Gen Z Consumers Love Their Skin Care Routines

When it comes to beauty brands, Gen Z favors familar names found in mass markets like drug stores and food chains. Those are some of the findings from a new Gen Z study published by Kyra Media. 

Maybelline is No. 1 among makeup brands and Dove tops skin care in a survey of 3,500 respondents ages 13-25. Mass brands that saw success on TikTok in the past year performed especially well, with ELF and Nyx rounding out the top three for makeup, and CeraVe in second for skin care. In addition to TikTok virality, other factors influencing Gen Z’s favorites included YouTube, influencer recommendations and brand values.

Here are the Top 10 Skin Care brands

1.	Dove	11%
2.	Cerave	9%
3.	Nivea	9%
4.	Clean & Clear	8%
5.	Neutrogena	8%
6.	Olay	8%
7.	Simple	7%
8.	The Ordinary	5%
9.	E45	4%
10.	Clinique	4%

The Top 10 Makeup brands

1.	Maybelline	17%
2.	E.L.F.	16%
3.	Nyx	8%
4.	Too Faced	6%
5.	MAC Cosmetics	5%
6.	Morphe	5%
7.	Urban Decay	5%
8.	ColourPop	3%
9.	Anastasia Beverly Hills	3%
10.	Charlotte Tilbury	2%

But whatever they're buying, Gen Z consumers are reading labels and learning more about the ingredients that go into their favorite cosmetics and how they are tested, according to the study results. In fact,  53% of respondents said they would stop using a brand that tested on animals, while 50% said they would not purchase a brand if it is not certified as cruelty-free. 

Other findings:
• 1 in 5 add new products to their routines because they want to try something new, with more than half of respondents paying close attention to what their skin needs and how it responds to their routine.
• 32% do not wear makeup and focus only on skin care.
• 75% have purchased a skin care product within the past three months at the time of the survey.
• 24% use an average of at least three products in their skin care routines.

A TikTok strategy is a must for marketers eager to reach Gen Z beauty buyers, according to the study. For example, Maybelline’s Sky High mascara sold out four times at Ulta Beauty as a result of the brand’s successful TikTok campaign in December 2020. While TikTok has shown to be especially important, it came in as the second most important social platform after YouTube in influencing users to add a new product to their skin care routine. For online beauty information overall, Gen Z turns to YouTube first, followed by TikTok and then Instagram.