Glazed and Confused

What does my daughter know about makeup that I don't?

One of the benefits of getting older is having wisdom and authority. But there’s a major area where I’ve fallen behind, and that’s beauty culture.

I was browsing the cosmetics section in Target and overheard two teenagers talking. Apparently, TikTok had told them they needed a fork-like device to prick their faces to stimulate blood flow. Or something similarly ridiculous. I couldn’t resist turning around and saying, “You don’t need it. I don’t even know what ‘it’ is and I can tell you that.”

Their response was a polite, “Yeah, thanks.”

Did that mean they knew that already, or that they knew they didn’t need it but wanted it anyway?

It left me wondering what beauty products my twenty-two-year-old daughter is buying. When she was in high school, we visited Glossier together, and it was my first clue that Gen X beauty and Gen Z beauty are entirely different animals. So last weekend I asked her some questions, starting with, “Do you wear makeup every day?”

My Gen Z beauty source, Georgia (22)

“I wear makeup, I would say, most days,” she said. “I at least do concealer, eyebrows, mascara, lip liner, but I don’t always do the contour and the blush and the eye makeup.”

Where do you learn about products primarily?

TikTok.

If you had to choose between makeup—blush, lipstick, eyeliner, whatever—and skincare, which would you choose?

Honestly, my future self is gonna hate me for saying this. I would choose makeup.

Who’s the ultimate beauty icon?

Alix Earle. And also Kylie Jenner.

I know about Kylie Jenner, but why Alix Earle?

Her whole brand is like fun, get ready with me. She’s only a couple of years older than us, and she got famous with everyone just watching her use products. So yeah, I’d say Alix Earle and Kylie Jenner are the beauty icons for our generation.

Alix Earle and Kylie Jenner

When you’re using makeup, does it feel expressive and fun, or does it feel corrective?

Honestly, I enjoy it. I think it’s fun and I think it enhances. But I am totally fine with not having makeup on.

Do you think there’s a visible difference between the way people your age wear makeup and the way people my age wear makeup?

Yes. I think that a lot of it for older people is wanting to look more presentable and approaching makeup as a corrective thing, whereas we do it for fun and in a more experimental way. We’re always trying new things.

This stopped me for a few seconds. She was right. For me, makeup has always been fundamentally about fixing: cover the circles, tame the shine, look polished. I didn’t feel oppressed by it, but if I had to honestly examine it, that was the bottom line. But for my daughter and her friends, it seems more like self-styling.

Okay, so what are your must-have products?

The Pocket Blush by Rhode. It’s the best blush I’ve probably ever used. The texture makes blending so seamless.

Is it a gel?

It’s kind of like a lipstick, but it’s a blush. You just tap it on and blend. I also think the packaging is a huge part of why people love Rhode. It’s very easy to carry around.

What else aside from the blush?

The lip liner! It’s not just a lip liner, it’s a lip contour.

Do you still use any Glossier?

Only one product: I use their Futuredew. It’s colorless shine.

Colorless shine? I don’t need to buy that. I get it just by walking around. In fact, I spent most of my twenties fighting that shine. In the 90s, instead of Glossier and Rhode, we had Prescriptives. The “hero” products were Magic Powder and Virtual Matte Foundation. When I mention powder, my daughter gives me a look that suggests I’ve made her physically ill.

I don’t think Gen Z can ever understand the uphill battle we faced against shine. It wasn’t just an aesthetic issue—it was practically a moral one: if your face was shiny, that meant your skin was too “oily” and you had somehow failed to “fix” this. Overnight, it seemed, every product came out in an oil-free version. I would no sooner leave my house without my powder compact in my bag than I would leave it today without my cellphone.

After a quick check online, I find that Rhode doesn’t offer a single powder.

Rhode launched four years ago as a skincare line by Hailey Bieber. Initially, the brand had just three products, all aimed at helping the masses get an impossibly dewy complexion. I can’t get on board with this. Three decades since the apex of oil-free, I’m still haunted by the fear of any errant shine. The last thing I want is for my skin to look like a glazed donut.

But I am curious about the Pocket Blush. There’s a waitlist for my optimal shade, so I settled for a hot pink called “Juice Box.” After my purchase, I got an email: “Your order is glazing.”

I did ask my daughter if she knew about the fork thing, and guess where it came from: Hailey Bieber posted a video of herself scraping her face with a fork after applying moisturizer. It became a meme.

My takeaway from the conversation is that despite the endless stream of products, trends, and influencer recommendations, Gen Z don’t seem overwhelmed. If anything, they speak the language of beauty with a fluency I don’t have. They know the brands, the ingredients, the trends, the creators, and exactly why they prefer one blush over another. Somewhere between Prescriptives and Rhode, I stopped paying attention. I wish I hadn’t.

So I’m going to makeup school. In two weeks, I start classes at New York Makeup Academy. I want to re-enter beauty culture using makeup for self-expression, not correction. It’s the opposite of what I learned growing up, but if I can resist the pressure to do Botox, I can figure out a healthy relationship with makeup. And I want to.

If you feel the same, stick around. I’ll investigate what products are worth it and how to use them. I’ll be learning makeup artistry in real time.

In the meantime, my Rhode blush is still “glazing.” When it arrives, I’ll report back.

More soon.

xo Jamie