Sephora Kids

2024

Date: January 2024 · Place: Sephora stores, USA · Figures: Drunk Elephant, brand · Sephora · Tween Skincare TikTok · Tags: Tween, Retail, GenAlpha 01. Ten-Year-Olds at the Counter TikTok videos in late 2023 and January 2024 document 9 to 12-year-old girls swarming Sephora locations to purchase Drunk Elephant retinol, glycolic acid serums, and luxury skincare meant for adults. Sephora employees post stitched videos of the tween shopping behavior. Brands begin labeling certain SKUs as inappropriate for under-13s. The Drunk Elephant CEO publicly asks parents to stop buying its acid products for elementary school children. 02. The Algorithm Sells Down The cycle reveals TikTok's effect on a generation that has been GRWM-pilled since age 7. The Sephora Kid is not a marketing failure but a marketing success at impossible age compression. Pediatric dermatologists begin publishing case reports of chemical burns on tween faces by spring 2024. Sources • The Cut, 'The Sephora Tweens Are Here' (8 January 2024) • NBC News, 'Why Tweens Are Crowding Into Sephora' (12 January 2024) • Drunk Elephant Instagram statement (15 January 2024)