Sephora is known to be the best place to shop for makeup and skincare products that you wouldn’t normally find in other stores. First opened in 1998 in New York City, Sephora has since drawn in a large number of older teens and adults to its stores. However, their increasing popularity is coming at a cost. The store has drawn in a crowd of tweens and young children since 2023.You might be asking yourself, “why is this considered so bad?” Well, there are various reasons why tweens shopping at Sephora has become its own epidemic.
First, tweens don’t belong in stores that are aimed more towards an older audience. Because their products are so expensive and of higher quality, it is assumed that they are only advertised to teens and older who can afford such products. Most tweens and kids who want something from Sephora get their parents to pay for them – a moisturizer alone costing around $40 to $120 dollars. Because parents cave and give in to what their kids want, these kids have adopted some bratty behaviors and have learned that they can convince their parents to give them what they want from Sephora (regardless of the cost). I see instagram reels all the time of influencer parents who give their children anything they want from Sephora, which is both unsafe and can cause behavioral problems, like a sense of entitlement.
This further concludes that kids are growing up way too fast. Christmas lists that used to contain Barbies and Littlest Pet Shop now contain products from Drunk Elephant and Glow Recipe. Kids are simply not learning to be kids anymore, and it’s really upsetting to see them cry and fight their parents in the mall because they couldn’t get a retinol serum from Drunk Elephant.
This leads me into my second point: Popular products from Sephora, such as Drunk Elephant, Paula’s Choice, and The Ordinary, contain retinol, a very strong component that is only meant for adults. Once adults hit their 20s, the production of their collagen fibers starts to decline, meaning that retinol is a lifesaver in this situation. However, we have nine and ten-year-olds using retinol on their faces that could potentially ruin their skin barrier with prolonged usage. Since some adults do not do their research before handing their kids random skincare products, we have kids killing their skin barrier as we speak. Not only is this an issue itself, but because we have so many kids getting into teen and adult skincare, there are fewer and fewer products in stores, limiting people who may actually need these products.
Third of all, not only are these tweens taking products from Sephora that they do not need, they are also creating a mess with the testers. One popular thing that tweens in Sephora like to do is create “Skincare Smoothies,” which is where they combine one or more products on the testers and use them on their face. Not only is this unsanitary, but it causes a whole mess for store employees. Sephora prides themselves on having a clean and beautiful environment, which is easily ruined by a swarm of 9-year-olds messing with the testers. I’ve gone into Sephora’s before where lipsticks are smeared on the ground and kids are directly putting the products all over their skin from the bottle. It’s unnecessary and is a big indicator that tweens should not be in Sephora.
Lastly, the biggest issue in regards to the tween epidemic is the mass of influencers who promote these products to a younger audience. When a young audience watches influencers rate these products, it makes them want to own the products. This starts to explode when a trend happens and suddenly every tween needs to have Drunk Elephant Bronzing Drops or Glow Recipe Watermelon Dew Drops. While it’s okay for kids to have role models and watch these influencers, I strongly believe that they need to take a step back and learn to be a kid again.
To conclude, tweens do not belong in Sephora. While I feel that it’s okay to fall in love with makeup and skincare, I think that places like Walmart and Target are more suited for tweens to shop for their skincare. Sephora products should be left for adults, whose skin is better equipped for these products.
