sephora kids

Preteen Rampage in Sephora: Causes and Effects

Adults were the target market for Sephora's initial advertising and creation of the makeup store. They soon discovered that teenagers were equally drawn to their items. Nowadays, brands such as Drunk Elephant employ vivid, fluorescent colors to draw in young customers. Preteens are now part of the backdrop at Sephora where they mistreat employees and other customers, steal goods, and damage testers. 

Causes:

For a problem this large there are many causes. The main ones are listed below:|

Parents:

Are parents the primary source of the issue? They undoubtedly make a significant contribution. The money used to purchase these goods is given by parents to their preteen children. Parents also have a responsibility to teach their children manners. The children found in these stores certainly did not have manners and were rude to customers and destructive towards products.

Social Media: 

Kids are getting apps such as Tik Tok and Instagram at a much younger age. These sites are filled with influencers that use the trendy, expensive products. Preteens then seek out these products in Sephora in a bid to be as cool as both the influencers and their peers. There have always been trends that kids feel they MUST follow, but these trends have become more expensive and less age appropriate. Instead of the scrunchies and metal straws of the VSCO girl trends, the preteens have Glow Recipe Watermelon Glow Toner and $40 Dior lip oils. Not only is this hurting their adolescent skin, but their parents’ wallets. 

Product Packaging and Marketing:

Brands see kids as a way to make more money. They market their products as toys, with bright colors and fun names. For instance, Drunk Elephant makes products that younger children find alluring. Their tactic is making the products fun to use, with pop-out pumps and different ways to use. However, Sephora will never create an age limit because they’ve made so much money from preteens. 

Effects 

Using products this young will surely have effects on childrens skin when they grow up. However, nobody is truly sure how bad the effects will be given that this has never happened before. Many dermatologists are speaking out on different social media platforms-and the Sephora website. Here are some things that they have said, “[I] full-heartedly agree with this because as a dermatologist I can safely say that the stuff that Sephora sells is quite literally made for adult skin, and all it's going to do when put on a child's skin is damage it and quite possibly give them chemical burns and destroy their skin[.] It's not going to help the skin if they have acne or anything it's going to make it 10 times worse. There are specific lines that are made for teen skins and they only sell one of those lines at Sephora last time I checked and unless they've hit puberty th[eir] skin naturally protects itself so all they're going to be doing is destroying that natural protection by doing this excessive skin care routine that they don't need." “As a dermatologist, I can safely say that you don't need skin care as a child. As your age it does nothing but damage your skin because the stuff at Sephora the ingredients for it are too heavy for your delicate skin and the youngest anyone should start doing skin care is 15 and even then it's recommended that they use skincare lines that are made specifically for teenage skin. Otherwise you're nice healthy skin is going to turn out a lot worse as you grow up”. Scientists and dermatologists are researching possible effects for this, but there is no full answer yet. What is clear, though, is that these skincare products destroy the skin’s natural barrier which will most likely lead to wrinkles and other issues.

Interview with a Sephora 10-Year-Old: 

What is your favorite makeup store?

Sephora 

Favorite makeup/skincare brand?

For skincare I would say Glow Recipe and for makeup Charlotte Tilbury. Sol de Janeiro is also really good.

How do you more commonly find out about makeup, TikTok or your friends?

Definitely TikTok

Do you use retinol or Vitamin C serums?

Not retinol! I’ve never used retinol but I do use vitamin C serums.