According to experts, people born between 1985 and 1995 often look much younger than Gen Z - Silicon Canals

"Walk through any coffee shop these days and you'll notice something interesting. The twenty-somethings hunched over their laptops look somehow more weathered than the thirty-somethings chatting nearby. At first, I thought it was just me projecting, maybe feeling defensive about approaching my mid-thirties. But then the research started backing up what many of us have been quietly observing: millennials born between 1985 and 1995 often appear younger than their Gen Z counterparts."

"Gen Z, on the other hand, hit puberty with smartphones in hand. They've been curating their image since middle school, dealing with cyberbullying, comparison culture, and the relentless pressure to be "on" at all times. That kind of chronic stress shows up on faces. It shows up in posture. It shows up in the exhaustion you see behind carefully filtered selfies."

"Let's talk about what shaped these two generations differently. Those of us born in the late '80s and early '90s came of age when social media was optional, not omnipresent. We had our awkward phases in relative privacy. Our mistakes weren't broadcast to hundreds of followers. We learned to navigate relationships without the constant pressure of public performance."

Millennials born between 1985 and 1995 often appear younger than Gen Z despite being older. Observational and research evidence shows differing aging patterns tied to social-media exposure and chronic stress. Gen Z experienced adolescence with ubiquitous smartphones, curated identities, cyberbullying, and comparison culture, producing chronic stress that manifests in facial appearance, posture, and visible exhaustion. Millennials experienced social media as optional, allowing private awkward phases and less publicized anxiety. A recalled first panic attack at twenty-seven remained private, whereas current twenty-somethings increasingly process anxiety publicly, turning vulnerability into shareable content. Retail and marketing attention is shifting toward these generational differences.

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