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Preteen girls around the country throng beauty stores to buy high-end skin care products, a trend captured in viral videos with the hashtag #SephoraKids. Girls as young as 8 are turning up at dermatologists’ offices with rashes, chemical burns and other allergic reactions to products not intended for children’s sensitive skin.
“When kids use anti-aging skin care, they can actually cause premature aging, destroy the skin barrier and lead to permanent scarring,” says Dr. Brooke Jeffy, a Scottsdale, Arizona, dermatologist who has posted her own social media videos rebutting influencers’ advice.
The skin care obsession offers a window into the role social media plays in the lives of today’s youth and how it shapes the ideals and insecurities of girls in particular. Girls are experiencing high levels of sadness and hopelessness. Whether social media exposure causes or simply correlates with mental health problems is up for debate. But to older teens and young adults, it’s clear: Extended time on social media has been bad for them, period.
The beauty industry has been cashing in on the trend. Last year, consumers under age 14 drove 49% of drug store skin sales, according to a NielsonIQ report that found households with teens and tweens were outspending the average American household on skin care. And in the first half of 2024, a third of “prestige” beauty sales, at stores like Sephora, were driven by households with tweens and teens, according to market research firm Circana.
Ingredients like retinol and chemical exfoliants like hydroxy acids are inherently harsh. For aging skin, they are used to stimulate collagen and cell production. Young or sensitive skin can react with redness, peeling and burning that can lead to infections, acne and hypersensitivity if used incorrectly, dermatologists say.
Dermatologists agree a child’s face typically needs only three items, all found on drugstore shelves: a gentle cleanser, a moisturizer and sunscreen.
Agree that social media is a problem. Also the beauty industry (remember, "skin care" is largely not hygeine or health, its a cosmetic hobby).
But what about the parents? Why dont the parents just tell kids "no"? No, you camt spend my money on frivolous and unhealthy bullshit.
Is it going to quash precious little Braelynnh's individuality to tell her that retinol is for middle-age people? Who caresm
I recently joined a skincare subreddit because I was struggling with acne and my dermatologist wasn't helping... While I found some great advice and discovered products that really helped my skin, I noticed a majority of the posts are from women posting pics of their perfect skin and asking for help to "fix it." I started to feel like "wow my skin must REALLY be bad if these perfect looking women are complaining about theirs." I blame social media, of course, for making women think that every little blemish makes them unattractive. For making women believe that filtered, airbrushed images are what people really look like.
If grown women are vulnerable to these messages, I can't imagine how dangerous they are to little girls. We need to educate the younger generation about the dangers of social media. We need to teach them that there is more to life than having perfect skin (or "perfect" anything), and that their value as a person is not dependent on how attractive (subjective) they may or may not be.
Ten years ago, the only time a kid would ever get makeup done was when Sephora gave out those free makeovers and these kids would get cat eye liner and that was it. I’m a millennial and in hs I was only allowed to wear mascara and lipgloss. Nowadays, it’s shocking to see that girls as young as 7 are buying Drunk Elephant. On many occasions, I see girls under the age of 10 walking out with Sephora bags. I once witnessed a consultation from a Sephora employee with a kid who could not be more than 7. Thank God the employee was an older woman who spoke to the father about what she needed, and they walked out with nothing.
My aunt is a nail tech and she has regular clients who are 8! They walk in with bobba or Starbucks wearing lululemon. All of this is usually bank rolled by their parents. Businesses are not complaining because they benefit from the income. In the end, if the parents are cool with it, and these kids are on their best behaviour, who are we to judge? 🤷🏻♀️
However, I think that the outcry we see is from people who think that kids are growing too fast through social media exposure and the patriarchy, and their concerns are valid. What I have noticed is that there’s a market/demand for girls who are from the ages of 7-12 (maybe up to 14), that want to emulate styles of older women. What I would suggest is that brands like Sephora, could create a “little sister” brand for children that fit into these demographics. Granted, I know that they won’t make much, but it could be a good transition into their main brand. It doesn’t have to be a whole store dedicated to these girls, but a dedicated section just for preteens.