Occasionally, I walk into my local Sephora, looking for a brand-new product to add to my skincare or makeup assortment. When I first began visiting Sephora last year, I was usually one of the youngest people in the famous beauty retailer. I would sometimes receive odd looks for visiting a supposed “adult” store from other older customers. However, in recent weeks, I’ve noticed a sudden surplus of younger girls visiting Sephora, who are particularly attracted to the aesthetic brands of Drunk Elephant and Glow Recipe, both of which sell skincare.
Many of these young girls have been influenced by popular “Get Ready With Me” social media accounts on both TikTok and Instagram, where admired beauty creators such as Katie Fang and Alix Earle post videos displaying their various makeup and skincare products while using them on their face to achieve the perfect glamorous makeover. In addition to the aesthetic these items hold, the fair majority of these products are extremely expensive, making them more desirable to the younger targeted audience.
This recent phenomenon of tweens touring their local Sephora store has been occurring nationwide, with annoyed Sephora employees and shoppers alike discussing the topic on social media. These enraged people claim that not only are these tweens far too young to be using medicinal skincare on their delicate skin, but the fair majority of these Generation Alpha girls are also extremely rude.
In one such viral video on TikTok, user @_giannalove describes her experience with a “Sephora kid,” explaining how she encountered an immature girl at the Drunk Elephant section of her local Sephora. She wanted the popular Drunk Elephant D-Bronzi Anti-Pollution Sunshine Drops for her deathly pale complexion in the winter when suddenly the adolescent girl snatched the last one on the shelf right before her. They began to negotiate, with the tween saying impudent comments to her face.
“I say to her, ‘Is there any way that I could have these? I see you have a couple of other products in your hand. If you don’t need them that bad, I would really appreciate it.’ I kid you not, this ten-year-old looks me up and down, and she goes, ‘Give me your Gucci heart ring and I will.’ I literally chuckled at this girl, and then she goes, ‘At least I don’t have to play connect the dots on my face.’”
A Sephora employee posted a similar video, depicting how she would explain to numerous tweens that some ingredients used in skincare, such as retinol and chemicals like AHA and BHA were unsafe to use on their skin until they were at least ten years older. These girls would give the employee death glares, exceedingly displeased that she was attempting to protect their skin.
Furthermore, these kids have also been exhibiting similar behavior at Ulta and Lululemon, going on shopping tirades for expensive products that they don’t need yet at such a young age.
The blame for these out-of-control children falls mainly on the millennial parents, who are unaware of their kids’ social media habits and end up giving in to their children’s exorbitant demands. Because of their parents’ mistakes, these children have been blinded from the true meaning and experience of childhood.
Generation Alpha girls today wouldn’t dare to visit iconic children’s stores such as Claire’s or Justice, which were at the height of their sales during the early 2010s due to Generation Z children such as myself. I remember the pure wonder I had walking into Justice when I was eight years old. I couldn’t get enough of the flip sequin shirts with pink decals and the cheap (but worthy) dangly earrings from Claire’s.
As a person who’s wanted to hold on to their childhood for as long as I can, it pains me to see these precious girls do their best to grow up as fast as they can because they don’t even realize that they will only have a childhood for a mere thirteen years at best. Childhood is perhaps one of the most cherished eras in life. Nothing will ever compare to the feeling of a hot summer’s day, eating popsicles from the ice cream truck then lounging next to the pool without a care in the world, or running down Main Street in Disney World to gaze in awe at Cinderella Castle.
Although it isn’t their fault, Generation Alpha girls today act with extreme abandon, destroying public property without a care and not knowing how to take care of their skin. Millennial parents need to realize their dire parenting blunders and learn to teach their children how to act with kindness and heart and limit their access to social media. Kids nowadays may still be able to learn that childhood isn’t something to take for granted, and their parents shouldn’t deny them that essential lesson.
