How do you think the world of beauty has changed now that there's so much interest from tweens/teens?

[greeneyedgirl107]

I was at Ulta recently, and I realized that there's been a huge movement from powder blush to liquid blush.  And a change from powder eyeshadow to cream sticks.  Also, less matte lip and more shimmery lips.  By the time I was done swatching, I felt like I had a ton of goop on my wrists.

That made me wonder if the change was due to re-inventing the wheel, or if it had to do with deliberate textural changes to make beauty products more appealing to tweens/teens.  

What do you think?  What other beauty trends do you think are caused by the desire to meet tween/teen markets?  How does this change the industry?

[belle13g]

Hi! as someone who is in their late teens (almost 18) here’s my perspective: Recently the beauty market has been trying to market all sorts of “innovative” and “clean” products. These sorts of “new” things catch the eye of a younger consumer especially with bright colors (glow recipe, super goop, bubble, kosas and milk’s new launches all come to mind) where as brands like lancome their target audience is slightly older and already nows what they want, so they aren’t focused on finding their audience.

Social media is the huge thing. during covid a lot of kids were basically handed an ipad with tiktok and/or instagram installed. so influencers even if their target wasn’t 7-13 (i know large range but still) years olds that’s what their audience became. So in the kids head they’re thinking “me and my friends favorite influencer loves drunk elephant we need it” and the parents are like “well if little suzys friend has it… “

The market for teens before 2010 wasn’t focused on social media trends because that wasn’t a thing the way it is now. I feel 2 huge pivot points are 2016 youtube and 2020 tiktok. this allows extremely rapid change and “need” for trending and “innovative” launches that will go viral basically. so in 2022-23 it was lip oils in 2024 cream blushes, and “clean” and it’s so rapid the launches and the fight to remain relevant or in the viral videos. 

i hope this makes sense! feel free to ask for clarification or ask for more details!

[WinglessOne]

@greeneyedgirl107  A lot of makeup trends come from Asia. Example: all the pale lavender blushes that have shown up here in the US. I don’t keep up with trends, so I don’t know if liquid & cream products (vs. powders) are one of those trends. 

But in terms of age group, I’d say it’s older generations (gen x & up) who benefit most from creams & powders. The older we get, the drier our skin naturally becomes, and some powder products stop playing nice with our skin. Not sure I’ve really noticed a big marketing shift toward “more mature” customers in the beauty industry, but I’m not so sure creams & powders are a tween/teen-driven (as in, brands trying to cater to kids) trend.

I think it’s more like, cream blush sticks hit the market for adults and older teens (they’ve always been a target market), then younger kids started using them because that’s what’s trendy in stores and on social media now, thus kids became a driver of the cream blush stick trend. Brands probably didn’t launch those sticks for kids. It’s just that kids started using them. 

I have noticed certain brands’ packaging that tries to catch kids’ eye. Bubble first comes to mind, of course. But other brands haven’t really targeted kids, yet kids flock to their packaging because I dunno, it’s “preppy” or whatever. (I still don’t understand what “preppy skincare” is. It makes no sense to me  😂) Drunk Elephant and Glow Recipe, for instance. Half Magic is an interesting brand in that sense because their founder’s famous for Euphoria’s (the tv show) makeup direction. The brand’s products are sparkly and fun because of that—and the show involves teen characters. 

Eh, some of us old heads still love shiny sparkly things, so we’re happy to have ‘em available in more textures than powder. 🙂

[greeneyedgirl107]

@WinglessOne very interesting insight!  Thanks for posting!

[byme4u]

@greeneyedgirl107 Hello!  My thought is it definitely has to do with a new generation of cosmetic buyers. Brands remake and reformulate product and reintroduce it as the latest creation for new to the experience buyers.  I started with gel blush as a non makeup wearing teen,  grew into powder blush.  Eventually tried liquid blush, never a true fan.   Eventually cream blush was the latest thing.  Loved it, especially when it started coming in stick formula!