A collaboration with the Westfield High School Journalism Program

TikTok’s Influence on the Beauty Industry: ‘Sephora Kids’ Spark Concern Over the Skincare Craze

The beauty industry is at it’s peak and has been able to completely infiltrate Generation Alpha, young girls specifically. The main culprit of this influence is TikTok. TikTok has been able to control the ideas and purchases of what young girls have today and at times can be dangerous This past year, I have walked into Sephora many times, a beauty store that includes a mix of 340 brands, including makeup and skincare,and every time I am there, I see girls between the ages of eight and 12 slithering through the skin care isles. These tweens are known as “Sephora Kids.”

Although young kids always follow new trends and have role models they try to replicate, that does not always make it okay to follow by example. On houseofhipsiters.com, a mother shared her beauty journey with her 11 year-old daughter, Zoe. A step of Zoe’s nighttime routine is a NuFace microcurrent device priced at $395, which is used to “power to visibly sculpt, smooth, and lift the face and neck” and prevent “Fine Lines and Wrinkles, Uneven Texture and Loss of Firmness and Elasticity” according to sephora.com.

Do you know an 11 year-old with fine lines and wrinkles? Because I don’t. According to uclaheathl.org, Dr. Carol Cheng, a dermatologist in Santa Monica said, “Many products have what we call ‘active’ ingredients- like salicylic acid, retinol, and peptides.” One of the most popular products for “Sephora Kids’’ is the Glow Recipe Toner, which uses salicylic acid, a product that can damage young skin. “These ingredients can damage, irritate the skin and cause reverse effects they are hoping to achieve,” said Dr. Cheng.

Not only is promotion of and the use of these products wrong for tweens, but the act of purchasing them has become an issue as well. These products are expensive, mainly pricing at $30 to $90 for high-end skin care. Buying these products for young children is sending a message of materialism and consumerism at a young age; the high price points of these products could be out of reach of many in our society, promoting a place of privilege and leading to many questions about the accessibility and inclusivity within the beauty industry.

At the end of the day, wanting to have a specific skin care routine no matter what age is okay; whatever makes you happy and feel beautiful is what you should be doing. However, as we move forward, society cannot be promoting products that can harm certain age groups, instead we should be promoting items with caution and be giving age groups more education about what is appropriate and beneficial for their skin at their age.

Society must strive towards a beauty culture that is appropriate and not based on status or capitalism. If we don’t, we can truly damage some young minds by creating body image issues and endangering developing skin.