Gen Z’s bedazzling era is the latest Lipstick Index as youths put gems on everything from coffee cups to skincare
Starbucks , Sephora, and Ulta Beauty are bedazzling their social media feeds, and it’s all in a bid to win over customers embracing the analog economy.
Social media users have spent the last month meticulously gluing rhinestones to everyday objects, including coffee cups, skincare , phone cases , and even puppies .
Perhaps the biggest example came earlier this month, when Kylie Jenner posted an Instagram carousel of her 29th birthday party .
Jenner, known for splashing out on lavish events, turned to colorful rhinestone decor to celebrate the milestone, and even plastered gemstones across plastic cups and one of her two birthday cakes.
View this post on Instagram A post shared by Aquaphor (@aquaphor) Jenner’s rhinestone choice, cheap and easy to find in the arts and crafts aisle at a Target or Michael’s, delivers a sharp contrast with the multi-millionaire’s typical flashy displays of wealth.
In years prior, Jenner has celebrated her August birthday by planning lavish events, including luxury yacht excursions or renting out entire venues.
But her 29th birthday celebration took a page from a different book.
The rhinestone ornamentation doubled as a girly and whimsical photo-op.
After posting the viral photos, brands and creators were quick to jump at the lucrative marketing opportunity, and Gen Z’s rhinestone fever was born.
The California health-food brand SunLife Organics, which sells smoothies ranging from $15 to the $42 “Billion Dollar Smoothie,” released rhinestone-studded smoothie cups that quickly drew new customers into stores after the brand posted them on Instagram last week.
Brand manager Euan Franco flagged the trend online earlier this month, and decided to hop on the rhinestone bandwagon, hoping to resonate with SunLife’s consumers.
View this post on Instagram A post shared by SunLife Organics (@sunlifeorganics) “We actually had several guests come into the store specifically asking if they could get their smoothies in rhinestoned cups,” Franco told Fortune.
Franco enlisted employees at a Bee Cave, Tx., location, where staff had already been adding tiny plastic gems to cups for months, to make more for a photoshoot.
The post was an immediate hit with 1,500 likes to date, more than triple the engagement for the brand’s typical posts.
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