SPF Demand Rises 60 percent, K-Beauty Grows 200 percent as Gen Z Leans Towards Ingredient-first, Preventive Beauty, Finds Myntra Report

• Half of Gen Z's beauty buyers on Myntra are in Tier 2 and 3 cities

• Sun protection (SPF) products up 60% among Gen Z shoppers; 53% of luxe makeup orders include a mini

• K-Beauty demand up 200%, hair masks up 110%, men's skincare orders up 78%

• Gen Z puts more of its wallet into beauty, while growing the category alongside millennials 

Gen Z is changing how India shops for beauty. For this generation, beauty is part of how they show up every day. They protect their skin before fixing it and try premium brands through minis, they are taking beauty well beyond the metros. These are among the findings of 'Beauty in the Age of Gen Z,' a new report released by Myntra, which finds a generation that chooses ingredients over hype.

Myntra unveils ‘Beauty in the Age of Gen Z’, a report on how young India buys beauty on its own terms

Gen Z and millennials are both growing the beauty and personal care category on Myntra, with Gen Z giving the category a 75% higher share of its wallet. Self-expression comes first for this generation, and the category is one of the clearest places it shows. Gen Z’s beauty and personal care spend per customer is up 1.2X YoY alongside a fast growing customer base on Myntra. Half of Gen Z’s beauty buyers on Myntra live in Tier 2 and 3 cities. Sun protection (SPF) products are up 60% YoY among Gen Z shoppers, and 53% of luxe makeup orders on Myntra now include a mini.

Deepak Joshi, Senior Director, Beauty and Personal Care, Myntra, said,“This is a skin-first generation. Gen Z doesn’t use a brand name as a shortcut for trust. They want to understand what’s in the product and what it will do for their skin. They keep their routines short and choose what works, and they think proactively, preventing damage instead of fixing it later. That’s why sun protection has stopped being a seasonal purchase for them. It’s a year-round habit.”

Gen Z is shaping a market that industry reports* expect to grow from ~USD 23bn to ~USD 40bn. India still spends only ~USD 15 per head on beauty, against USD 38 in China and USD 383 in the US, according to the industry reports*.

Speaking on the launch of the report, Sharon Pais, Head of Myntra, said, “Beauty and personal care is one of Myntra’s strongest growth engines. For Gen Z, beauty is self-expression. It’s how they show up, plan their looks and live their social lives. They try premium and international brands through minis, find new ones through creators and K-Beauty, and choose on ingredients and efficacy, in cities across the country. The brands that win will meet this shopper early, make discovery easy and earn trust through the product and its ingredients.”

Minis and creators: Minis make up 14% of luxe units sold, led by lipstick, perfume and face primer. Brands such as M.A.C, Kayali, Smashbox and Salvatore Ferragamo get more than half of their new customers through minis. Video is how Gen Z finds beauty. Myntra has ~82,000 active beauty creators, UGC beauty content is up 40% YoY, and nearly 2 in 3 new beauty creator registrations over the last four months are Gen Z.

Beyond the metros: Gen Z baskets in Tier 2 and 3 cities include serums, toners, sunscreens and hair masks alongside everyday staples. These cities account for half of the platform's international beauty demand. Ludhiana, Patna, Bhopal, Indore, Guwahati, Surat, Varanasi and Imphal are among the cities driving growth.

Prevention, ingredients and K-Beauty: Sun protection has become a year-round habit among Gen Z shoppers, with searches up 80% for spray sunscreens, 70% for ingredient-led sunscreens and 60% for tinted sunscreens (SPF, or sun protection factor). Gel-based, fragrance-free and non-sticky textures are in demand, and Gen Z is seeking out ingredients such as Centella asiatica, copper peptides, azelaic acid and panthenol.

K-Beauty demand grew 200% YoY and searches rose more than 300%. Myntra now offers 1,000+ SKUs from 90+ K-Beauty brands, with 30+ added in the last year. Hair masks grew 110%, against 59% for conditioners, and men's skincare orders grew 78% YoY, led by Gen Z.

Repeat shoppers: Repeat Gen Z orders on Myntra are up ~70% this year, and the repeat beauty shopper and the repeat apparel shopper are more often than not the same person. Beauty is roughly 1 in 5 units ordered on Myntra, is growing at twice the online beauty market, and brought in nearly half a million new customers in May 2026 alone. Myntra offers ~2.5 lakh styles from 4,500+ brands, including 360+ international brands. Virtual Try-On makes shoppers 2X more likely to buy, and Skin Analyzer lifts conversion by ~58%. Beauty on M-Now spans ~600 brands, with delivery as quick as nine minutes.

Backing Indian brands: Myntra hosts 700 pure-play D2C beauty brands and 3,000 emerging D2C names, and D2C beauty has grown 68% so far in FY26. Plum, Minimalist, Foxtale, The Derma Co. and Chemist at Play are among those driving growth. Gen Z is 25% likelier to try an indigenous or D2C brand. Gen Z and millennial shoppers are both backing these brands, with Gen Z among the quickest to try them.

Deepash Jain, VP – Marketing, Myntra, added, “Gen Z doesn’t search to shop, they scroll to discover. That changes everything for us, from the platform experience to the brands we bring in to what happens after purchase. Marketing at Myntra has always been about following the customer. We have opened up our creator ecosystem so anyone with a community can talk about products they believe in. Trends find their way organically, and we don’t try to manufacture them.”

Gen Z's wishlist already points to what's next, including lactic acid, tranexamic acid and foundation-SPF hybrids. Myntra's focus moves to scale and share, with a better pre- and post-purchase experience, a stronger ecosystem through Myntra GlamStream, and continued momentum in D2C, luxury, international beauty, non-metros and first-time online beauty shoppers.

The report was unveiled at the Myntra Beauty IRL event in Mumbai, alongside a panel discussion on The New Indian Beauty Consumer.

The report is based on Myntra platform data, buying behaviour and search trends from August 2025 to August 2026, covering Gen Z shoppers, and is read alongside trend-spotting by Myntra's creative and curation teams.

*Market estimates are from Redseer.