In recent weeks, TikTok pages have been flooded with shoppers and employees angry about the ten year olds invading the beauty retail store, Sephora. While some find this hysterical, others are seriously bothered. These prepubescents are being called out all over the platform, prompting us to take a closer look.
First off, how did this phenomenon come to be? It all started when Sephora employees and shoppers noticed ten year olds invading the store. Groups of pre-teen girls have been entering the store without any parents or adult supervision. Workers find that makeup pallets are being destroyed, lipsticks are being smudged across displays, and Drunk Elephant bronzing drops are smeared everywhere. Without any parental supervision, these young girls are buying anti-aging serums, luxury makeup, and 300 dollars worth of perfume. When word began to spread about the excessive spending of these tweens and their mistreatment of the store, the internet started to rage, Gen Z in particular.
Gen Z often expresses outrage and concern because of the contrast they cite between their childhoods and modern childhoods. They often feel that when they were ten, they were mostly living a much less expensive and beauty-heavy existence: they were shopping at Claire’s for earrings, buying EOS lip balm to collect the newest flavor, and playing outside on pogo sticks. Kylan Castillo ’24 shares her firsthand perspective, “I actually saw one of the ten-year-olds TikTok has been talking about pushing those red cars you get at the mall rampaging through the aisles of Sephora. I was so scared.” It is safe to say these 5th graders have no place roaming through Sephora unchecked.
This epidemic likely stems from kids’ constant exposure to influencers on social media. The young girls are seeing people (twice their age) lathering their face with serums and then applying full faces of makeup. Naturally, the girls see this lifestyle and wish to be a part of it. So they head into Sephora to purchase the cleanser, retinol (an active ingredient meant to combat aging and acne), eye cream, and serums. One Royal Reporter said her pre-teen sister “is more up-to-date with her skincare routine and Drunk Elephant products than I am. And I am six years older.”
This unregulated social media access is tampering with the childhoods of these young girls. Some might look to blame parents: rather than entertaining their child with books or a pair of roller skates, busy moms and dads might choose to entertain their children with an iPad, often allowing their daughters access to social media when their daughters are vulnerable. However, the issue cannot be blamed solely on parenting; parents are just people too, and after long days of work, many parents find themselves utterly exhausted. The blame must also be placed on our culture’s obsession with materialism and appearance.
No matter what, there’s no denying that the lives of ten year olds are changing. Instead of finding them playing outside with friends, now they are found too often in Sephora stores across the country. Watch out world (and Sephora), these adolescents are coming for you and your bronzing drops.
