At the beginning of this year, I went for my yearly trip to replenish my makeup collection. It was just after my house had been flooded, and I had lost a good chunk of my makeup and skincare collection in the brunt of it. The beginning of 2024 was rough – with the flood, losing my entire built-up collection of makeup and skincare, and just life in general – so I thought, what better way to lift my mood than a healthy dose of retail therapy? That’s when I decided instead of purchasing everything from Chemist Warehouse or Priceline like I usually do, to peruse Mecca for a few things as well.
I collected everything I wanted to purchase, the Too Faced Better Than Sex mascara, Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush Flawless Setting Spray, and the Summer Fridays Lip Butter Balm in vanilla beige (I don’t want to remember how much this cost me – well over $100), when I heard the voice of a child asking her grandmother for the Glow Recipe Niacinamide Dew Drops. Much to my shock and confusion the grandmother retorted that she had already bought the child, no older than 11, something that looked exactly that the product she was after. I tuned out the remainder of the conversation after that because, well, I was shocked. This was insane to me. I had heard all the stories of children in Sephora on Tiktok and Instagram but assumed this phenomenon existed only in the online sphere.
The exposure to high end brands such as Glow Recipe to tweens and children, undoubtedly, comes from social media beauty gurus and influencers, but why is a child who hasn’t even reached the age of using deodorant focused on purchasing products that are created for issues they have yet to face?
Welcome to the era of “Sephora Kids” (or Meccas kids if you’re here in Australia, we have both!).
@garzacrewKoti’s Sephora Haul 🙌🏼♬ original sound – Garza Crew
Over the past 12 months, there has been a huge rise in children and tweens, mostly girls, who have started dabbling in skincare before reaching their teens. This trend is believed to have started on social media, whereby young girls are splurging on expensive skincare and beauty brands, such as Drunk Elephant and Rare Beauty, and are posting about it, and sometimes creating concoctions they call ‘skincare smoothies’.
@kellys…preppy skincare smoothie! 🏄♀️🐠🦈🌈#preppy #preppyaesthetic #drunkelephant #skincaresmoothie #preppytok #fyp #summer #skincare #bronzidrops #grwm ♬ Kingston (Sped Up) – Faye Webster
This is nothing new. Since the early 2010s we have seen a multitude of personalities flood the online space with similar videos and promotions, from beauty gurus demonstrating the correct way to apply foundation, to celebrities recommending the latest must-have, anti-aging serum. The difference between these trends and the Sephora kid is that the age of the average Sephora kid is significantly younger and the content, at times, is strikingly similar.
Gen Alpha has officially made its mark in the beauty realm and has quickly overtaken every age group in the space. According to AYTM , children and tweens have spent over $4.7 billion in 2023 alone. And since 2020, revenue received by skincare brands has risen from $2.03 billion in 2020 to $3 billion in 2024, presumably due to the influx of this new generation into the market. This revenue is expected to increase over the next five years.
Skincare revenue in Australia shown in the billions. From Statisa.com
Most popular skicare products by generatiom. From Statisa.com
Beauty guru Hyram, widely known as ‘Skincare by Hyram’ is one of the prominent faces in the skincare realm, connecting with 800,000 followers on Instagram and over five million on TikTok. He is also a prominent face on YouTube, where he does video reviews, product explainers, and shares affordable skincare brands and tips. He aims to be transparent and provide science-based advice, though he is not a licensed dermatologist or aesthetician.
So, what’s the problem?
It’s likely that a majority of skincare and beauty brands aren’t being 100 per cent transparent with the ingredients identified in their products. The issue with influencers like Hyram is that their content is so easily accessible, and although their content may not be intended to be consumed by under 13s, the way they promote the benefits of a good, multi-step skincare routine and specific products could encourage children to overuse products or believe they need specific products to achieve ‘good’ skin.
Assistant professor of dermatology and paediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Brandi Kenner-Bell, MD, urges children and parents to be diligent when it comes to choosing products for the young ones.
“I have seen a few bad reactions, usually irritant reactions, some allergic reactions, but not too many,” Dr Kenner-Bell said.
“Often these products are labelled ‘all-natural’ or ‘for sensitive skin,’ but there are no vetted guidelines for what that means and product manufacturers are not held to any standards for which they are allowed to use these designations.”
The skincare needs of children versus teenagers versus adults are vastly different. Children’s skin is simply more sensitive.
Founder of children’s skincare brand Petite Skin Co, Jacqui Millbank, has created a brand where the skincare needs of children are met. By avoiding active ingredients that can harm the skin of children, such as sulphates, parabens, synthetic fragrances, and retinoids, Petite Skin Co’s products are created with children-specific needs in mind.
“It is extremely important that children use skincare products designed for their age group because their skin is still developing,” Millbank said.
“Adult skincare products can contain ingredients that are too strong and may disrupt the natural skin barrier in children, leading to issues like dryness, irritation, or even long-term damage.
“Age-appropriate products are formulated to be gentler and meet the specific needs of young, delicate skin, providing safe and effective care.”
Aside from the havoc that is sometimes wreaked inside various Meccas and Sephoras by Gen Alpha, and the use of anti-ageing serums by the prepubescent age range, this trend isn’t entirely bad.
@beautylinds Just a PSA that Sephora kids who destroy @Drunk Elephant testers need to be stopped. Please make sure to clean up after yourselves after testing out products. Disclaimer: I know some kids clean up after themselves. If you are one of those kids, thank you and please keep setting a good example for others! #sephorakids #sephora #ulta #drunkelephant🐘💗 #viral #viraltiktok #fyp #fypシ #foryoupage #foryou ♬ Tomfoolery – David Snell
The rise in skincare awareness among children and teens has risen significantly, bringing along with it some genuine benefits.
Influencers like Hyram, who promote skincare as self-care, rather than a tool for anti-ageing or a beauty amplifier, are helping the younger generation learn the importance of caring for their skin. As long as they aren’t begging for The Ordinary Peeling Solution and are rather using a simple three-step routine of a moisturiser, cleanser, and sunscreen.
I don’t blame these kids for wanting to partake in skincare. Even as a 20-year-old I think serums and moisturisers can be fun, I know I spend a lot on them (although not as much as some of these kids are dropping).
It’s nothing new, wanting to be like the cooler, older girls, and wanting to be able to relate to them and even look like them. When I was 10 all the girls in my class had the new iPod touch and I so badly wanted to fit in with them. I begged my mum specifically for the bright blue one for Christmas that year.
We humans are creatures of habit, so children will continue to find the trending thing to obsess over and brag about to their classmates, only now social media makes that “new thing” easier to come across than ever.