Growing up is an interesting process. Through this process, you go through a lot of phases, which shape parts of your personality as time passes. Gen Z has experienced phases like the VSCO girl trend, using metal straws to save the turtles, and being obsessed with scrunchies. Times have changed, though; have you ever walked into a Sephora store to be met with the horror of getting beat out by a 12-year-old for the last glow recipe toner? Or even see that same tween begging their mother to use retinol on their already flawless baby skin? These children flooding the aisles of makeup stores have been termed the “Sephora kids.” I was scrolling through Instagram and stumbled upon a page where a ten-year-old was putting on a very expensive-looking lotion, but it was too shiny and sparkly to be lotion. When I googled what this mysterious gold cream was, I found the description of the product to be “gold infused moisturizer.” The fanciest cream I own is from Bath and Body Works; it doesn’t even compare to this 14-karat moisturizer. What wrinkles does a ten-year-old even need to assuage? This invoked curiosity in me, so I did some research and stumbled upon the infamous “Sephora kids” who are taking over TikTok. 

For those not familiar with the Sephora kids, it’s a bunch of tweens going into Sephora; messing up the makeup; yelling at the employees; making their parents spend hundreds of dollars on products they don’t need; and making concoctions with lotions, serums, and other skincare products. One brand in particular, Drunk Elephant, has become a victim of these kids. 

The ideal goal of these kids is to care about their skin and make sure they don’t break out at the age of 13, but there is still a lot more for them to learn about how their bodies work. Drunk Elephant is a skincare company that has aesthetic packaging, which likely is the main selling point that attracts these kids. I looked up one of the serums I saw a middle schooler holding in the checkout line and I couldn’t even pronounce half of the words––it was definitely the simplistic and elegant packaging that motivated them to buy such high-end skincare. 

As if buying products that they genuinely don’t even need wasn’t bad enough, they have a terrible attitude towards everyone. They act like they’re all grown up walking through Sephora, pushing other people to get the last of their favorite products. Employees are coming out scarred, shakily relaying their experiences handling these children. This has been such a severe issue that some makeup stores are adding an age limit to customers that may peruse their stores and removing testers to avoid further loss of money and product.

Social media has been a platform for these kids to express themselves and their lives, and this plays into them wanting to grow up faster. Nowadays, kids like to post videos about themselves and like to brag about their lives, but what happened to playing with Pokemon cards or watching Lego Ninjago? 

I saw this one video of this fourth-grader talking about her ex-boyfriend. I was in shock––I didn’t know middle schoolers were dating, let alone had issues. I understand middle school is a pivotal time in one’s life, but acting like you’re in your twenties talking about relationship issues when you’re only 13 is crazy. But how did this become?

Influence is the ability to grab our attention, giving us a stark impression about a thing or person. Platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube expose kids to influencers, celebrities, and trends, making them appealing to tweens and prompting them to do whatever the video or post tells them to. Seeing these influencers and their glamorous lifestyles can also create the urge to want to grow up or act grown up to fit in. This is how they find the need to act all grown up doing things or saying things they shouldn’t.

It’s like these kids are on a mission to find stuff that makes them fit in, and sadly instead of it being themselves, it’s wanting to feel more mature and grown up. Moving forward, kids should focus their energy not on La Roche Posay, but on beyblades and Teen Titans Go, and enjoy their childhood while it lasts.