If Gen Z’s taking a seat at the bar, the beauty industry is sending a spicy margarita and playful wink from the other side.
Airbrushed bombshells and glossy clichés are no longer turning this generation on to consumer brands, with Gen Z preferring their sensuality served with a side of irony and a cheeky smile.
Beauty brands are catching on, leaning into tongue-and-cheek shade names, suggestive packaging, and innuendo-led marketing that feels more like an inside joke than a sales pitch, tapping into humour, intimacy and cultural nuance to turn product launches into punchlines.
And in the age of TikTok, those punchlines go viral.
This ‘wink-wink-nudge-nudge’ approach comes as Gen Z challenges previously ‘stuffy’ views towards sex, body, and self, with Good Brand Day founder Daniella Lee revealing how, “We’re seeing a cultural swing toward self-expression, body autonomy, and irreverent humour.… Playful innuendo in beauty taps into this; it's cheeky, knowing, and feels like an inside joke between brand and customer.”
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