Hoping to restock on your tried-and-true moisturizer and pick up your free birthday mini, you stop into your closest Sephora, mentally preparing for anything and everything you might see. Luckily, the Sephora VIB sale is over, and Ulta recently started carrying Sol De Janeiro, too.
Quietly stepping inside, you are greeted by the distinct scent of the Sol De Janeiro 62 spray and yelling from a group of young girls in the Drunk Elephant section. Staying strong, you quickly find your moisturizer and sneak a glance at the Rare Beauty aisle, quickly realizing every item is entirely out of stock.
Deciding you have everything you need, you make your way to the checkout line to discover the holy grail on the shelf beside you: Summer Friday’s Lip Butter Balm in the new birthday cake flavor. Reaching for it, you are quickly slapped out of the way by a small hand that grabs the lip balm before you can. You realize you have been swindled by what seems to be a 10-year-old girl in a matching sweat set.
Though once known as a haven for adults, Sephora has quickly become the new Justice or Claire’s for many Gen Alpha kids today.
The prominent chain selling skincare, makeup, haircare, and perfume in stores across the globe is becoming a common place to find preteens and teenagers alike shelling out their allowances on TikTok trending products, like the Drunk Elephant Bronzing Drops or the Sol De Janeiro Bum Bum Cream.
Many of these “trending” products across social media gain popularity so quickly that stores across the entire country sell out of these products within days, making me pose the question: Do young people buy trending products because they truly like the product or because they feel that they are not allowed to have individual style in a world of never-ending trends?
I think this recently developing trend of shopping for the same popular (and expensive) products at Sephora is only the start of more and more young people becoming addicted to social media, making them feel the need to follow trends.
When I was younger, the only trends I witnessed were at school, seeing what other kids had, or going to the mall and looking through stores. Having less access to so many people and opinions across the internet, I would wear what I wanted and use things I liked without the opinion or comparison of kids from entirely different countries. Thinking back on it now, I don’t think I would ever want to experience a different type of childhood.
However, this new age of technology means that kids as young as five are already using social media and feeling pressured to compare themselves and the things they own to others. Even if you are content with your clothes and what you have, constantly being exposed to influencers convincing you to spend money and buy into trends is hard to ignore.
Though many people only focus on Sephora and its young audience, it is only one of many popular trends that have come to the forefront of TikTok user’s “For You” pages. This focus on preteens shopping at the beauty chain has shown older users the effects of giving iPads to 5-year-olds and how it impacts their social skills in the future, AKA a sense of entitlement.
It’s scary to think about the effects of technology on consumers, but it’s more frightening to think about the attitudes this new generation has. I’ve heard multiple stories of people going into Sephora and reaching for something, only for a little girl to take it before them.
Worse? The little girl usually laughs and walks away without saying sorry. Maybe it is just this next generation, but I don’t think parents should let their kids act this way and be mean to anyone they encounter. I genuinely believe these Sephora kids are another breed of people who are already taking over the Internet and getting PR packages.
Another culprit of the “Sephora 10-year-olds” is the beauty companies and their constant stream of new and better products. Brands have increasingly been persuading the younger demographic to believe ingredients like salicylic acid and retinol are necessary in a skincare routine for years. These specialty and acne-targeted products are historically more expensive and create larger revenue for the company, guaranteeing that companies have no intentions of stopping anytime soon.
We should finally admit that the actions of Gen Alpha can be solely blamed on how much access kids have to social media. This new generation finally reveals that technology makes kids more focused on consumerism than developing friendships. I am scared to see what this generation will be like in the future, and only then will we finally know what a full-grown iPad kid is like.