How to Build a Beauty Brand That Lasts for Generations

To build a business that lasts, brands must appeal to more than their original core demographic. Behemoths like Nike and Apple have done so — but makeup, skin care and hair lines have had less luck. The quintessential Millennial makeup and skin care brand is teaming up with the Gen-Z acne label to create a collection of pimple patches inspired by Glossier’s sticker sheets, which used to accompany each order. (Glossier stopped the practice in 2018.) The product, on sale on each brand’s e-commerce sites on Dec. 5, is a pink compact filled with 32 pimple patches of cherries, hearts, happy faces and stars — the same shapes of Glossier’s stickers. It even includes Glossier’s now signature catchphrase, “You Look Good” on a tiny mirror. Refill sheets are also for sale.

In its near-decade in business, Glossier has never partnered with another beauty line, nor has four-year-old Starface. But as two of the most prominent examples of beauty brands that have captured a generation’s attention, the team-up feels like a natural move for each company to take advantage of the other’s generational cache — and boost their own multigenerational appeal.

Since I first learned of the partnership a few months ago, I’ve been thinking about beauty brands’ ability to connect with consumers across age groups, from Boomers to Gen-Z (and eventually Gen Alpha), and whether multi-generational relevance is possible in beauty. Some might argue that in today’s breakneck, TikTok-driven trend cycle, attempting to create that kind of stickiness with so many different demographics is a fruitless endeavour; brands are better off catering to an algorithm. I disagree.