A new wave of influencers have become Gen Z’s go-to source for skin care information, said Holly Jackson, Director of Global Services Traackr, an influencer marketing and management platform.

“COVID has galvanized the ‘skinfluencer’ movement, prompting many to begin thinking more about skin care while at home,” she said. “Consumers took a break from makeup and purchased more products ranging from masks, cleansers and skin care tools, as spas and dermatologist offices closed. They then turned to influencers for their expertise to showcase products.”

Overall, social media has seen a 192.3 percent increase in total number of engagements in skin care-related content across all platforms year over year (May 2019 vs May 2020), according to Traackr’s analytics. On TikTok alone, the hashtag #skincare has more than 15 billion views on TikTok, and #skincareroutine has 4.4 billion views.

Skinfluencers are made up of beauty junkies, as well as board certified dermatologists. While TikTok has grown in popularity, Youtube is still a source for long-form educational content. Holly pointed to the following as noteworthy skinfluencers:

  • Hyram, who has 3.38M subscribers on YouTube and 5.7M followers on TikTok
  • Dr. Dray (Andrea Suarez), who has 841K subscribers on YouTube
  • YayayaYoung (Young Yuh), with 9.53K subscribers on YouTube and 925.2K followers on TikTok
  • JC Dombrowski, who has 4.66K subscribers on YouTube and 2.6M followers on TikTok
  • Cassandra Bankson, who has 1.23M subscribers on YouTube and 14.6K followers on TikTok

“Skinfluencers such as Dr. Dray saw a surge in engagement over the past few months, talking about ingredients in various products, and overall how safe they are for your skin,” said Holly. “Over the past six months, Hyram increased his audience by 35 percent on YouTube, and by 47 percent on Instagram.”

Holly noted that Gen Z has been drawn to skinfluencers to help understand the best products to use.

“The skinfluencer space is far more diverse (they come in all sizes, skin tones, ages and genders expressions) than historic marketing and advertising content and that reinforces the authenticity drawing in Gen Z and an overall younger demographic,” she said. “While celebrity influencers have historically gotten the lion’s share of top dollar beauty brand endorsements, the Gen Z and millennial audience is more likely to put trust into the influencers who are forthcoming regarding their endorsement deals, what they actually use for their skin care routine, and which brands treat their customers and influencers with respect.”