For the past couple of years, people have been comparing millennials and Gen Zers from all different angles, whether it's about their personal styles or how they choose to communicate at work. But just when you thought you saw every comparison under the sun, a hairstylist went viral on TikTok for sharing the differences between how Gen Z clients and millennial clients act at the hair salon, and it's alarmingly accurate...like, too accurate.
In the video, Alexis Rex (@rex.artistry), hairstylist and owner of Rex Artistry Salon in Maryland, began by sharing how millennials act the minute they walk into her salon.
Alexis then shows what kind of hair color and hairstyle millennials usually ask for, which involves an incredibly natural hairstyle that "shouldn't even look like I got my hair done" and them inquiring with a bunch of questions about how they should maintain it.
Whereas Gen Z clients are a different story: Alexis explains in the video how they walk into the salon, just like millennials. However, their approach is more...dare I say — as I'm a millennial who appreciates Gen Z'ers — like they have five kids waiting in the minivan and they have 2.8 seconds to get their hair done and they know EXACTLY what they want.
Alexis goes on in the video by describing that Gen Zers usually go for bold, in-your-face hairstyles with a lot of contrast, or in her words, they want to look like "a different fucking person, bitch. A. Different. Fucking. Person." (As a millennial, I want this confidence.)
After Alexis posted this video — which garnered over eight million views and one million likes — more than 20 thousand comments came flooding in all talking about how accurate her descriptions of these two generations are.
For instance, this person is spilling the truth about us millennials right off the bat:
Whereas this person is describing one of the greatest personality traits of Gen Zers:
After thousands of millennial commenters chimed in with even more specific detail as to how they acted in salons, Alexis filmed a sequel video.
This time, Alexis depicted how we millennials tend to over-apologize for simply existing. Think: "I'm so sorry, I'm such a fucking idiot for coming in with my hair comfortably the way I like it." Or simply: "Do whatever. Do whatever you want to do."
But if you Gen Xers and boomers feel left out, don't worry — Alexis did a video comparing these two generations, too.
After feeling personally attacked and seen by these videos, I had to reach out to Alexis — who identifies as a Zillennial — to ask how and why we millennials should take up space like Gen Zers in the salon.
To millennials, Alexis said: "First of all, I feel you! I am a 'cusper' myself — or a Zillennial if you will — so I completely understand the feeling of not wanting to take up space or feeling like I need to make myself small. But here's how I look at it: we beauty professionals are here to make you as a client feel and look your best, with emphasis on the feel. It should be a relationship, a collaborative experience," she explained.
"I want to hear your thoughts on your style because it's in your head and YOU need to love it," she continued. "I am here to provide advice for some aspects you may not realize or see. Understand that you are paying us as professionals to give you the style you are looking for, and sometimes we miss the mark."
So if you are unhappy with the end result, Alexis wants you to speak up. "Please go back to the original stylist and have a chat about your concerns. Nine times out of 10 something was misunderstood during the consultation," she said. "I know you as the client don't want to hurt our feelings but if you have a true professional working on your hair, they will have no problem happily correcting their mistake."
Not sure what you want to begin with? Alexis also provided some insights on which hairstyles she believes will trend for millennials and Gen Z.
Now for Gen Z, Alexis explained that instead of the vertical split dye, she predicts this generation is going to try out the horizontal split dye.
And when it comes to natural colors — like blondes, brunettes, and coppers — Alexis predicts Gen Zers are going to play with "fashion tones," which can entail "rosy blondes" or "peachy coppers."
