From spending thousands of dollars on unnecessary products to doing blackface with the darkest foundation samples, preteen girls have been taking over Sephora for the worst. Brands such as Drunk Elephant, Glow Recipe, Rare Beauty and Florence by Mills have increased dramatically in popularity because of social media. According to McKinsey, the luxury beauty industry is projected to double from $20 Billion to $40 Billion in revenue just from 2022 to 2027. The largest reason the beauty industry has profited so much over the past couple of years is the recent trend of preteen girls dominating beauty stores.
In a Boston Sephora, a group of white teenage girls committed blackface by putting the darkest shade of foundation samples on their faces. They reportedly started filming TikToks and making animal noises. A reasonably disturbed shopper began recording the teenagers and posted it to her TikTok @temiojoraa. The video has since been taken down, but archives are still very much prevalent on social media.
“I’m genuinely so disturbed and disgusted at what just happened,” Temi Ojora, the University of Southern California track and field athlete who filmed girls, said. “I was at Sephora, taking a look around, when a group of girls and their mothers went to the makeup section to use the samples for blackface while giggling and making animal noises. When a Sephora worker confronted them, they walked off and dismissed the worker. ”
Girls ranging from eight years old to 12 years old have been shopping at beauty stores while creating absolutely disgusting “smoothies” out of mixing high-end makeup samples together. Give or take, samples at beauty stores do not have the best track record; however, creating disgusting solutions out of them makes the situation worse for everyone. As shown in the video, the little girl is mixing some of the Drunk Elephant products. Some of the comments under the video were “Imagine people with allergies who can’t try the product anymore” and “I feel so bad for the Sephora employees.”
Prior to this epidemic, shopping at beauty stores like Sephora and Ulta was a favorite pastime of teenage girls. However, Generation Alpha has taken over what was once a civilized hobby shared among teenage girls. Disrespect and entitlement are only some of the characteristics of the girls storming Sephora. A male influencer was shopping and minding his own when a little girl came up to him and was disrespectful.
“I was just shopping around looking at some of the products my friends had recommended me,” influencer Sir Carter said. “I picked up what appears to be the last box of the new Drunk Elephant blush drops and was contemplating purchasing. Then, this little girl came over and told me I shouldn’t have the last box because I’m a boy.”
Their entitlement to be in a Sephora is appalling considering their young age. Originally, there was no harm in little girls having their makeup done every now and again or doing a skincare routine. However, they are now putting these harmful products on their face and doing it so frequently that it is going to damage their skin. Along with their parents, who are just buying products for their children, that they don’t need.
“The products these little girls are getting their hands on are not always beneficial,” sophomore Jorja Woodruff said. “Depending on the product, it is affecting their skin, and not for the better. The only thing that kids their age should be using is a moisturizer. I can not fathom the money parents are spending on items like retinol that ultimately hurt their children’s skin.”
