Sephora, a popular makeup and beauty supply store, has recently seen an influx of tweens and children under 10 shopping there. With no supervision, they run around the store and destroy makeup and skincare samples, placing additional stress on employees who have to act as babysitters. 

We interviewed a local Sephora worker about her experiences with the tweens. 

“Every child that has shopped here has been extremely disrespectful to the staff,” she said. “One even raised her voice at me and threatened to get me fired. The children treat Sephora as if it is their playground. They come to the store unsupervised and play with the samples as if they are toys. They don’t understand that these products are made for adults and that they are harmful to their skin.”

The problem is, the products that these tweens tend to gravitate towards can damage their skin barrier. A few popular brands that pose risks to children include Drunk Elephant, Glow Recipe, and Sol De Janeiro. Although the main consumers of these brands are children, most of their products are designed to be marketed to adults, since they contain ingredients such as retinol, an ingredient used to reduce wrinkles and aging. Retinol can cause redness, irritation, and dryness.

It is known that these products are bad for young skin, yet kids still use them. This could be because social media apps such as TikTok and Instagram force kids to grow up too fast. When children watch their favorite influencers promote trendy products, they want to follow them. For the preteen epidemic at Sephora to stop, parents need to monitor the content their kids consume. By limiting their social media intake, children will develop at the right pace and won’t feel the need to grow so fast.