It has become an ongoing trend on social media for Gen Z to discourage pre-teens, particularly young girls, from going to Sephora and getting makeup or having expensive clothing that typically only adults can afford.
I remember the day I got my first piece of makeup from my mom. I was five years old, and it was a lip-gloss palette in the shape of Cinderella’s castle. Now, ten-year-olds are wearing expensive makeup that even I cannot afford from Sephora.
“Yesterday I was in Sephora & this mom was with her ~7 year old picking out a $20 Rare Beauty lipgloss for her. Like what?!?? SHE IS A CHILD MA’AM. This is Sephora! Little girls do not need $20 lipgloss. Take em to CVS or Target for some $5 tinted lipbalm. LET THEM BE KIDS!” @bunnnyjuice tweeted.
It’s almost selfish for influencers and everyday people to blame a child’s desire for expensive makeup or wearing crop tops on the child or their parents. These children grew up with that being the norm.
Influencer culture has made buying a $23 Summer Fridays lip balm, getting Botox on a routine basis, eyelash extensions, having nails done, and much more the norm. Influencer culture makes me wonder if children wanting more lavish beauty products meant for an adult is a product of their environment.
Precocious puberty is a condition in which a child, male or female, hits puberty earlier than intended. The typical age to begin showing signs of puberty is anywhere between 8 and 13. Children with this condition begin showing signs of puberty before 7 years old.
According to DW, children have increasingly been hitting puberty at a younger age since the rise of the pandemic. The condition used to be uncommon, impacting anywhere from 5000-10,000 children worldwide. Some countries, such as Italy, are seeing over a 100% increase in the number of children diagnosed with precocious puberty.
Personally, I didn’t become heavily interested in things like makeup, skincare, or beauty until I hit puberty. I felt pressure to cover up these completely normal changes I was experiencing with my body because I didn’t understand it, and these girls could be experiencing the same thing.
I would argue that these young girls, whether experiencing precocious puberty or not, are a product of the world they live in. There isn’t a certain age where makeup is appropriate or not because it’s more of a tool of self-expression—it’s nothing more than colored powders and liquids you put on your face.
However, the culture of unrealistic beauty maintenance is rising in a way that has never been seen before. Getting plastic surgery and Botox is no longer mostly exclusive to the wealthier, but it’s casual break room talk.
Children going to Sephora and buying makeup is not the problem—it is the way we talk about our insecurities in spaces where children are present. A ten-year-old does not need to know how your Botox journey because of your smile lines, and it’s time social media has switched from targeting children to having conversations about the real problem.