Beauty Brands Go Millennial With Youth-Focused Skincare

Some of the most beloved and historic skincare brands have gotten a facelift, and want to be friends with that 24-year-old cool girl. Specifically, brands are now not only targeting millennials and Gen Z with marketing, they are developing entire new lines, collections, and companies that target young consumers and their most pressing skincare concerns—all with youth-focused design and campaigns.

Waso

Historic brand Shiseido is over 145 years old, but old dogs can learn new tricks. This July, they introduced their new Waso line, a skincare line designed specifically to treat millennial skincare needs, such as dryness, oiliness, and visible pores.

And amazingly enough, the inspiration came from an unusual place: traditional Japanese cuisine. That translates to the color scheme of packaging in products—wasabi-colored packaging for oil-free lotion and salmon-colored packaging on the brilliant color-correcting SPF day lotion; but also in the ingredient lists—honey in the gentle cleanser, soybean curd in the polisher, and carrot for nourishment in the day lotions.

Frances Grant, Senior Vice President of Marketing for Shiseido said young consumers will connect with the items because they were “designed specifically for unstable, unbalanced skin in young adults, ages 18-25.” And it’s “paraben-free, mineral oil-free and features ingredients…selectively chosen for their purity and celebrated in their simplest forms.”

And if that’s not convincing, maybe the lower price point will sway you—$28 for cleansers, $32 for exfoliators, and $38 for most face creams.

On top of that, the campaign associated with the launch features the star ingredients paired beside a diverse cast of models that serve as the new brand ambassadors. “Their unique personalities and positions bring Waso’s counter-culture to life and change the perception of what’s pretty,” says Shiseido in a press release.

Peach Slices

Clever and fun-loving is the focus for Peach Slices, the new youth-focused retail brand of beloved K-Beauty expert website Peach & Lily. Geared as the “whimsical sister” to P&L, Peach Slices curates innovative, high-quality K-Beauty products with a playful and spirited twist. And not only is it focused on youthful products and culture, it’s focused on accessibility—it’s now available at more than 2,100 CVS pharmacies nationwide.

“Where Peach & Lily may be indulgent and sophisticated, Peach Slices is fun-loving and savvy,” says Alicia Yoon, Peach & Lily founder and curator. With everything they do, curation and discovery is at the heart of the brand, with products like benefit-focused masks, multi-step skincare regimens, and whimsical ingredients like egg oil, yuzu and snail mucin.

“Packaging was also a key component to Peach Slices, we wanted it to covey the high performing ingredients inside but in a fun way and without feeling intimidating,” says Yoon. “For example, Acne Spot Dots uses high tech hydrocolloid bandages for faster healing for blemishes but the approachable design doesn’t make it seem scary.”

And of course, price point is again a huge draw for young customers (in either age or spirit): Most products range between $4 to $15, with nothing costing more than $31.

The Estee Edit

One of the most historic skincare brands, Estée Lauder, jumped on the youth train in 2016 with The Estée Edit. The brand was designed to specially target millennials, with Kendall Jenner and beloved Korean model Irene Kim as the faces and brand ambassadors. The whole new range of makeup and skincare offered on-the-go, easy-to-use and inventive products like color-changing lipsticks, jelly-like balms in silver, blue, and white, and sheer powder in a blue tint to make skin glow.

But in perhaps a sign of millennial purchasing power, Estée Lauder announced in June that after a year since the launch, they would be discontinuing The Estée Edit from their portfolio.

In a press release, they said, “Estée Lauder created The Estée Edit collection for Sephora to recruit millennial consumers. Simultaneous efforts by the core Estée Lauder brand have recruited millennials via digital and make-up at an unprecedented rate. Therefore, after a year of valuable insights and learnings, we have decided that a separate brand in North America dedicated to recruiting millennials is no longer necessary.”

In the ultimate get, the entire line is on sale on their site and Sephora, and will be available until the end of 2017.