Every month, The NPD Group tasks various of analysts to write blogs about the latest trends being seen in beauty based on the firm’s market information and insights. Through a partnership, Beauty News publishes NPD’s blog the day it’s posted to keep you in-the-know.

According to NPD’s Female Facial Consumer Report on skin care attitudes and usage in the U.S., Gen Z consumers, between the ages of 13 and 24, prefer brands endorsed by a physician or doctor. They also use as many products in a day as their Gen X counterparts do. Among older Gen Z, between the ages of 18 and 24, skin care product usage increased compared to last year. Among the top products they use are cleansers and other basic care items, as well as treatment-focused products, like lip moisturizers.

Socially savvy, 62 percent of Gen Z said TikTok influences their skin care purchase decisions, and Hyram Yarbro is the top mentioned “skinfluencer” on the platform. Hyram is an Arizona native who relocated to Hawaii in 2015 and worked as a makeup artist at a high-end department store. In March 2020, prior to wide-spread COVID restrictions, he had just over 100,000 followers on TikTok. His follower count on the app currently sits close to 7 million, and he recently released his own skin care line with products that adhere to his “ingredients don’t lie” mantra.

Skin care usage for Boomers, ages 57 to 75, has also increased – with a slightly larger bump for those over 65 years of age. The top products they purchase focus on common trouble areas: facial and neck moisturizers rank number one, with both basic care and treatments rounding out the top five. Value-conscious Boomers are more likely than other generations to say that mass brands are just as good as prestige, and almost 60 percent report they only shop to replenish. Boomers are also looking for proven ingredients that can solve problems effectively, such as retinol and collagen.

Despite the generational differences in skin care preferences, there are also commonalities. At the end of the day, it seems consumers are not so different, after all. Across-the-board consumers are open to trying new things, looking for clean ingredients, and simply want skin care that produces results from a brand they can trust. Regardless of the trends driving the category, the demand for efficacy and transparency is here to stay.