Remember when we were nine years old, playing with Barbies, using fake makeup, and dressing up as princesses? Well nine-year-olds today are taking over Sephora instead. They buy damaging products like retinol and a ton of makeup, while a lack of parental supervision allows them to make a mess of the tester products.
When I was nine years old, I didn’t have a skincare routine, but nine year-olds today have a 30 step routine. All of these products they are using are harming their perfect skin. It’s understandable that 12 to 14-year-olds are going into Sephora to buy makeup and skincare to experiment, but is it really necessary for eight-year-olds to? Also, due to the lack of maturity, they are often disrespectful to the staff. Kids will mess up samples and even steal things from the store, but their parents aren’t doing anything about it. “When I was working in Sephora, there was only adults and some 15-18 year olds. I don’t know what happened to this generation.” said Alana Castro, a former Sephora employee in New York City.
Although makeup has no age limit, these kids are reaching for products that could permanently damage skin if used at a young age. Many people want to know why these kids are buying products like retinol, makeup, and skincare, and Tiktok would be the name to blame. Young girls are following all kinds of trends featured on the popular social media app TikTok. Beauty influencers are talking about what products are good and what are not on the app. TikTok is meant for those age 12 and older, so these kids should not be on the app. If they weren’t on this app, this whole thing may have been avoided.
“I barely see any adults in Sephora now, it’s only little girls who are running up to me and disrespecting me” said Nina Brown, a current Sephora employee in NYC. She explains that by the time she closes the store, the whole place is a mess because of the kids. Testers are ruined, trash cans are overflowing, and empty boxes litter the place due to products being stolen. Some workers have even gone as far as to quit due to the chaos. As a result of this, many people feel very strongly and negatively about the whole situation.
