Anyone who has been on TikTok recently has probably seen the takeover of Sephora by girls under the age of 13. While young girls wanting to try makeup products isn’t necessarily a bad thing, the pattern of behavior that has been noticed from these young girls is. And that, along with many other factors, is where the problem really lies.
It isn’t their usage of makeup products that is the biggest issue. It is the fact that these young girls are going into makeup stores, using and destroying testing products and are oftentimes rude to everyone around them, including staff. The young girls frequently act demanding or entitled towards Sephora employees and destroy testers for their own leisure, treating Sephora like their own personal playground.
These kids continue to go out of their way to spend hundreds of dollars on skin care products that their skin doesn’t even need. Why do these young girls want retinol cream? Or eye cream for dark circles? Children’s skin is nearly perfect at their young age, and using products like retinol cream, an anti-aging product, can only do more harm than good on young girls’ skin.
While this problem may be shrugged off as merely trend following, the issue is much deeper than that. Maybe the real issue isn’t their visits to Sephora, but in a broader aspect, it is social media itself.
These young girls are all over TikTok and look up to the older 16-20-year-old girls that they see doing GRWM (Get Ready with Me) videos using popular products. So in an effort to fit in, they start following what the older girls are doing.
Chances are that if they see a twenty-something year old talking about the wonders a certain product has done on their skin, they will want that product too. Not only is this potentially damaging their skin, but it also is filling them with a yearning for belongingness at an age where they should simply be having fun and feeling comfortable in their own skin. They should not be worried about trying to fit in with people who are five or even 10 years older than them.
In essence, Sephora shouldn’t serve as substitute babysitters for the youth. Allowing children to roam the aisles of Sephora as if it is a summer camp is not only depriving them of their childhood, but it is also causing major damage to their skin and their mentality.
These kids should see and learn that there is a world beyond fleeting trends and the toxic nature of social media – a world where authenticity is above all and self-worth is not dependent on the latest makeup or skincare trend. Instead of guiding children towards a bottomless pit of unrealistic lifestyles and an unhealthy need for belongingness, guide them towards the fact that beauty and happiness do not come from likes, views, or comments, but instead from the simplicity and innocence of their genuine selves.
