IS THE SEPHORA TWEEN-TAKEOVER REAL? I TOOK TO THE STREETS TO FIND OUT
Do 9-year-olds really have a 12-step skin care routine?
You’ve seen the headlines - TWEENS TAKEOVER SEPHORA! Seems they are making a mess of the displays, demanding foundation color matches and grabbing up skincare targeting for women over 30.
Between influencers, TikToks and the GRWM it makes sense! Skincare Tok is hypnotic. Watching a dewy faced influencer execute a twelve-step routine involving ice rollers, steam machines, serums, masks and peels is going to move even the most savvy of shoppers to add-to-cart. How can we expect a nine year old not want in on this?
But I had to wonder, is it really happening? Are tweens actually marching into Sephora screaming “WHERE ARE THE PEPTIDES!?” There was only one way to find out. I got in my car hit not one - but two - Sephora stores to find out if the rumors and nastiness (said like Meredith from RHOSLC) were true.
As I was driving over to the Pasadena location, I started thinking about my own beauty product journey. My very first purchase was the roll-on-strawberry-Kissing Potion. It made your lips super glossy and tasted like dessert. Even though no kisses were coming my way that potion had me feeling grown-up and ready for action.
In 6th grade I graduated to Wet-n-Wild’s frosty pink gloss, blue eyeliner and hot pink blush. P.s, my mom would call blush - BLUSHER. I’d literally never heard anyone else call it that and worried she’d made up. Dammit if I’m not seeing the word blusher at the bottom of this vintage Wet + Wild blush(er) photo. Sorry for doubting you, mommy!
I waltzed into the Pasadena location which is a stand alone Sephora and has never seemed particularly busy — certainly not at noon on a weekday. As far as planning goes, I’d jotted a few questions in my notes app but hadn’t thought through my approach. I was milling about for a bit until a fella named Joe (name changed to protect the innocent) approached me in the Charlotte Tilbury section. Joe was not a Sephora employee but a rep for the Tilbury brand. He actually worked alongside Charlotte back in the day and said she was the first to understand the power of the influencer. She would throw parties and just let actresses and people of note scoop up as many products as they wanted. Joe said this approach to marketing is what skyrocketed her brand to where it is today.
I said, ‘Wow, now every single brand is copying what Charlotte Tilsbury innovated on.”
Joe’s face froze. “How did you say her name?”
I whispered, “Charlotte Tilsbur..?”
Joe cuts me off - “Til-bury.”
That wasn’t the first time Joe clocked a bitch for adding an “s” to Charlotte’s name and it won’t be the last.
I asked Joe about the tweens. He confirmed that they are coming in, they are buying makeup and skincare, but he hasn’t seen them make a mess of the displays, at least no more than the adults do.
Joe said the tweens became beauty obsessed on October, 27th of 2021. That was the day that Allure released the: Madison Beer’s and her 10 Minute Beauty Routine for a Glowly Blush Look - Video.
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From one drunk elephant to another - we’d love ya for it!
Madison featured four Charlotte TILbury products. Tweens lost their ever-loving-minds over the BEAUTY LIGHT WAND IN GOLDGASM. It was sold out for months and Joe believes it was THIS moment that the tweens shifted from drugstore to Sephora. I don’t think he’s wrong.
On my way out the door a female employee gave me her take. She said the whole “making a mess” thing was overblown. But girls are coming in with their parents as young as 7 and buying a starter program of: cleanser, moisturizer and sunblock. She said, “And they all want the Drunk Elephant products.”
SEVEN FEELS SURPRISING - I WAS SURPRISED - ARE YOU SURPRISED?
I’ve purchased the Drunk Elephant T.L.C. Sukari Babyfacial™ AHA + BHA Mask a few times and that is NOT for kids (although the title does sound kid friendly🫣) It’s a fairly intense at-home peel that you really can’t use more than once a week. It’s also coming in at a hefty $80. I left Pasadena worried.
MAKEUP THE TWEENS ARE BUYING
Rare Beauty by Selena Gomez Soft Pinch Blush(er)
MAKEUP BY MARIO Soft Pop Blush(er) Stick and MoistureGlow™ Plumping Lip Color
Glossier Everything
Summer Fridays Lip Balm - featured in our post - That Time Generation Alpha Schooled Generation Z
PATRICK TA Major Headlines Double-Take Crème & Powder Blush(er)Duo -featured in our post - Gift Guide: What the Youth Want! - an Emma W. pick.
Seeing that the Pasadena store was a stand alone location I felt compelled to roll up to a mall Sephora - I got in the car and headed to Glendale, home of the Americana Mall.
This Sephora was bumping. After testing a few perfumes, I made my way to the Makeup By Mario (Kim K’s guy) section. An adorable gal rocking a grandma chic look was restocking product. I felt like I could grill her without taking her away from a customer in need. She was a Makeup By Mario rep! Didn’t know there was so much rep action happening at Sephora!
Gabby (named changed to protect the innocent) laughed when I asked her about the tween-vasion. She said that one of the reasons they get a bad rap for making a mess is the “make a skincare-smoothie” challenge.
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Double click the video above to get your eyes on it. They film themselves squirting different products on top of a tester. This apparently fulfills them.
When Gabby explained the smoothie I assumed the tweens were applying the smoothie to their faces. She said, “No they’ll just film themselves pumping products and leave them there.” — Oy.
I asked if the youngsters were buying grown up products like the Drunk Elephant T.L.C. Sukari Babyfacial or Drunk Elephant A-Passioni™ Retinol Cream? She said, “YES they are. So much so that Drunk Elephant is now addressing it.”
Does a tween need Virgin Marula Oil? No, but I do appreciate their attempt to keep them away from retinols.
The other tough reveal was the “full face of products” challenge. The tweens will film themselves smearing on as many products as they can get their grubby hands before a Sephora employee tells them to stop. It’s giving: herpes simplex 1.
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My instincts were right. The real tween story lived at the mall.
On the one hand, if they can afford it and if done right, a simple, proper skincare routine started at an early age is probably a good thing. But messing with retinals and AHAs is just way too much for such young and delicate dermis!
Ultimately, a tween can get a very high quality, simple skincare routine at the drugstore. The Tok is making them crazy for brand names and flashy applications.
Okay this photo is terrifying.
Bonus info!
Gabby had the cutest little freckles across the bridge of her nose. She used a “freck pen” to get the lewk. Freck Beauty - The Original Freckle
Where are you at with the tween-vasion?! Sound off!
I'm scared.
Cackling while I'm supposed to working. As someone who didn't wash their face until they were in their 40's, I find this all shocking. What does one look like at 50 when they start skincare at 7?