I grew up wishing for the joy — or frustration — of sharing clothes, shoes, secrets and beauty tips with a sister. I had no such luck. Instead, I’m one half of a boring brother-sister duo. I can only dream of what it would have been like to live with a sister instead. I imagine we’d swap little compacts of chalky blue eyeshadow from Girl Talk magazine after trips to the mall, where we’d spy the shelves for cherry-scented lip balms that offered horrifying white-pink pearlescent sheens. Perhaps we’d share pots of Dream Matte Mousse and cringe in later years when looking back at pictures of our cakey faces.
The reality would probably be vastly different. I was born in 1997 and I’m on the cusp of millennial and Gen Z. My early relationship with the world of beauty was worlds apart to that of someone who identifies as a young Gen Z or Gen Alpha. It’s no secret that these age groups have been swarming the shelves of Sephora for sophisticated formulas made for adult skin types. They’re more informed than their predecessors: The word “niacinamide” poses no problem to a 2024 pre-teen.
But why are young people so eagerly buying into trends aimed at older generations? A study highlighted by Dove’s #TheFaceOf10 campaign suggests an answer: “Research has found that children as young as 10 are being exposed to anti-aging skincare products on social media, with nearly one in two young girls (10 to 17 years old) worrying more about their appearance as they age due to increased exposure to adult skincare content [online].” This creates a societal pressure for them to adopt unnecessary anti-aging skincare regimens before they’ve even grown up, says the study. Professor of psychology and leading body image expert, Dr. Phillippa Diedrichs, says that this pressure could have physical and mental health ramifications, while Firdaous El Honsali, global vice president at Dove, suggests young girls see beauty as a source of anxiety rather than happiness.
I wonder if the opposite is true: Perhaps this influx of content and education is actually quite freeing. Young consumers are informed and able to make their own decisions, and today’s dizzyingly fast trend cycles mean they’re exposed to more creative ideas and beauty standards than ever, allowing young people to decide exactly which parts of the beautysphere they’d like to subscribe to. As much as I like to speculate, I wanted to hear opinions from those in the thick of it.
Below, I speak to three sets of sisters about beauty standards and what beauty means to them.
The following interviews were told to Humeara Mohamed and have been edited for length and clarity.
Marissa, 15 & Tabitha, 28
You grew up in different eras; what does “beauty” mean to you?
M: Beauty was very much a physical appearance kind of concept, so it was always about how you looked, how other people thought you looked, whether they thought you were beautiful or not. But I’ve grown to realize that it’s not about what other people think; it’s about how you feel in your own skin.
T: I grew up in a small city in Germany, so my idea of beauty was definitely quite warped because the beauty standards were Eurocentric: being fair, thin, skinny, hairless. Going to a school where I was with only a handful of colored people definitely made it a tricky experience to navigate. I didn’t practice self-love until I was 18 years old. Moving to London definitely opened this up because I was exposed to so many different people and cultures, so naturally, my idea of beauty changed. Now, beauty is so much more than just the physical. It’s all about self-acceptance and loving the person that you are internally and externally. Which means not conforming to beauty trends and standards and actually accepting something that other people might see as a flaw.
Who inspires you beauty-wise?
M: My sister is probably one of my biggest inspirations; her, my mum and my cousins. I feel like they are so beautiful. There are a couple of content creators that I see, but mostly it’s these guys because you don’t really see a lot of people that look the same as us.
T: Definitely makeup artists like Pat McGrath — it’s so inspirational to see her journey. People like Nikki Makeup, too, and Adeola Gboyega; I absolutely love watching her videos. I’m definitely in my Monet McMichael era — I absolutely adore that girl and have been following her journey for quite some years now. I think there are certain people that just do the job of putting you on to new makeup and things so seamlessly; it just feels so natural, like it’s your bestie telling you. There’s this influencer called Aditya, I absolutely love his videos. He’s a brown boy and everything he does is just so well done.
What is your current beauty routine?
M: Normally for school I don’t really wear any makeup. If I do, it’s just mascara, which was a present. Obviously I use lip balm. Skincare-wise, I use this Carbon Theory face soap that we have at our house, and then I put on SPF, which my sister probably bought for the house, too.
T: My skincare go-tos are Dermalogica, REN and CeraVe. I cleanse my face and do a bit of exfoliation. I do love a serum, whether it’s vitamin C or something to help with fading dark spots from old scars. In terms of makeup I love to color-correct because I’ve got hyperpigmentation on my face. On days where I do color-correct, I often go in with a foundation. Some days I’ll do a concealer-only beat; it really depends on the occasion. I feel like if I don’t wear blush, I don’t really feel complete. Lip-wise I always love a brown lip and a nude lip or I like to experiment with the colors as well: maybe a cheeky red lip if I’m feeling extra sassy.
What do you think about each other’s beauty routines and approaches to beauty?
M: My sister’s routine is very structured and she sticks to that. It’s important that she feels comfortable. She does a lot of modeling and content creation work and it requires her to do certain things sometimes, but at the end of the day, she should feel comfortable with how she looks because she’s beautiful.
T: I know that my sister has a very, very minimal beauty routine. She’s 15 years old now but she doesn’t really wear any concealer or foundation. This is so different to when I grew up, because I actually started wearing makeup at the age of 13. My sister just owns an eyelash curler, a mascara, and a clear gloss. She has had her eyebrows threaded before, maybe three times in her life, but she is blessed with good brows. Seeing her confidence and seeing that she loves the skin that she’s in is so refreshing to me because I grew up with not having that self-love, and doubting and being sucked into those beauty standards. I had to make sure she literally came out of the womb loving herself. I always gave her words of affirmation, encouraged her and told her she looked beautiful because it’s just something that my inner child needed when growing up.
What have you learnt from your sister about beauty standards?
M: I’ve learnt a lot about beauty standards through my sister. On my birthday, she posted a video of me saying how I’m one of her biggest inspirations, and that really hit me hard because I never thought that my older sister, who I’ve obviously looked up to, would ever see me as her inspiration. Seeing her doing all these things makes me feel so comfortable in my skin and who I am as a person. I love myself and love the way I look now. I embrace everything about me.
T: I think seeing her grow up the way she is, and the way she embraces the way that she looks, and doesn’t criticize herself, definitely makes me feel positive about the upcoming generations. These new gens are so sure of themselves. I went to an all-girls school and so does she, and I’m sure she still feels some of those pressures to look a certain way: to be skinny, or to have a big booty and all those ideals that are pushed onto people through social media. Seeing her love herself and encouraging the people that she’s around and loving her friends and family is amazing to see.
Ana, 11 & Sarra, 31
You grew up in different eras; what does “beauty” mean to you?
A: There’s natural beauty and then there are beauty products. Natural beauty is yourself and your image, and then there are beauty products that enhance or change your beauty — your original beauty. I think a lot of people, especially this generation, are kind of abusing beauty. Young kids my age: they’re 12 years old and they’re like, “Oh, my gosh, I need this chemical face peel that has so much retinol in it”. You’re destroying your face! Retinol is for older people. You can’t use that at a younger age. You’re just going to get wrinkles faster.
S: I was going to say the same thing; beauty products are a way to be expressive with your natural beauty because everyone has a natural beauty. A lot of the time I feel like I don’t look “adult” enough for a situation I’m in so I use [beauty] to look more mature. I think some of the overkill is a rite of passage. I remember being your age and putting on too much lip gloss or something just because I was like, “Oh wow, I love this so much”. But then I was very quickly put in my place by our sister Lea. In a few years, I think a lot of people your age are going to look back at their photos and be very embarrassed, but that is just part of being a young person.
Who inspires you beauty-wise?
A: The first person I think would be the creator of Glossier, Emily Weiss. I really like her. I’m reading a book about her. Then I like Ariana Grande. Another person who really inspires me — not a person but — my dog. You know how a lot of dogs have that natural part around their face that looks like eyeliner? I guess another person who inspires me a lot would be Melanie Martinez. She has all these crazy makeup looks; she has a mask on but it’s so pretty. The detail of the eyeliner and all the detail around the eyes and on the face: it’s not, like, “normal”, but it gives you more inspiration to experiment with more color.
S: Honestly, I get my inspiration from the same few places. The Glossier Instagram account inspires me, and Milk Makeup Instagram does, too. The dog is a really good observation: it makes me want to wear brown eyeliner. I think I like to be intuitive with colors, with situations, with the seasons. For example, if I see a celebrity wearing a certain color — like when Taylor Swift wore that green dress to the Golden Globes. I was thinking about green a lot, and then I was at Target and I saw this eyeshadow palette and it had that same color green. I bought that eyeshadow palette and I love it.
What is your current beauty routine?
A: My mum gives me a bit of her stuff and we share it. I also use some drugstore stuff. I use brands like La Roche-Posay: the moisturizer and cleanser. And then in the evening I use some of La Mer’s creams just on little spots and under my eyes. In the morning I just like the La Roche-Posay cleanser and moisturizer. Then I put on Supergoop! sunscreen and a more tinted sunscreen, and then mascara and lip gloss. I buy my products at CVS, Bloomingdale’s, and then sometimes I’ll use Glossier’s eyeliner, and then Sephora. But I don’t really buy a lot of stuff from Sephora — it would just be the Supergoop! and lip glosses.
S: At night or when I’m in the shower, I wash my face and then I put some kind of moisturizer on it. Sometimes I use serum as a moisturizer just because I feel like that’s probably the better thing to do. I have that little under-eye rollerball thing that I got at the Japanese store that I use when I remember to use it. In the morning I put that Glossier sunscreen on, which I like a lot because it doesn’t feel like a sunscreen. For makeup, I usually start with a Dior powder that I got when I went to Canada and the airline lost my luggage. I have a foundation I use sometimes if I’ve got acne, or I’ll put it on my under-eye circles sometimes. Right now, instead of a blush, I’m using a Maybelline highlighter I found. I don’t really like to wear eye makeup during the day just because I rub my eyes.
What do you think about each other’s beauty routines and approaches to beauty?
A: I think yours is very… “Sara”. It’s kind of like mine. I like wearing eye makeup, but only certain makeup. I think our approaches are very similar. Like, we both do very little and I just think that our opinions are very similar.
S: Yeah, I agree with that. We just do enough to play up our features. I think sometimes if I feel like I need to look more grown up, I’ll wear more, and I don’t know if that’s always the best. I’ve never been someone who’s worn a lot of makeup, just because I feel like it looks weird on me. Seeing you with your skincare routine cracks me up because you’re like 12. But at the same time, I do understand the ritualistic and calming effects, which I think is why a lot of people are into it.
What have you learnt from your sister about beauty standards?
A: What I’ve learned from you is different from Lea. Lea is always like, “Oh, I’m just so ugly and I have to wear so much makeup”. But you never say anything like that. I feel like you’re a better example when it comes to makeup. With my mum and Lea, a lot of times when we’re together, I’m like, “Do you like doing that?”, and they’re always like, “No, it feels more like a chore,” which I kind of understand, but they’re so pretty and a lot of people think they’re pretty, so it’s a bit annoying sometimes. With you, you’re super chill. You wear whatever you want. I’ve noticed that your makeup matches your food. You could be wearing brown eyeshadow or like a brown outfit and we could be at dinner and you would get a brown coffee. You should be able to express yourself through color and makeup and beauty.
S: Seeing what you’ve come up with encourages me to be more playful. I love your blue eyeliner! I love how you just don’t wear any other makeup with it. That’s the statement. I also learn that certain things exist from you because I’m just like, “What is that product?” Maybe I learn more from you than you learn from me. Another thing I’ve learnt from you is to keep a little tube of lotion for my hands.
Eva, 11 & Elena, 28
You grew up in different eras; what does “beauty” mean to you?
EV: To me, beauty is not just the aesthetic appearance of a person, but how an individual is as a whole: character, manners, attitude, their way of speaking. Sometimes charming people are less aesthetically beautiful, but they’re actually more attractive than those who are aesthetically perfect.
EL: I think beauty is quite subjective and can be interpreted differently by individuals and cultures. I believe that beauty is a reflection of confidence, self-love and individuality; it’s all about enhancing yourself, embracing your imperfections and ultimately, looking after yourself.
Who inspires you beauty-wise?
EV: I don’t have TikTok (yet!) but sometimes I like to watch TikTok beauty content on YouTube, like Arienne Makeup or Fanny S. I like to take inspiration from them and then put everything together and do my own thing. I quite like experimenting and getting creative.
EL: Working in the beauty industry is a great source of information, as I’m constantly exposed to new beauty trends, new beauty talents and new beauty launches. But I think my top three inspirations for beauty would be Pat McGrath (I love how brilliant she is even though my makeup routine is way more minimal), then Danielle Marcan and Nina Dobrev.
What is your current beauty routine?
EV: My beauty routine starts in the morning with the Balea Foaming Cleanser and Tonic from the pharmacy. Then I apply a moisturizing cream from Nivea (bought from the grocery store), and I use a lip mask from Astra. In the evening, I do the same thing. Sometimes, not every night, I use some Nivea eye patches and blackhead strips. As for makeup, I only use lip gloss and, rarely, some mascara — but not for school. Only when I go out with my friends.
EL: My morning beauty routine starts with washing my face with cold water and applying a light layer of hyaluronic acid from The Ordinary, followed by some moisturizing cream. I’m currently using the Charlotte Tilbury Magic Cream. I have very dark under-eye circles, so I apply The Ordinary Caffeine Solution 5%+EGCG, followed by some Avène Eau Thermale Soothing Eye Contour Cream and a BioNike eye sunscreen. The final step of my skincare routine is applying a light layer of Avène Eau Thermale SPF 50+ Cream. I then move on to my make up routine, which consists of Tarte Concealer, Glossier Cloud Paint in Puff and Glossier Haloscope in Quartz from Sephora. I finish with the Pat McGrath Setting Powder. I use Revolution’s Hair Stroke Pen for my brows from Amazon and Maybelline Lash Sensational Mascara. In the evening, I cleanse with Glossier Milky Jelly Cleansing Bar and apply a gentle layer of Charlotte Tilbury Magic Cream with a few drops of The Ordinary’s Retinol 0.5% in Squalane.
What do you think about each other’s beauty routines and approaches to beauty?
EV: When I grow up I would like to take care of myself the way she does and be as well curated and put together as she is. I like that she uses beauty to enhance her natural traits. We have different looks, her being brunette and me being blonde, but I would like to do the same as her when I start using makeup; I want to be as attentive to detail as she is.
EL: I can see a big difference in the way my sister and I approach beauty. She has had access to social media from a very young age and has used it to educate herself on so many aspects of beauty. She is very into skincare and knows a lot about products, their uses and the results you can achieve with each of them, which is quite the opposite to what I used to do at her age. Despite her young age, she is very conscious of the importance of beauty products in preventing skin issues or as a tool to take care of herself as a whole.
What have you learnt from your sister about beauty standards?
EV: I learnt that looking presentable and well-curated is an important aspect of our lives, but it’s not everything. I learnt that we shouldn’t judge a book by its cover and that the relationships we have with other people should go beyond appearances. As I said earlier, someone’s beauty is not determined by the way they look. I personally like to feel my best with my skincare and outfit always perfect.
EL: My sister has always been a very confident kid, she’s always loved dressing up and feeling perfect in the way she looks. She taught me that beauty standards are just random constructions of our society and that we should embrace and appreciate our natural beauty more, rather than try and copy what we see online.
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