It’s Autumn 2026, and the beauty market is shifting. In previous years, we have witnessed the rise and fall of glazed donut skin, Brontë blush and the blurred lipstick effect. But one trend that is clearly here to stay is the Gen Alpha beauty boom.
Sephora Kids Are Evolving
It is not as though previous generations were immune to the allure of the beauty industry. A survey from thirteen years ago found that nearly three in five girls in the UK (58 per cent) wore makeup, with Cosmetify reporting that children as young as six use cosmetics. However, today’s young people, raised on skinfluencer content on apps like Instagram and TikTok, are arguably more fixated on their appearance than any other generation before them. The kids’ skincare and cosmetics industry was reportedly worth £11.3 billion last year and is expected to grow to £17.5 billion by 2034. Even toy shops like The Entertainer are cashing in, selling controversial brands like SOL Beauty and Unique Boutique.
This phenomenon, which rose to prominence in 2024, became known as the Sephora Kids trend. Sephora has previously denied targeting children, insisting that its brands are marketed at adults. Should a young customer waltz into one of their stores, staff are trained to give age-appropriate skincare advice, it claims. And, to be fair, the beauty behemoth has faced undeservedly high levels of scrutiny. Perhaps the real culprits are the brands who relentlessly target little kids on social media and partner with kidfluencers, some of whom are as young as two. But watch out, there are new brands on the horizon as we speak.
Nepo Baby Takeover
This season, household names (or should I say, the nepo babies of household names) have announced plans to launch their own beauty businesses in the coming months. There’s 19-year-old Princess Andre, who is set to launch her own makeup brand, By Princess, just two years after becoming the face of Superdrug’s affordable Studio London range.
Not long afterwards, 8-year-old Valencia Fury, daughter of Tyson Fury and his wife Paris, unveiled a collaboration with Superdrug on the boxer’s social media account. In a video, Valencia claimed that the partnership came about because she is ‘obsessed with makeup’ and wanted to find products ‘designed for kids like me.’ The Fantasy Cosmetics range, a limited line priced between £1 and 3, includes face palettes and milkshake-scented lip glosses.
And finally, the announcement that has probably caused the most buzz on social media: the imminent launch of Harlo by Harper, a range of face creams, washes and serums aimed at Gen Alpha. For those who don’t know, 15-year-old Harper Beckham is the youngest child of ex-footballer David Beckham and former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham. The motivation behind founding her own skincare range allegedly stemmed from her bad experiences with acne. According to Victoria Beckham, ‘[Harper] said, “I want to create a brand because I know what I want and I don’t want other people to go through what I have been through.” ’
So, of course, none of this is inspired by the success of her mother’s £700m beauty empire and a motivation to earn a fortune. Glad we cleared that up. Also, it’s very noble of the young Beckham to found a brand to solve the tween acne crisis, but considering that consultant dermatologists require the same number of years of education and training as Harper has been alive, I think that people are better off putting their faith in a qualified professional than a teenage nepo baby.
But Beckham is not the first celebrity to cash in on their fame by dabbling in the world of teen skincare. After the success of the hit TV show ‘Stranger Things,’ actress Millie Bobbie Brown founded her own brand, Florence by Mills, in 2019. She was the same age as Harper at the time. Her range was built with the ethos that skincare needn’t contain harsh, anti-ageing chemicals, particularly if it is aimed at young people. Seven years on, Florence by Mills now has nearly four million followers on Instagram and has since expanded to include products like gel under-eye masks and affordable cosmetics.
Another actress who made a side hustle out of selling skincare to children is 39-year-old ‘Pretty Little Liars’ star, Shay Mitchell. In November 2025, Mitchell announced the launch of her face mask brand Rini, originating from the Korean word for child, which would allow four-year-old girls to copy their parents’ beauty routines and ‘do as mommy does.’ Her Comments Section had mixed reactions. Some called the concept ‘cute,’ while others thought it was ‘disgusting.’ ‘As a mother I don’t want it for my daughter,’ one user commented. ‘This is not normal!’
Saving Face
Mitchell has insisted that her products are about ‘teaching our kids’ to ‘tak[e] care of themselves.’ But what she and her counterparts, who are not qualified skin experts, don’t seem to want to admit is that children do not require this kind of ‘self-care’.
‘Most children do not need skincare beyond gentle soap … and sunscreen,’ says dermatologist Amy Perkins.
In fact, it’s more likely that using unnecessary skincare products encourages children to become overly anxious about their appearance, causing anxiety over completely normal adolescent imperfections like blemishes. In a world where young girls are already forced to grow up too quickly, it’s a bit nauseating to watch brands try to convince children to use products they don’t really need. Don’t believe me? Just take a look at this quote from Harper Beckham’s mother.
Speaking as a guest on the Aspire podcast, Victoria Beckham said: ‘[Harper] came to me two or three years ago and she was really struggling with her skin. She used to have beautiful skin, but like all young girls she was enticed by beauty brands, and she was putting a lot of products on her face that were not suitable for young skin and consequently had to see a dermatologist because her skin was really, really bad.’
So, instead of using their enormous platform to warn girls of the dangers of buying unnecessary skincare products, the Beckhams decided to capitalise on a growing industry that feeds off the desperation of young, impressionable children who are told that beauty starts with buying a product. Hopefully, this latest celebrity range won’t give kids premature acne, swelling or chemical burns.
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