The Business Opportunity in Gen-Z Bridal Beauty

When you think of cosmetics line Too Faced — a brand with a product lineup that includes tongue-in-cheek, provocatively named Better Than Sex mascara and Hangover Replenishing primer — it may not feel like a natural fit for bridal beauty.

But lately, Too Faced has been benefiting from a first-mover advantage in the space; its quick capitalisation on Gen-Z consumers entering the marriage market has helped it recruit a fresh crop of customers.

“We saw what was happening on social media when Sofia Richie [Grainge] got married [in April 2023],” said Tara Simon, global brand president. “That’s the first time we all thought, wow, there’s something really big here,” she said.

So when the summer wedding season rolled around this year, the Estée Lauder-owned brand released a limited-edition bridal gift in collaboration with cult accessories brand Lele Sadoughi, created dedicated landing pages on its website for different bridal looks, and pinned a highlights reel to its Instagram loaded with wedding tips. Their customer was clearly interested: Too Faced’s wedding-led emails had an open rate 62 percent higher than standard emails, while the dedicated “wedding looks” page on its site has 46 percent more views than other trend pages.

It was a prescient thought: As Gen-Z gets older, they’re getting engaged and entering the bridal market. For brands, there’s ample opportunity to cater to a beauty-obsessed generation that’s more open to cosmetic procedures and has long been concerned about anti-ageing as they approach one of the most photographed occasions of their lives.

However, the Gen-Z bride is one of contradictions. According to beauticians, she likely favours a more natural look for her big day, and will want any products she uses to help her look like her best self, not someone else. But she’s also likely to be meticulously planning moments for Instagram and TikTok, and may want extra beauty touches to enhance them.

Brands need to ensure their core offering has products brides will want to turn to on their big day, but also consider what they can create to appeal to those looking for a special touch for the guests – or their followers.

Dress the Wedding

Modern brides have long looked to Pinterest and Instagram for bridal inspiration, but the TikTok age is ushering in a different sort of wedding influencer. That inclides creators like Dana Bezanis Basta, who shared every detail of her 2024 wedding prep on the app — Basta’s posts include her citrus-themed bridal shower, teeth whitening, Botox treatments and visits to a “scalp spa” as well as her many, many outfits.

The celebrity nuptials from brides like Grainge and “Call Her Daddy” podcast host Alex Cooper have also helped create a cottage industry of videographers and producers designed to help couples get perfect content. Saskia Wright, a London-based makeup artist, said many weddings she works at now have a dedicated “wedding content creator” who shoots entirely on an iPhone to craft Instagram and TikTok-ready content, in addition to a standard wedding photographer.

The rising popularity of wedding content has pushed brands to get creative in finding ways to capitalise on someone’s big day. Fragrance brand Jo Malone London “scented” the weddings of Grainge and model Olivia Culpo, creating valuable shout-outs in the brides’ Vogue write-ups and social posts. One of the brand’s most in-store popular services is the complimentary 45-minute “Scent Your Wedding” session; Chris Wyatt, the company’s global vice president of education, said it’s gaining popularity with younger brides. Gen-Z customers usually want to document the experience and have a clear idea of their wedding “story,” he said.

“They really want to make it a personalised experience,” he said. In the wedding sessions, brides sample a range of scents before picking one – or more – for their big day. Wyatt said many brides often opt to purchase candles and perfumes as table pieces or gifts for their guests and bridal parties, as well as hand and body lotions for their honeymoon.

Super Natural

Makeup artists and hair stylists who work with Gen-Z brides see clear differences in their product preferences from their Millennial counterparts. Wright said younger brides usually favour a more natural look, often requesting that lighter products are used.

“Older generations ask for their freckles to be covered, but the younger generations ask to have them drawn on,” she said.

Other requests dovetail with wider Gen-Z preferences towards a “clean look” — heavy eyeshadow, strip lashes and contour products are less popular. However, Wright finds her younger brides to be very educated about the kinds of products and techniques she offers, and expects to see buzzy brands like Saie, Rare Beauty and Kosas in her kit, indicating potential for youth-focussed brands to play in the wedding space.

But Too Faced’s Simon said they identified they didn’t need new products to win over Gen-Z brides. Instead, it was more about putting existing items in shoppable edits and creating limited-edition offerings like its Wedding Day Set, which includes a hair bow, a waterproof mascara and a setting spray — an item Wright said all her Gen-Z clients asked for.

Wright said her brides are usually looking to create very specific kinds of photos and videos from their big day, with one particularly popular shot being the bride looking at their finished look using a compact mirror.

Already, she sees a golden opportunity there.

“No one really offers a pretty enough makeup compact for that shot,” said Wright.

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