Whether it is the plethora of gingerbread men ornaments adorning TK Maxx’s shelves, or that one friend who starts singing carols a month early, it’s apparent that Christmas is almost upon us. But another clear sign of the approaching festive season is the inevitable surge of tweens asking for Drunk Elephant Bronzing Drops.
Origins of ‘Sephora Kids’
If this all sounds alien to you, then let me explain. Presently, there is a growing wave of children under 10, particularly across the West, demanding high-end skincare from their parents and consuming products that aren’t fit for young skin. Where once children were content with £2 soda-flavoured lip balms, now they crave things like retinoids, peptides and a whole bunch of other alphabet-soup ingredients that I don’t even know the purpose of, let alone use.
So how did this come about?
The origins of ‘Sephora Kids,’ as they are often referred to, can be traced back as early as January 2024, when numerous viral TikTok videos and news articles began to emerge reporting on the sudden uptick in young children shopping at the infamous beauty store Sephora. Whilst this phenomenon was mostly confined to the US, it has now spread to Canada, Australia and the UK.
You might be wondering what all the fuss is about. And if this was Claire’s or Superdrug we were talking about, there wouldn’t be any issue at all. But the products these children are demanding from their parents are incredibly expensive and not suitable for young skin. Sephora is a multinational retailer known for selling over 500 luxury makeup and skincare brands. It’s the kind of shop where it wouldn’t be out of the ordinary for a lip balm to cost over £20, or a small pot of moisturiser to set you back £60. Where once their typical customer demographic would have been women between the ages of 25 and 44, these stores are now equally popular with 8- to 12-year-olds, the largest growth market in the global cosmetics industry who spend $40 million a month on beauty products.
Exploiting Children’s Impressionability
But where on earth did children hear about skincare? Social media, of course. Gen Alpha are the first generation to grow up in a fully digital world and despite social media being banned for under 13s, over half of them use it anyway. Because of this, they are constantly surrounded by beauty content on apps like TikTok and are witnesses to the growing trend of young girls having their own skincare routines, including Kim Kardashian’s daughter. And in a desperate attempt to not feel left out, children are purchasing the products they see recommended on their screens. If this sounds like an exaggeration, it’s not: research shows that over half of 6–16-year-olds want a product because an influencer promoted it.
It’s the same reason children became obsessed with Stanley Cups last year. At the end of the day, they are just water bottles with a handle and a straw. Nothing revolutionary. But as soon as they were flagged on social media, they suddenly became a must-have item. It wasn’t so much the cups that children wanted, but the perks that came with owning one: being viewed by their classmates as trendy and avoiding the inevitable bullying that would arise from not having one. Instead of bringing the coolest snacks or the trendiest new toys to school, owning viral high-end beauty products has now become a new status symbol on the playground — one which generates an enormous amount of growth for brands like Drunk Elephant, Glow Recipe and Bubble.
We can’t fault children for wanting to fit in. They are, quite naturally, impressionable. But we can fault the influencers and beauty brands that exploit this impressionability for profit by disregarding the physical and emotional damage being inflicted on these children. At least 80 per cent of US tweens and 80 per cent of UK teens now use beauty products. But do they have any idea of what they are putting on their faces? Young children aren’t able to pronounce terms like glycolic and salicylic acid, let alone understand their potential risks on our largest organ: the skin.
‘Kids are storming to Sephora to buy products to fit in, not because they have any idea how they work,’ says dermatologist Dr Brooke Jeffy. ‘The products are not designed for children’s young skin. Kids using highly active products can experience chemical burns and premature acne.’
And the Long-Term Effects?
On top of the risk of possible physical damage, we can’t comprehend how this trend will affect Gen Alpha’s mental health. Already, children are becoming more aware of how they look, with 80 per cent of girls in the UK having used filters or edited photos of themselves before the age of 13. And now, with the ‘Sephora Kids’ trend telling tweens that they need to buy expensive products to look beautiful, they are being given yet another reason to feel insecure about their appearance.
Dermatologist Dr Emma Wedgeworth agrees:
‘My main concern is that this [trend] could lead to an unhealthy preoccupation with appearance and unrealistic expectations,’ she says. ‘A focus on appearance, rather than skin health … could be detrimental for young people.’
Quite right. We have no idea how this obsession with flawless skin is going to affect tween’s self-esteem. Most likely, negatively. We’ve seen how similar marketing campaigns have left a lasting impression on young people. Take the mantra ‘Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels,’ which has plagued ’90s kids with worries about weight for the last three decades. Will the ‘Sephora Kids’ phenomenon do similar damage to Gen Alpha?
(Not) Feeling Like a Million Bucks
Big beauty brands should be doing more to stifle the ‘Sephora Kids’ trend and protect children’s skin health. But they’re not. Instead, brands are profiting from tweens’ insecurities, forcing children to grow up far too quickly and teaching them that happiness can only be found at the bottom of a Hue Drops bottle.
DISCLAIMER: The articles on our website are not endorsed by, or the opinions of Shout Out UK (SOUK), but exclusively the views of the author.
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