CURATED READS FOR GEN Z—AND THEIR Z-CURIOUS COLLEAGUES

first up

Welcome back! This week, we’re talking about Gen Z’s injectable use… hold still, please.

When McKinsey published research about the growing injectables market in 2021, senior partner Olivier Leclerc and coauthors noted that the business was growing in part because men and millennials were getting in on the action. 

That same research projected revenue growth in the injectables market to be no less than 12 percent a year through 2025, with the biggest growth coming from consumers in the North American and Asia–Pacific regions. Nearly as many high-income earners in the 20 to 30 age range as those in the 41 to 50 age range reported getting “neuromodulator” treatments (injectables that freeze your muscles like Botox)—and that was two years ago. 

Those figures may have increased since then. Gen Z even has its own injectables lingo now: dermal fillers, biostimulators, and neuromodulators are known as “prejuvenation,” “baby,” or “preventative” Botox. 

Last year, 27 percent of US patients receiving Botox were 34 or younger, compared with 21 percent in 2015, according to survey data from the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. The idea is to stop wrinkles before they start. 

Why the boom? By now, everyone’s at least a little aware of how staring at themselves on video calls all day has affected their self-image. (Some of the most enlightened among us have leveled up and turned off their self-view.)

In addition, McKinsey’s research points to increased social-media messaging about injectables (to drive awareness and acceptance of them), and it’s landing with the under-25s: potential new users and manufacturers of the products engage directly or through influencers. Aesthetic-service outlets, aka medispas and the like, are spreading as well. 

Another POV on why Gen Z might be rushing to the derm’s office: pretty privilege—the idea that you get further ahead at work, in social settings, in life because of your smashing good looks—is a real thing, as Elise Hu points out in her new book, Flawless: Lessons in Looks and Culture from the K-Beauty Capital.

But all of us, from Gen Zers to boomers, should pause for a second to think about what beauty actually is—and how long our current definition of it will last. Just ask the millennials who spent years puffing up their faces in all the right places only to have the aesthetic pendulum swing back toward the gaunt, hollowed look. Even some celebrities, those who once avoided questions about the work they had done, are openly admitting they wish they “never touched anything to begin with.”  

When debating a little plumping or preserving, Gen Zers might also consider their personal finances and how spending a couple grand on fillers fits into that picture. 

None of this is to shame or dissuade anyone who’s gotten or wants to get some cosmetic work done. You do you! But maybe give yourself a break from video calls from time to time, too. 

VISUALIZE IT

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CROSSWORD

— Edited by Alexandra Mondalek, editor, New York