Stories of the “Gen Z is aging like milk” variety have been circulating online for over six months, with a flurry of claims that Gen Z looks much older than their actual age.
Although it may seem contradictory, modern beauty trends are all the rage among Gen Z, including not only heavy makeup but also fillers, Botox, and even plastic surgery. But if these procedures can help people look younger, what’s really going on? Have Gen Z undergone some kind of generational or genetic shift? Or are fillers and Botox having the opposite effect and making Gen Z women actually look older?
One of the first videos to address this issue was in which a man explains how even though he’s 26, no one believes he’s Gen Z. He says that when he’s out in public with his mom, people assume she’s his sister. He concludes that Gen Z definitely looks older.
Screenshot: TikTok
He’s one of many Gen Zers panicking about it, while the internet wonders what on earth is going on. There’s been a lot of discussion about the subject, and journalists have written entire articles pondering the matter. The New York Times jumped on the subject with an article titled, “Why Gen Z Believes They’ll ‘Age Like Milk.'”
An article in Dazed asks, “Is Gen Z really ageing faster?” with the subtitle: “Social media says young people are ageing faster because of their penchant for Elf bars and retinol, but is there really any truth in these theories?”
The New York Post joined the conversation with an article titled, “Gen Z is aging faster than millennials, and here’s why: It’s surprising.”
The overall view of journalists and Gen Zers themselves is that there are a myriad of reasons for Gen Z’s rapid aging. Some argue that it’s stress. They argue that we’ve been through 9/11, political unrest, COVID-19, President Biden’s administration, and now a terrible economy. But even though today’s world is stressful, we must objectively acknowledge that older generations have lived through much tougher times. Thus, stress does not seem to be a logical conclusion.
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I believe the reason Gen Z looks older is because of our diet and the horrible processed foods we put into our bodies every day. It may sound cliché, but it’s true: healthy and radiant skin starts from the inside. Alcohol, tobacco, and vaping (my generation loves vaping) all affect the elasticity, color, and overall appearance of our skin. What we put into our bodies definitely affects our bodies on the outside.
But I think the main culprit behind the rapid aging of Gen Z women is trendy makeup and skincare routines. Younger skin doesn’t need the retinol and harsh chemical products my generation slathers on our skin morning, noon and night. Yet celebrities and social media have been trying so hard to convince women that they do. They rave about how necessary such products are and that every woman in her mid-twenties to mid-twenties should be spending hundreds of dollars on daily skincare products, facials and treatments.
This was pointed out by the New York Post, which explained what happens when women have the surgery at too young an age:
Gen Z may seem like they’re taking better care of themselves, but practitioners aren’t so convinced: Starting injections at an early age can actually affect the natural development of facial features.
It’s true that injecting a toxin into the skin that stops nerve endings from working can disrupt skin development and even stunt growth. It’s a toxin, so of course it can have some negative effects. It’s common sense. The Post goes on to say:
“It’s not uncommon to see 18-year-olds getting lip fillers,” Dr Ross Perry, medical director of Cosmedics Skin Clinic, told the Daily Mail this week. He added, “At 20, [getting] That includes Botox, fillers, and semi-permanent makeup for eyebrows and lips. These procedures “can make you look older when combined,” Perry said. “Once you start down this path, it’s really hard to go back to looking completely natural, especially when the ‘affirmations’ start on social media.” … “Getting these procedures done before you really need them can make you look like a mask and make you look older,” Shotter said, blaming the interest in the procedures on the trendy full-glam makeup style promoted by social media influencers.
Kylie Jenner comes to mind as the poster child for Gen Z social media influencers who wear “trendy, glamorous makeup.” Last year, she was criticized online for looking decades older than her real age, and all of her plastic surgery was blamed. Just three months after her 26th birthday, The Mirror ran a story about her being “in the midst of fans complaining that she ‘looks old’ and accusing her of having filler injections.” Apparently, “fans were shocked to see her turn up at a Hollywood party,” pointing out that “she has young, aged features despite still being in her mid-20s.” They specifically blamed the fillers. Some suggested she should let the fillers melt, but others said that doing so at this point would stretch the skin and make it sag.
Screenshot: Comments section
Kylie is not the only one to have faced such criticism. These “looking old” confessions are all over TikTok. One girl told the story of how her boyfriend asked her how old she was and she jokingly said she was 47, to which he replied, “Oh, I thought you were in your early 30s.” In reality, the girl was 23.
While aging 10 years is a drastic change, the comments were not without controversy. One commenter seemed genuinely confused, suggesting that Gen Z has bad style because they “don’t have wrinkles or anything.” But the problem is the opposite of wrinkles: baby Botox, lip fillers, and all the other stuff they do to prevent wrinkles.
Screenshot: Instagram
Another Gen Zer posted a video in response to someone who told her she should stop getting fillers and Botox because she looks 45. She was shocked, because she’s 22. She went on to explain that she’s received a lot of hate on TikTok from people who don’t think she should have cosmetic surgery, saying “get fillers with me,” and ended by saying, “It’s your face, so I don’t think anyone should stop you from getting fillers.” Commenters didn’t think so.
Screenshot: TikTok
Screenshot: X
Yes, she’s right that it is your right to make decisions about your face. But the reality is that plastic surgery makes you look older, and young women should be warned about the consequences of such surgery. There is certainly pressure to get plastic surgery, but to do so at such a young age is insane. Plastic surgery is made to seem completely normal, when it is not. There is absolutely no need to stretch your eyebrows into the sky or glue all your eyelashes onto your already perfectly beautiful ones.
Plus, this is why so many girls today, online and in real life, look exactly the same. If you scroll through Instagram and see group photos of girls you know or have mutual acquaintances with, they often look exactly the same. They’ve had the same nerve endings frozen, the same types of fillers, they’ve had different parts of their faces plumped up and protruding to make them look more symmetrical, they’ve had their smiles adjusted in some way, and a variety of other procedures done. Sadly, in the end, they all end up looking the same. There’s a total lack of individuality.
It may be true that stress is aging Gen Z faster. It may be the environment, it may be our diet. But that’s not the solution. Injecting toxins into our skin and smearing chemicals all over our faces will only make things worse for young people. Instead, we should focus on the type of food we eat, the freshness of the air we breathe, the amount of sunlight we get, and the amount of water we drink. In a world ruled by chemicals, these are much better for our health in the long run.
After all, no one wants to age like milk.
