Generational Glow Up: Alphas, Boomers & Rise Of The Beauty Superfans

Recently, my 10-year old daughter Mary approached me as I stood silently in the kitchen. I was exhausted, trying to add up how many more hours I had left before I could go to sleep. My undereyes were purple and hollowed out, my skin gray and sagging. She took me in with some degree of pity as she smoothed an ice roller over her cheeks.

“Here,” she said casually, handing me a glass jar filled with white goo. “I made you a skincare smoothie.”

Now accepting freelance to finance my daughter’s Sephora addiction.

My daughter is like many kids of her generation. Instead of watching sitcoms or The Phil Donahue Show after school, she finishes her homework quickly so that she can watch beauty vloggers like Sydney Morgan use broccoli to apply makeup, or learn intense brand lore via a show she loves called Style Theory.

When I was a kid we had the “Noxzema Girl.” She was the goal: Unattainably fresh-faced and naturally beautiful, using just a single product that smelled (and felt) like chunky shaving cream lathered onto our lumpy adolescent skin once a day. If we had breakouts, we covered them up with tinted Clearsil that never matched our skintone. If the acne was really bad, we scrubbed ourselves raw with Stridex, a scratchy cotton pad soaked in what I can only assume was lighter fluid. We covered it with the scent of Cucumber Melon.

The skincare smoothie Mary made me was something she had learned on YouTube, and it mixed lotion, serum, and SPF into a one-stop wonder liquid that she swore would make my skin look as flawless as hers.

Yes, it promised the skin of a 10-year old.

****

Smells like teen spirit.

I only became aware that skincare existed when I was maybe 13 years old, if that. Conversely, by age 13 members of Gen Alpha (or “Sephora Kids” as they’re sometimes known) are already pros. Walk into any Sephora or Ulta on a Saturday morning and you’ll see that tweens are the largest demographic represented, speaking to the associates and comparing brands and pigments with an incredible confidence that comes from true knowledge. They’re not just playing dress up— they’re immersed in this world.

The store reflects that: Colorful brands like Bubble, Sol de Janeiro, Laneige, Glow Recipe, and Tower 28 are on vibrant displays, some featuring cartoon characters for the added attention. Kids are sampling, smelling, and using gift cards obtained on birthdays (the gift of choice) to stock up on everything they need—and much of what they don’t.

Which does raise concern for the ethics of it all. Remember Joe Camel? He was accused of convincing kids like me to smoke, but aren’t the Inside Out characters on the bottles of Bubble skincare luring children in the same way? Sure, a face serum isn’t exactly nicotine, but damn if some of this stuff isn’t expensive. And what of the idea that kids are using expensive products made for adults that can actually harm their skin? My daughter has an app she checks before trying a new product to ensure it’s age appropriate, but she certainly doesn’t need the $40 bottle of Drunk Elephant Virgin Marula Oil she thinks she does. Still, she’s drawn to it like a moth to the burning flame of our local Ulta.

This bar made its debut nearly 100 years ago, in 1929.

Honestly, I can’t say with certainty that it’s not working. Is Mary’s glowing skin the result of being 10, or is it the face masks she uses every night that she swears help her anxiety? (And this is, truly, a reason I don’t discourage her skincare routines. Mary tells me that the application of her lotions and balms soothes her and helps her shake off the stress of her day and get ready for sleep. Don’t laugh—4th grade is a jungle).

The only person who’s skin even compares to hers is my mother’s: A lifelong devotee Erno Lazlo’s famed Sea Mud Soap and a daily dose of SPF well before it was cool or recommended, my mom has defied age with simple products and sun smarts.

Which brings me to my next point. Solidly on the other side of my Gen X boundary are the Boomers who are redefining what it means to age by focusing on longevity. While my mom was an early adopter, she’s not alone among her peers: Fortune recently reported that Boomers spending increased 4% year-over-year at beauty boutiques like Sephora. And, of the generations surveyed recently by Bank of America, they were 52% more likely to say that they spend money on self care. For them, it’s part of an overall push that is intended to make the next part of their lives the best, healthiest, most active and, yes, most beautiful.

Their strategy is not unlike my daughter’s: Focus on stress reduction and be more mindful of mental health. It also centers healthy eating and a combination of aerobic exercises like walking, swimming, and biking (my mom’s choice) with forward-thinking ones that help prevent injury and improve balance, such as Pilates, barre, and primal movements.

Beauty, too, has gotten a makeover for Boomers, with brands like Bobby Brown’s Jones Road and Laura Geller finding their niche in an underserved market. They’re rethinking the reality of makeup on mature skin, opting for balms and “baked” foundations over liquids that sink into fine lines. It’s genius, and you have to wonder why it didn’t happen long ago. In fact, brand lore states that when Laura Geller wanted to debut her makeup line, she was advised to target a younger millennial consumer but her instinct told her to “lean in hard” to reach women who looked like her. As a result, she’s become a pioneer in the space.

What I am learning—from both my mother and my daughter—is that there is power in choosing to do what works for you, even if it hasn’t been done before. Alphas are walking into the skin-related minefield of adolescence in a more empowered, less awkward, more knowledgable way than I did. Boomers are not going gently into that good night, instead looking for ways to make themselves happier for the long term. For a Gen X kid like me, that feels like an innovative concept.

Still, I can’t say I am not a little disappointed. I had always thought my work as a Copy Director at Allure or my collaboration with the beauty networking powerhouse CEW might give me some street cred with my beauty-obsessed kid, but instead I find myself asking her advice on dupes for my overpriced hyaluronic acid. She’s always got one ready.

So, what I am saying is, if you need a reco for an upgrade to your skincare routine or want the skin of a 10-year old, I know a kid who can help.