Walking into Sephora never used to warrant a fear among adult makeup users, but now with the influx of 10 year olds raiding the Drunk Elephant skincare section, the fear is valid. Sephora and all other makeup stores used to be serene locations for adults to purchase their overpriced makeup essentials. Over the past year, this tranquility has slowly been transformed into a rush of anxiety when the thought of multiple pre-teen children running around the stores like feral animals comes to mind.
The concept of 10-year-old Sephora kids was recently created on TikTok just after Christmas. Young girls were videoing their ‘What I Got For Christmas Hauls’ and showing their collection of Drunk Elephant, Charlotte Tilbury, and Summer Fridays products that they received from their parents. The majority of the older teenage girls and young adults that own the app were appalled to see that girls well under age were flaunting these products like it was normal. Much of TikTok’s Gen Z audience wasn’t able to relate to Gen Alpha’s Christmas hauls because the idea of Sephora makeup wasn’t even an option for them at their age. In fact, Gen Z girls never grew up asking for Sephora makeup products for Christmas. They focused more on Barbie dolls, ZuZu Pets, and American Girl dolls, which were much more age appropriate than the single Sol de Janeiro Body Mist that costs the same price as a full size LaLaLoopsy doll.
“I grew up asking for Barbies and Littlest Pet Shops for Christmas, and I never even imagined asking for actual makeup. The only makeup I ever got were the ones that came in sets with bright colors that only showed up as clear lip gloss” Tess Peel ‘24 said.
Tween girls only want high-end makeup products because of the world they have grown up in. These kids have had access to a wider variety of technology that no other generation before has had. These devices not only grant these younger kids internet access, but they also open the door to the many social media platforms that exist in society today. Younger girls cling to social media influencers that portray what a girl’s life should look like in today’s time. Whether it be Alix Earle showcasing her expensive and glamorous lifestyle, or Charli D’amelio and her life after Tik Tok fame, they all have a large influence over girls spanning in a wide range of ages. The young girls that grow up on these apps witness other girls a few years older than them using makeup on a daily basis, and since they have no other idea of what kids their age should be doing, they follow suit and ask for Rare beauty products for Christmas. Similarly, their parents have no other ideas of what to get their kids for the holidays, and end up splurging on the $42 Charlotte Tilbury Contour Wand to appease their child in getting them something they know they will like.
“My little cousin is the perfect example of a 10-year- old Sephora girl. She goes to school wearing her Sol de Janerio perfume with her Stanley water bottle. Her and her friends like to go to Sephora because they’re convinced they need every product invented despite being literal sixth graders,” Adrianna Barnes ‘24 said.
Not only are the preteen girls asking for high-end makeup products, but they also run rampant in these stores reeking havoc on the sample products left out for testing purposes. This can most often be seen in the Drunk Elephant skin care section as the brand promotes combining their products to make application easier.
Nowadays, it’s normal to see their large circular pump moisturizers covered in their bronzing drops as the reckless kids try to combine the two products as they see the makeup gurus do on Tik Tok. Drunk Elephant is a skincare brand that peaked in the 2010’s with lengthy skincare routines on the rise. Their star factors are the minimalistic packaging with pops of color on the tops, and their different and fun packaging techniques. While this brand was originally created for adult usage, the founder, Tiffany Masterson, has assured that the majority of her products are safe for skin of all ages. While she argues that this claim is backed by clinical data, many critics challenge this with the brand’s skincare acids.
This rebuttal, Masterson gives into, as she recently said in an interview that, “We do not recommend children under 13 use acids or retinol (vitamin C is an acid). The detractors are referring to the products that contain acids, and rightly so. Kids and tweens don’t need acids.”
While the founder of a skincare company and many concerned dermatologists have proved that kids who haven’t even entered middle school yet don’t need Hyaluronic Acid in their daily skincare routine, these young girls still manage to convince their parents to buy them these products because of their intriguing packaging and the influence that their peers and social media have on them.
The underlying issue with the growing amount of Sephora kids is the fact that Gen Alpha is growing up too quickly. Gen Z and all of the generations that precede them had a smaller influence of technology on their childhoods that never created the desire for high-end products, specifically makeup. Kids nowadays are seen to barely have had a childhood as they skipped their developmental years where they could have been playing with Lego Friends and Easy Bake Ovens and instead jumped right to the Laneige Hydrating Sleeping Mask and the Patrick Ta Blush Duo Palettes to enhance their makeup routines. Many of the older teenagers nowadays hate to see these young girls miss out on their prime childhood days, and they also hate the competition in the Sephoras where the employees are constantly having to restock the latest products to fit the clean girl aesthetic. While there is no general solution to the problem of children growing up quicker with the continual presence of technology, all that can be hoped for is the safer usage of skincare among preteens and that they get to live out their childhood days for just a little longer.
