Remember your torturous teenage years, spent gazing enviously at glossy, fair, and lovely girls in magazines? The subsequently painful, prickly hours trying to bleach away any evidence of your OG and of-origin tan? Or the parlor lady and aggressive aunty who always nagged you about your too-curly hair or splotchy skin?
Well, guess what? There’s a beauty zeitgeist taking over the world that says they don’t matter anymore – but you do, dear Millennial.
Over the past few years, beauty brands have started bending over backward to cater to digitally native generations who create, consume, and conquer in a way that’s starkly different from their predecessors. Forget the airbrushed ideals of yesteryear, the new kids on the block want beauty that reflects their differences, flaws, and authenticity – and it’s about time we all got on the bandwagon!
Here are our favorite skincare & makeup brands, repping ‘real girl beauty’, breaking stereotypes and standards, and paving the path to all-inclusive beauty bliss.
There's a good reason why RihRih's baby Fenty is in the race to be the next billion-dollar beauty brand. It started with a big idea, a vision to make makeup that's fun, different - and above all inclusive. And it’s done exactly that. Since its launch in 2017, Fenty has steadily grown to amass a cult following with groundbreaking formulas and products that reflect the trends and preferences of new-age beauty consumer. Easy to mix and match, build and experiment with, Fenty isn’t going anywhere but up, and we couldn’t be gladder for it.
WHY WE LOVE THEM: Rihanna hasn't just killed the game but taken it to a whole other level with product quality, packaging, and art direction par excellence. Not just that, the diverse and unconventional choice of models in her campaigns shows she truly means business when she talks 'diversity'.
WHAT WE LOVE: We wouldn't be talking Fenty if we didn't mention their boundary-breaking Pro Filt'r Foundation, a lightweight and long-wear formulation that comes in a staggering 40 shades. We’re also big fans of her Lip Paint Longwear Fluid Lip Color in ‘Stunna’, deemed the “universal red” - a shade that stuns on every skin tone.
Twenty-nine-year-old Emily Weiss, brain-mother of everyone’s favorite beauty blog, Into the Gloss, is crushing the competition with her innovative new cosmetic line, Glossier. Minimal and millennial-minded, Weiss enlists regular girls to promote her line with Insta posts featuring them sipping wine or reading in the bathtub, a Glossier mask slathered on their faces.
Today, the company whose tagline is ‘Skin First. Makeup Second. Smile Always’, has been named one of the top 50 most innovative companies – alongside giants like Google and Apple!
WHY WE LOVE THEM: Described by Wiess as a beauty movement, not a brand, Glossier’s products are designed for unapologetic women, ‘striving to develop their own unique identities.’
WHAT WE LOVE: The best, brow-raising pomade out there, Boy Brow is a Glossier bestseller for good reason. One quick swipe for gorgeous, natural brows plus a buildable formula that gets you from zero to Frida Kahlo in a hot minute. Another must-have is their dewy-finish Perfecting Skin Tint, a lightweight skin serum that evens out your skin tone without hiding away freckles and other cute quirks.
NYC-based Milk Makeup shares its DNA with Glossier, creating fuss-free, minimal beauty products that work to accentuate your natural features, rather than hide them under a million layers. Launched last year, the brand claims it is a 100% feminist, creating easy-to-use, multi-use, genderless products that seamlessly blend skincare with makeup. All their colorful products are created with high-tech, nourishing ingredients, specifically for girls on the go.
WHY WE LOVE THEM: Milk’s products are all vegan and cruelty-free.
WHAT WE LOVE: We’ve been fangirling over their Holographic Stick since its launch, a prismatic, vegan highlighter packed with Meteorite powder, Mango Butter, Coconut and Avocado oils. Even easier than face mist, their Cooling Water Gel Stick wakes tired, sleepy skin and puffy eyes with glide-on Seawater and Caffeine.
Open up a RealHer product, and you’ll see the empowering words ‘I decide my destiny’ staring back at you. Bill Xiang, who founded the minimal makeup brand, spent more than a decade in the cosmetic industry, disillusioned by big brands that made money off of telling women they weren’t good enough. RealHer’s products are an extension of his belief that beauty rituals should be empowering, and make a woman feel, not just look fabulous.
WHY WE LOVE THEM: 20% of all proceeds from their sales go to charity. Talk about feel-good beauty!
WHAT WE LOVE: Creamy, pigmented and lightweight, RealHer’s Matte Liquid Lipsticks come in gorgeous hues that simultaneously moisturize and nourish. As rich in its color payoff, is there I Feel Beautiful – Smokey Violet Eyeshadow Palette, designed for all skin tones, crease- and fade-resistant and ranging from matte to metallic.
The self-proclaimed ‘New School of Hairstyling’, IGK Hair was founded by four hunky, uber-hip stylists who’ve enlisted the love and respect of Lana Del Rey, Ciara, and Jared Leto. Vegan, cruelty-free, color-safe, and UV protectant, all 21 of their hair products are free of toxic parabens, sulfates, and petroleum. ‘Like you, our formula is work hard, but play harder’, they claim. The stylists customized each formulation to give their consumers exactly what they need –easy, fuss-free solutions for fast-paced lifestyles.
WHY WE LOVE THEM: Tongue-in-cheek product names, super-Instagrammable packaging, and city-themed scents and flavors.
WHAT WE LOVE: IGK’s Rich Kid Coconut Hair Oil styles while you sleep, leaving your hair soft, smoothing frizz and adding natural texture and waves. Their Jet Lag Invisible Dry Shampoo is exactly what you need for a packed schedule. Since it’s vegan, it leaves your hair bouncy without the toxic, chemical consequences of other dry shampoos.
This one was started by brothers, inspired by their grandma’s own skincare line and translated for those who ‘live big, travel, wear many hats and inspire.’ With product ingredients that read like a menu at a hipster café, Youth To The People aims to offer inside-out beauty to their millennial clientele. Designed using superfood science, their skincare range enlists ingredients like Hyaluronic Acid, Green Tea, Kale, and Microalgae, while banishing soap, sulfates, and synthetic fragrances.
WHY WE LOVE THEM: Not only is the brand focused at the young, but it also focuses on staying young – an intuitive decision, given that Millennial beauty focuses so heavily on anti-aging.
WHAT WE LOVE: Ever heard of Tripeptide 37? Us, neither. But the multi-function Age Prevention Firm and Brighten Serum have it, along with Vitamin C, Kale, and Hyaluronic Acid, to promote collagen, tighten, brighten and bewitch. As nutrient-rich as your salad, YTTP’s Kale, Green Tea, Spinach, Vitamins Age Defying Cleanser won’t give free radicals, dirt, or toxins a fighting chance.
Started out of a one-bedroom apartment by self-professed beauty junkie Maureen Kelly, Tarte Cosmetics set out to start a healthy makeup line of ‘high-performance naturals’ that offer ‘real results for real women’. Boasting eco-chic beauty, her cruelty-free cosmetics are packed with powerful, natural ingredients like minerals, essential oils, superfruit, and plant extracts. Not your regular cosmetics brand – powerhouse formulas, excluding parabens and all the other evil skin stuff, set their products apart with what Kelly likes to call ‘Tarte 12-hour power.'
WHY WE LOVE THEM: As kind to the environment as they are to your face, Tarte supports cooperatives in the rainforests in order to nurture sustainable, reusable components and reduce waste. And pssst, they ship to India!
WHAT WE LOVE: You’ve got to get their Amazonian Clay 12-hour Foundation SPF 15, a gorgeous vegan, cake- and oil-free foundation with mineral pigments, Vitamins E & A, and Amazonian Clay. Lasts for, like, EVER! One of these is sold every 26 seconds – that’s just how good their Shape Tape Contour Concealer is, a 2-in-1, long-wear wonder that sculpts and highlights with the power of Amazonian Clay, Mango Seed, and Shea Butter.
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