tracking: TikTok Shop has emerged as a significant beauty discovery and purchase channel for younger Gen Z. The platform combines content discovery with transaction in a single environment, which fits Gen Z's preference for friction-free purchase pathways triggered by content rather than by deliberate shopping intent.
Long-term outlook. Gen Z is projected to account for approximately 17 percent of total global beauty spending by 2030, reflecting both growing purchasing power as the cohort ages into peak earning years and continued high engagement with the category.
Which brands Gen Z prefers.
Gen Z brand preferences span both mass and prestige segments, with notable patterns at each level.[3]
Mass-market skincare leaders. CeraVe and The Ordinary are consistently the top-cited mass skincare brands among Gen Z consumers. Both built their Gen Z appeal through dermatologist endorsement (CeraVe) and ingredient transparency (The Ordinary), and both have demonstrated unusual category staying power across the past five years.
Mass-market consideration leaders. Per YouGov BrandIndex data from late 2024, Dove led American skincare consideration rankings at 53.1 percent, followed by Vaseline (38.5 percent), Olay (34.9 percent), and Neutrogena (34.6 percent). Nivea was the biggest year-over-year consideration gainer, rising from 24.8 percent to 30.4 percent. Mass beauty consideration is broader and more dominated by long-established brands than Gen Z-specific marketing might suggest.
Indie and prestige favorites. Drunk Elephant, Glow Recipe, Sol de Janeiro, and Summer Fridays appear consistently in Gen Z prestige skincare rankings. In color cosmetics, Rare Beauty (Selena Gomez), Fenty Beauty (Rihanna), Pat McGrath Labs, and Charlotte Tilbury are widely cited.
Influencer-founded brands. Brands founded by celebrities or major influencers command particularly strong Gen Z engagement. Rare Beauty, Fenty Beauty, rhode (Hailey Bieber), and several others have built substantial Gen Z customer bases through their founder relationships. The recent USD 1 billion e.l.f. Beauty acquisition of rhode in May 2025 demonstrates the commercial impact of this category.
K-Beauty growth. Korean beauty brands have continued strong growth in U.S. and European markets through 2025 and 2026, with K-Beauty sales rising notably year over year. Innisfree, Laneige, COSRX, and Beauty of Joseon are among the most-cited K-Beauty brands in Gen Z surveys.
How Gen Z discovers beauty products.
The product discovery pathway for Gen Z beauty consumers differs structurally from older cohorts, and the differences matter for any brand trying to reach them.[4]
Social media leads. Friends, social ads, and influencers are the top three sources swaying Gen Z beauty purchase decisions, per YouGov 2024 research. Traditional media (magazines, broadcast television, mass advertising) play a substantially smaller role for Gen Z than for older cohorts.
TikTok is the dominant discovery channel. TikTok has become the most-influential single platform for Gen Z beauty discovery. Viral trends, "Get Ready With Me" content, product reviews, and tutorial content drive substantial discovery and purchase activity. Many beauty brands now run dedicated TikTok content operations as a primary marketing channel.
YouTube remains important for deeper research. While TikTok drives initial awareness and viral excitement, YouTube remains the primary platform for longer-form research on specific products, especially in skincare. Gen Z consumers frequently bounce between TikTok discovery and YouTube research before making a purchase.
Instagram retains importance for visual reference. Instagram remains widely used for visual reference (how products look in use, what shade options exist, what packaging looks like in hand) but has been displaced by TikTok as the primary discovery channel.
The implication for brands is structural: a beauty product launch strategy that relies primarily on traditional media or even on Instagram-led influencer partnerships is no longer sufficient to reach Gen Z effectively. The discovery pathway has moved, and brands have to move with it. For more on how this connects to brand-building strategy, see our piece on the rise of brand-owned media.
What Gen Z values in beauty brands.
Beyond price and product performance, several factors consistently influence Gen Z beauty purchase decisions.[5]
Brand values and purpose. Gen Z consumers consistently report that brand values influence purchase decisions. Sustainability, ethical sourcing, inclusive representation, and mental well-being framing are all cited as important factors. Important to note: these have shifted from differentiators to baseline expectations. A brand that lacks a clearly articulated value position is now disadvantaged in Gen Z consideration, not a brand that has one.
Ingredient transparency. Gen Z consumers, particularly in skincare, expect detailed ingredient information and clear formulation rationale. The success of The Ordinary, which built its entire brand identity around ingredient transparency, demonstrates this preference at scale.
Authenticity in content and endorsement. Gen Z is unusually sensitive to inauthenticity in brand content. Sponsored content that reads as overly polished, celebrity endorsements that feel inorganic, and brand campaigns that claim values not demonstrated in operations all trigger negative reactions. The most successful Gen Z brand campaigns feel personal and specific rather than mass-produced.
Clean beauty framing. The "clean beauty" category, while loosely defined, continues to score highly with Gen Z consumers. Per YouGov data, "clean beauty" was the second-most-considered skincare attribute among Gen Z (32 percent) in 2025, after vitamin C (33 percent) and ahead of hyaluronic acid (29 percent).
Mental health and self-care framing. Beauty as self-care, beauty as a mental-well-being practice, and beauty as ritual have all become standard frames in Gen Z-targeted marketing. The shift away from purely transactional "buy this to look better" language toward "buy this as part of caring for yourself" language is one of the most-discussed shifts in beauty marketing of the past five years.
Trend cycling and the speed problem.
The most operationally challenging characteristic of the Gen Z beauty market is the rate of trend cycling. Viral trends that would have taken a season or a year to peak in earlier eras now peak in weeks.[6]
Recent examples of compressed Gen Z beauty trend cycles include "glazed donut skin" (popularized by Hailey Bieber, peaking in roughly 2022 to 2023), "latte makeup" (peaking in 2023), "tomato girl" (summer 2023), "strawberry makeup" (early 2024), and dozens of similarly-named micro-trends each lasting weeks to months rather than seasons.
The structural problem this creates for beauty brands is significant. Traditional product development cycles in beauty run 12 to 24 months from concept to launch. Trend cycles now run 4 to 12 weeks at peak. Brands that try to chase trends through formal product development almost always launch trend-specific products months after the trend has faded. The brands that capture trend value are typically those that either had existing products that fit the trend coincidentally, or those that operated marketing-led trend pivots rather than product-development-led ones.
The strategic implication is that brand strength matters more than product novelty. A brand with strong Gen Z affinity can ride multiple trends through marketing pivots and content adjustments. A brand without strong Gen Z affinity cannot manufacture relevance through trend-chasing product launches.
Implications for beauty brands.
Several practical implications follow from the Gen Z data above.
Owned audience is structurally valuable. Brands with established direct-to-consumer audiences (email lists, owned media properties, branded community spaces) can reach Gen Z customers without paying platform advertising fees for each impression. As discussed in our piece on brand-owned media, this advantage compounds over time.
Founder-led brands have structural advantages. The combination of authenticity-seeking Gen Z consumers and the demonstrated commercial scale of influencer-founded brands suggests that founder-led brand building will continue to attract Gen Z customers and acquirer attention. The 2025 rhode acquisition illustrated the upper bound on this category at current market multiples.
Distribution diversification matters. Brands that depend entirely on a single retail relationship (whether Sephora, Ulta, or Amazon) are operationally exposed in ways that brands with diversified channel presence are not. The growth of TikTok Shop adds another channel that brands must consider integrating.
Color matters more, not less. Gen Z visual culture is unusually saturated, with bold color choices in feeds and content. Brands that commit to distinctive color identities have measurably stronger Gen Z recognition than brands with neutral identities. For more on the broader strategic logic, see our piece on why brands choose pink. Pink specifically has emerged as one of the most-used brand colors in Gen Z-targeted beauty, as documented in our piece on the pink economy.
Long-term brand building still matters. The compressed trend cycles do not change the underlying value of long-term brand building. The brands that consistently command Gen Z attention have typically built recognition over years, not chased trends week-to-week. Trend participation works when it sits on top of established brand affinity. It does not substitute for it.
Frequently asked questions.
How much does Gen Z spend on beauty?
Gen Z beauty spending in the United States averaged over USD 2,000 per year for engaged beauty consumers as of 2023, according to industry survey data. Skincare-focused Gen Z consumers (ages 18 to 29) spent an average of USD 84 on health and beauty products over three months as of late 2024, USD 26 more than the national average per YouGov data. Gen Z is projected to account for approximately 17 percent of total beauty spending globally by 2030, reflecting both growing purchasing power and high category engagement.
Where does Gen Z shop for beauty products?
Gen Z beauty shoppers in the United States most often purchase from Amazon (approximately 57 percent), Walmart (approximately 43 percent), and Target (approximately 31 percent), per YouGov data from late 2024. Sephora and Ulta remain dominant in the prestige segment, particularly among older Gen Z consumers entering the workforce. Direct-to-consumer brand websites are increasingly important, especially for indie and niche brands. TikTok Shop has emerged as a significant channel for impulse and trend-driven beauty purchases.
What beauty brands do Gen Z consumers prefer?
Gen Z brand preferences in 2025 and 2026 span both mass and prestige segments. CeraVe and The Ordinary remain top mass-market skincare brands among Gen Z consumers. Drunk Elephant, Glow Recipe, and Rare Beauty are widely cited prestige favorites. Influencer-founded brands including Rare Beauty (Selena Gomez), Fenty Beauty (Rihanna), and rhode (Hailey Bieber) command particularly strong Gen Z engagement. Mass-market consideration leaders include Dove and Vaseline, per YouGov BrandIndex data.
What do Gen Z consumers care about in beauty products?
Gen Z beauty consumers prioritize several factors beyond product performance. Brand values, sustainability, and ethical sourcing rank as important purchase drivers across multiple research studies. Ingredient transparency and clean formulations score highly. Social media authenticity, including content creator endorsements that feel genuine rather than sponsored, drives substantial purchase intent. Mental well-being framing and self-care positioning have become standard expectations rather than differentiators.
How is Gen Z changing the beauty industry?
Gen Z is changing the beauty industry in three main ways. First, the discovery and purchase pathway has shifted from traditional media to TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube, with friends and creators replacing magazine editors as primary influence sources. Second, expectations for brand authenticity have risen substantially, with brand purpose and values now table-stakes rather than differentiators. Third, the rate of trend cycling has accelerated, with viral beauty trends now reaching peak popularity in weeks rather than seasons, putting pressure on brand product development cycles.
Sources
- Statista, "Gen Z & the beauty market in the United States, statistics & facts," updated 2025; demographic definitions of Generation Z (born approximately 1997 to 2012).
- YouGov, "Face value: Unmasking US skincare shoppers in 2025" (December 2024 release); Statista beauty market data 2023 to 2025; Accio Business 2025 Gen Z beauty market trend reports.
- YouGov BrandIndex consideration data (late 2024); Statista Gen Z beauty brand rankings; Retail Dive coverage of YouGov skincare brand research (December 2024); Global Cosmetic Industry coverage of YouGov skincare consumer research.
- YouGov research on Gen Z purchase influence sources (friends, social ads, influencers); industry coverage of TikTok and TikTok Shop in beauty discovery 2024 to 2026.
- Global Cosmetic Industry, "What Gen Z & Other Generations Want from Skin Care in 2025: New YouGov Data" (December 2024); Accio Business Gen Z beauty trends research; standard consumer research on Gen Z brand purpose and values expectations.
- Industry coverage of compressed beauty trend cycles 2022 to 2026, including reporting on "glazed donut skin," "latte makeup," "tomato girl," "strawberry makeup," and related viral micro-trends.
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