Gen Z marketing for hair and beauty brands usually starts with a complaint. Lazy. Distracted. Entitled. You have heard it, or said it, at some point this year.

Every generation is called the problem. This one is being blamed wrongly.

Why is every generation called the problem?

Gen X were called slackers. Millennials were called anxious. Now it is Gen Z's turn.

What did lockdown do to Gen Z?

Lockdowns put their futures on pause at exactly the age they were ready to explore the world. Point blank, that sucks for them.

So they built something else. Many built a creative life online, because it was the only place left to build one.

Is Gen Z really unambitious? The evidence says no.

Lucie Macleod started the hair care brand Hair Syrup in 2020 while at university, with £600 and a TikTok about her own hair. In 2024 the business turned over £4.5m.

She is not the only one. A 2026 Intuit entrepreneurship report found that 43% of Gen Z adults in the US were considering starting a business this year, the highest of any generation. That is intent, not launches, but it shows where the energy is going.

Is it distraction, or a different language?

It is not distraction. It is a different language. Gen Z is fluent in digital and fluent in social. Most brands are not.

What looks like distraction from the outside is often creative work, made natively for the platform it lives on.

How can hair and beauty brands work with Gen Z creators?

• Put them in front of the camera instead of handing them a script that dictates every word.
• Learn their formats before asking them to copy yours.
• Move at the speed of the platform. Slow approvals, not the audience, are what kill most trend content.
• Look at who your audience already follows, and start there.

When a brand does it right, Gen Z unlocks huge potential.