If you have been on TikTok lately, you have probably seen the phenomenon of 10-12 year old girls taking over Sephora. Many people online share their experiences of being in a makeup store filled with young girls shopping at Drunk Elephant, Glossier, and Glow Recipe stands buying makeup for themselves. A lot of these brands are quite expensive with prices ranging from $30 to $80 for a single product. Some of the skincare also contains ingredients like retinol which may be harmful for younger kids to continually apply to their skin. This is probably the result of overusing social media and trends on TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram. Older girls and women show their makeup routines, “day in the life,” and outfit videos. Although this might seem like a silly joke happening online, there are several ways it is harmful to young girls in society.
I think there is a time in all our childhoods that we reminisce and look back upon fondly. Whether that be playing with our neighborhood friends, playing dress up, or even watching Disney Channel, we all feel a deep sense of nostalgia and protectiveness over our childhood memories. Most of our growth happened off of social media and technology. Although we may have had phones or watched television, we weren’t scrolling endlessly on TikTok. The media we may have consumed would have been on YouTube. You-Tubers we may have watched in our preteens were people like Bethany Mota or Alisha Marie, who focused on easy DIY videos.
Times have changed, and preteens and young girls are spending their time online watching the same people that many of us in our 20s are watching. The content that we consume is also consumed by people much younger than us. This can be a big problem because some influencers are not meant to target younger audiences. I think this is why there is an increase in young girls wearing trendy clothing and buying Sephora makeup because it is plastered all over social media. Being seen as popular or cool in school may only be achieved by purchasing the latest Summer Friday lip balm, and not if you have the biggest rainbow loom bracelet collection.
Trends happen all the time; this is how populations consume products and businesses create a profit. When we were kids, trends like duct tape wallets, silly bands, and Bath and Body Works hand sanitizer were popular. It is sad to see that the trends children are consuming now are the same trends that much older women consume. The trends that young girls consume may not be appropriate for younger audiences, influencing them to grow up faster and look or act a certain way that does not align with their age.
It is important to understand how media consumption affects us as well. Although this analysis of 10-year-old Sephora kids does not apply to other trends or internet facets, it is important to consider how these trends impact future generations. Social media is an illusion; much of what we see is a highlight reel of someone’s life. Taking a step back and being grateful for what we have in life is so much more important than doing the latest trendy thing.