Why Millennials Don't Care If They Have Wrinkles on Their Skin

This generation craves bespoke skin care, which explains the popularity of boosters and custom serums (Kiehl's just launched a new make-your-own serum feature, and Skin Inc has been doing this via ecommerce for years). Multimasking has also been a viral phenomenon the past year.

It's all about personalization for this group. "[Millennials] are more skewed toward simplicity," said Sam Cheow, the chief product accelerator at L'Oréal. "They look at aging in a very different way. It's not top-of-mind for them, they are more problem-and-solution-centric."

Often finding those solutions means combining and creating. So you'll also rarely meet a Gen Yer who doesn't like a good DIY. "Millennials look at their skin care in a way that allows for interpretation," said Jane Hudis, group president at Estée Lauder (for Aerin, Origins, Aveda, Darphin, and La Mer). "They put themselves into the conversation, where Boomers are more likely to take instruction and use things in a particular way."