Gen Z is coming for my eyeshadow

And why do I care what they think anyway?

They’ve come for millennials’ side partings, jeans, and laughing face emoji. Now Gen Z is apparently sniggering at our use of eyeshadow. A few weeks back, San Franciscan content creator Jennifer Latch shared a TikTok video that has been viewed over 1.5 million times and inspired a number of news reports, in which she says, “So my daughter just told me that eyeshadow is a Gen X and millennial thing, AKA an old lady thing”. It has 72,500 likes.

I have worn eyeshadow since I was a teen, in shades of brown, light brown, and, if I was feeling really adventurous, dark brown. I had previously laughed off things that Gen Z found ageing because, well, I didn’t style my hair in a side parting or wear skinny jeans (😂 remains my number one most frequently used emoji though. Gen Z’s preferred 💀 seems… a little much). But eyeshadow felt personal. Old. Lady. Thing.

As a geriatric millennial (thanks for that one, whoever came up with it), I don’t want to dress like Gen Z because House of Sunny wouldn’t suit me (I do think they look cute though). Rather, I just want to look sophisticated and my age. Was I really going to let myself be taunted by such a ridiculous statement as eyeshadow is for old ladies? By some American teen that I’d never met? Well, yes apparently. 

For what it’s worth, a number of Zoomers jumped into the comments of the TikTok video declaring their love for eyeshadow, so I guess the jury’s out on that one (it turns out not every generation is a monolith - gasp). But the damage had already been done. Really it got me thinking: why do we care what the younger generation thinks about our style or beauty choices anyway?

Of course it goes without saying that this is all meaningless noise and people should just wear what kind of jeans they like and whatever makeup they want to feel good and comfortable in. But I do think the modern day inter-generational style and beauty dialogue is interesting; it strikes me as a fairly recent phenomenon. When I was a teen or in my early twenties, I don’t remember Gen X ever caring about what we thought of their choices and vice versa. I’d even go so far as to say that, from what I recall, we were quite impressed with them. But of course this was before social media had really come along and rejigged the hierarchy of who controlled what was in and what was out.

It used to be magazine editors that dictated fashion in the media, now it’s anyone with a TikTok following. On social media, youth reigns. Perhaps it is this change to the order of things that really irks or confuses us millennials; that suddenly those younger than us wield a lot more power with regards to what is considered ‘cool’. Sure, the youth have often dictated trends in mainstream media, but it used to be filtered through an existing system and delivered to you via your favourite publication. I’m used to discovering what’s cringe through ‘going down’ charts in Sunday supplements, not through 19-year-olds in San Francisco telling me I’m past it to my face over TikTok. It’s an altogether more bitter pill to swallow and why I think women my age have a tendency to get defensive. But that’s just the internet for you. (No hard feelings, Gen Z, nothing but love etc).

In the spirit of bridging the gap, I decided to investigate whether (some members of) Gen Z had a point about eyeshadow. Maybe I could learn a thing or two from them. I’d been wearing my makeup the same since I was in my twenties, and even though my style has evolved, my beauty look has been stuck in a rut. 

I should have worn a better shirt if I was going to play at beauty influencer for the day. Apologies. 

Above is my usual millennial eye makeup, consisting of heavy MAC eyeshadow in Omega (grandma!), Tom Ford Eye Defining Pen (liquid liner), MAC kohl liner in Feline and Urban Decay Perversion mascara (god I love makeup names). Foundation is Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush Flawless Foundation, the blush is Benefit Coralista (RIP), and I’m wearing Burt’s Bees tinted lip balm in Pink Blossom which at least two top models have told me is their go-to daytime balm. The skin’s a little worn and dry but, hey, my toddler woke me up at 4.45am on the morning of the photo.

Do I look 25 yet?

The second pic is my Gen Z inspired look for which I used the same foundation and blush because we’re all about eyes for this project, but I added a bit of the darker glossy shade of a Tom Ford Shade and Illuminate over the eyelid that I crucially didn’t try to shape into a ‘V’, which I’m told is very millennial. Just the lid. I skipped the liquid and kohl liners too.

I actually really like my Gen Z inspired makeup and plan to use it going forward. I’ll probably return to eyeshadow for going out in the evening but perhaps I’ll lose it for the daytime, the highlighter makes for a fresher, softer look. So thank you, teenager from San Francisco! You can’t cheat getting older by remaining relevant but perhaps the generations can learn from one another instead of trying to score points and embarrass each other for their choices.

In August 2021 I cut my super-long hair into a short bob. The very next morning I found out that I was pregnant with my first child. I thought that I must have had some innate maternal instinct blooming because I cut a ‘mom’ hair-do for the first time in my adult life. As my mother and her friends grew older, their hair inevitably got shorter. I figured my chop was representative of a new stage of adulthood for me, that of ‘mother’, and I merely resigned myself to the natural progression of things. And then the next year every Gen Z celebrity got a bob. Just do you. The goalposts are always changing. Everything comes around eventually.

What I’ve been enjoying this week…

My husband bought himself an early, slightly Ripley-inspired birthday present (Dickie has one in the book and the series): this vintage Hermes Baby typewriter (not that Hermes) in perfect condition. What a beauty. I’m threatening to steal it and write some really terrible poetry on it in the garden this summer accompanied by a martini. If you’re interested in vintage typewriters (a niche group) do check out this Etsy account from a lovely Italian man called Andrea, who incidentally included a note to my husband telling him to look after his “old lady” (he was referring to the typewriter in this case).

What I’ve not been enjoying this week…

The aforementioned 4.45am toddler wake up calls. All week. Once 4.45am was the time I set my alarm for when I had a really early flight, or the time I’d get in from a night out when I was Gen Z’s age. Now it’s just life. I’m practically Mark Wahlberg. Send help. And eyeshadow for my weary peepers.