Millennial and Generation Z kids grew up playing with toy cars, Lego and dolls.
Today’s Generation Alpha children play with $68 makeup products.
Now known as “Sephora kids”, these little 10-year-old girls have skin care routines more elaborate than teenage influencers. And it’s not James Charles-esque makeup looks that they go for. It’s “clean girl” looks, using products containing retinol and other anti-aging substances.
Makeup stores like Sephora and Ulta aren’t stores for children, and makeup and skincare products aren’t toys. They’re intended for older consumers, and can have harmful and lasting consequences if used by children.
The skincare and makeup brand Drunk Elephant has become the most popular among little girls, as seen in videos all over TikTok. The brand doesn’t sell glittery eye shadow palettes or colorful lip gloss, the makeup that girls of past generations bought at Claire’s and played with at home.
Drunk Elephant sells products intended for 25-year-olds and had to make a statement regarding children using its products.
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The brand made a statement on its Instagram page addressing the effects its products can have on children: “Many of our products are designed for all skin, including kids and tweens… Stay away from our more potent products that include acids and retinols— their skin does not need these ingredients quite yet.”
According to dermatologist Sharon Wong in a Vice interview, “Before the teenage years, skin is still really sensitive. It’s still really thin.”
“With anti-aging products like retinols, you could compromise their skin barrier and make their skin more sensitive,” Wong said. “Sensitive skin is actually quite difficult to treat, so you may be causing downstream problems. Other things like vitamin C–yes, it helps build collagen, but why would a 10-year-old need collagen? You only start losing it in your mid-to-late 20s.”
There have also been multiple complaints from Sephora and Ulta workers, some of whom have even quit, due to the rude and disrespectful behavior of these children.
Many have taken to TikTok to recount their experiences. Videos showing the messy and destroyed makeup displays at these stores are going viral. Children come in, try all the products they want and leave a mess behind.
This is not just another fun game or toy but actual formulas that can be damaging to a 10-year-old child’s skin. Even if the parents are OK with spending hundreds of dollars on things their children don’t need (all toys can be seen that way), they need to realize that the children are still viewing these products as toys first, chemicals second..
Although it may seem harmless for little girls to play “grown up” and wear Lululemon leggings and own a variety of Stanley cups, putting on anti-aging cream is not just a game. It can lead to bad results.
And because this is a recent trend and not enough years have gone by, the results of these products on children are unknown. Most of these products haven’t even been tested on children, as they were never the intended audience.
Many parents just cave in and get their children what they want, but disrespectful behavior, if accepted anywhere, should be reserved for toy stores, not makeup stores.
Brands are clearly profiting off this new trend, but when these children grow up and see the bad results, it may lead them to swing the complete opposite direction and end up turning against these brands.
Sooner or later, it’ll come at a cost.
Isabella Albertini is a 23-year-old mass communication junior from Lima, Peru.
