This is an episode of the Glossy Beauty Podcast, which features candid conversations about how today’s trends are shaping the future of the beauty and wellness industries. More from the series →
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts • Spotify
On this week’s episode of “The Glossy Beauty Podcast,” co-hosts Sara Spruch-Feiner and Lexy Lebsack dive into one of beauty’s buzziest topics: Gen Alpha’s rapid emergence as consumers in their own right.
They discuss Spruch-Feiner’s reporting on Sephora tweens and teens, as well as Sephora’s first two brands geared directly at Gen Alpha: Sincerely Yours, brought to market by father-daughter mega-influencer duo Jordan and Salish Matter, and Evereden, which will hit Sephora.com on October 14.
They examine what will happen, on Sephora’s shelves and beyond, as Gen Alpha grows into its purchasing power. The demographic, born between 2010-2024, is currently 15 years old and younger — and already showing a voracious appetite for consuming beauty products, while also starting brands they want to see hit the market. See: Sincerely Yours and Yes Day.
But first, a look at some of this week’s headlines, including Coperni’s introduction of C+, a collection of athleisure clothes infused with pre- and probiotic properties, meant to help support the skin’s microbiome. The brand claims that the benefits last through 40 washes.
They also discuss CeraVe becoming the NBA’s official skin- and hair-care partner. The brand has previously dabbled in partnerships with basketball players, working with Anthony Davis and Paige Bueckers for its “Head of CeraVe” campaign to promote its anti-dandruff shampoo in February. It will promote the new partnership through digital and physical activations throughout the season.
Finally, they talk about fitness trackers, specifically rings, which continue to gain traction — U.S. sales are up 88% year-over-year. More than 1.3 million fitness tracker devices were purchased during the first seven months of 2025, a 35% increase over last year. The same growth has not been seen for devices worn on the wrist, however — sales of these devices were down 6% year-over-year.
Below are highlights from the episode, which have been lightly edited for clarity.
The enduring importance of cute packaging
Spruch-Feiner: “A lot of these brands have been very intentionally designed, in terms of how they [look] on a shelf, which is something I’ve heard again and again. This is a demographic that has grown up with social media and in the post-Into The Gloss world of shelfies and TikToks that are [essentially] the video version of shelfies. They are concerned with how their collection looks.”
It’s about what’s NOT in the products
Spruch-Feiner: “[Sincerely Yours] is not so different from what we’ve seen other Gen-Alpha brands come out with, which tends to be about cute packaging and an esthetically appealing [look], and stripped-back [ingredients], in terms of taking out the actives that these kids were so famously using in [for example] Drunk Elephant products. So, for Sincerely Yours, that meant launching with a cleanser and a face mist — officially called a “Soothing Serum Spray,” because obviously kids don’t need a traditional serum. Serums are about treatments. What are you treating? It also [launched with] a very gentle moisturizer and an SPF. It was just those four. For two years at least, I’ve been reporting on kids going into Sephora, taking up space at Sephora, creating these skin-care smoothies at Sephora — the Drunk Elephant of it all — and people being angry about that. And these brands, including Sincerely Yours, are meant to offer kids [every single product]. There’s no problem. There are no ingredients that parents have to worry about. … [Finally, it’s worth mentioning] that, next week, Evereden will hit Sephora.com with products for tweens and teens, too.”
Some brands will aim to grow up with their consumers
Spruch-Feiner: “Obviously, teens are going to always be a notoriously fickle demographic. And, in general, I think beauty consumers have become a more fickle demographic. In general, we see less loyalty. Executives always tell me that they don’t even expect people to use everything from their brand; people use [products] from across different brands. … I think what’s going to be really interesting [will be] to see which of these brands stay geared toward Gen Alpha, or the next 15-year-olds, and they say, ‘Yeah, that [age] will always be our target demographic. [We will focus on] skin care for children [as they become] tweens and teens.’ Whereas Bubble is doing what so many brands do: They are aiming to grow up with their consumer.”
