Beauty brands don't care about millennials

Where does a renewed focus on Gen X and a continued obsession with Gen Z and Alpha, leave us?

As a woman, you learn that when you hit a certain age, there’s an inescapable invisibility that comes with it.

I just wasn’t expecting that invisibility to start as early as 37.

I’m approaching my 9th year in the beauty industry and it feels like it’s more youth obsessed than ever.

Whether it’s the launches that are getting increasingly throwaway and kitsch. The ad campaigns which don’t feature anyone with so much as a frown line (despite the fish eye lens) or the hoards of Gen Z TikTokers brands work solely with to promote their new products.

That’s just if you’re a consumer. As someone working in the industry, none of these brands talk to me on a professional basis either.

Email blasts are full of TikTok references, which will be out of date in a week and as a chronically online person, still make me cringe.

Incase the target audience wasn’t already abundantly clear, the enclosed screenshots showing someone shy of 20, dropping a pipette on their face, seal the deal.

Part of me thinks, am I just grumpy? Bitter? Jealous? But, then, I look at the gains being made on the other end of the age spectrum and it only makes the chasm feel more gaping.

Earlier this year, Business of Fashion wrote, ‘How Gen X became beauty’s next big consumer’ and it does feel like some (not all) brands are catching onto that. Whether that’s with the experts and influencers they are working with or their tone of voice.

Take 59-year-old Sarah Jessica Parker celebrating ageing as Roc’s newest spokesperson or brands like Jones Road and Trinny London, who are directly targeting and speaking to those consumers.

Then there’s Sarah Creal, the brand builder behind Tom Ford and Victoria Beckham beauty, who has just launched her own line of luxury skincare and makeup, specifically aimed at a 40+ audience.

Don’t get me wrong, there’s a long way to go and just because brands are discussing topics like menopause, doesn’t mean they are doing it right. But, it does feel like there is at least some effort to speak to a different audience.

Then we come back to the forgotten middle child again; the millennial. Who has been pushed aside not only by Gen z, but now Gen alpha as well.

The most frustrating thing is, there is room for everybody and every age group.

I wrote on here before how I have no problem with Gen alpha’s skincare obsession and for God’s sake, I love TikTok. In fact, I have grown a far bigger audience on there than I have my Instagram.

But, it’s just that every brand now feels like it’s merged into one. These massive beauty conglomerates just use the same Gen z influencers for every campaign, regardless of whether they’re the right fit for the product.

To be fair, the same thing can be said for publications and journalism, which have also become this sludgy, scrolling mess of TikTok embeds and annoying ad pop ups, but that’s another Substack.

Ultimately, as always, it comes down to representation. I totally get that a brand is going to target the skincare obsessed teens, but can you also show someone that can not only benefit from the product, but, afford it as well.

Talk to us about what we are experiencing, not just what’s viral that hour.

We not only have the money, but we have the desire to invest in your products, as we experience our first grey hairs, crows feet, dull skin and whatever else we spot in our magnifying mirror that morning.

What do you think though? Am I being a grump or do you feel like the forgotten middle child as well?