Sephora Crisis of 2023

Recently when you go into your local Sephora have you noticed a chaotic mess or a swarm of 12-year-old little girls? Well the media certainly has. This trend of 12-14 year old little girls who come into Sephora—unattended—to buy the newest Drunk Elephant serum or Rare Beauty blush has surfaced all over TikTok. People are sharing their experiences in storytimes or “Get ready with me” videos of coming in contact with a young tween in Sephora. 

This initially became a trend when Sephora employees took to Tiktok to complain about how these girls treat the staff. They used words like “bratty” and “spoiled” to describe the children. But why is this? What all of the sudden is causing children to get their parents to buy them makeup that averages 30 dollars a lip balm, when our generation was over the moon about a Coca-Cola Lip Smacker that averaged about 80 cents?

At the beginning of 2023, Tiktok’s most popular trending videos were all about drugstore makeup and finding the best “dupe”. Now it’s all about the best high-end products. TikTok stars like Alix Earl and Darcey McQueeny are much to thank. Both stars became heavily popular in late 2022 and early 2023 for being college students on a high budget. 

The public was mesmerized by their high-end lifestyles and, more importantly, their “get ready with me” videos. In these videos, a girl will be getting ready for her day t and telling a story or talking to her fans. They showcase what makeup products they use, which largely consists of Drunk Elephant, Rare Beauty, Charlotte Tilbury, and Tarte products. 

The “GRWM” videos have taken over Tik tok almost all of 2023 and have recently reached a younger demographic. Videos have surfaced of little girls “getting ready for middle school” while using incredibly expensive products. Shortly after these videos started was when Sephora employees began speaking out on Tiktok, criticizing these girls for how they act in public.

Drunk Elephant displays have been destroyed and the tester products are left unusable. After these incidents, Drunk Elephant took to social media to address the claims and recommended that theirs products with high acids should not be used by tweens, and that many of their products aren’t harmful to younger skin. However, they made no “official” step forward to help change current events. 

This “crisis” goes way beyond tweens wanting to be older and more mature. The fact that they aren’t taking care of Sephora stores is behavior that could be changed by parents, but their self esteem and confidence is not so easily fixable. The media has relied on “influencers” to provide content, and it is all about changing your lifestyle. It’s important to remember who you are, and that you don’t need to change yourself to “fit in”. Young girls are so impressionable and susceptible to what’s going on around them, and we need to be more careful about what we’re putting out for the younger generations to see.

 We are being told what we have to wear, look like, and what products we need to buy every day by everyone around us. Now, it’s reaching younger generations. There’s nothing we can do about children getting phones too early and having access to social media, but what we can do is put out a positive message to all young girls about having self-confidence even if you don’t look like Alix Earl or the next big influencer.