If you’re anything like me, your TikTok For You Page (FYP) has been filled with Gen Alpha showing off their expensive skincare products. You may have also witnessed the response videos of older women complaining of the flood of preteens competing for their everyday beauty products in stores.
When I was an awkward preteen, the thought of entering a cosmetics store as fancy as Sephora was intimidating. Even then, I was usually looking for colorful eyeshadows and lipsticks, not retinol and anti-aging creams. So why are we seeing an influx of young girls fighting for Drunk Elephant and Rare Beauty at our local makeup stores? There could be a few reasons.
spaces for preteens have disappeared
One possible explanation for this phenomenon is that spaces meant for preteens have disappeared almost completely. Take the popular clothing store Justice, for example. Their catalogs catered to elementary and middle-school-aged girls with fun clothing and room décor, teaching them to embrace bold colors and funky outfits. Now that most of their physical stores have closed, young girls are influenced to shop at places like Hollister and Pacsun, which are meant for teens and young adults.
social media
Others may say social media is to blame. With increased access to sites like TikTok and Instagram, young girls may see older women with elaborate makeup and skincare routines and be influenced to follow in their footsteps. This is quickly becoming the standard that preteen girls look up to. With nowhere to go, Gen Alpha is left to look to more mature sources for guidance on beauty, fashion, and life. This is where we see their obsession with skincare and makeup come in.
Popular brands that have taken the brunt of the obsession are Drunk Elephant, Laneige, Rare Beauty, and Sol de Janeiro. Many Sephora employees and annoyed shoppers have taken to TikTok to complain about young girls’ rude attitudes and abuse of sample products. TikToker @delaneykalea says, “[Sephora employees] are not your babysitters” as she shows ruined testers and broken products. It’s normal for Gen Alpha to be interested in taking care of their skin, but when they begin to wreak havoc on beauty stores, the matter starts to get a little complicated.
There is a large focus on anti-aging throughout social media. Due to easy access to these platforms, girls are being introduced to this rhetoric at a much earlier age. With preteen-specific places disappearing and the increasing influence of social media’s rigid beauty standards, what can we do about this?
I think it’s important to look at the issue with some sympathy. Yes, maybe Gen Alpha is ruining sample products and being curt with employees, but that’s also a result of simply having poor manners. Some TikTokers like @sparkleandchaos are even trying to curb this stereotype by showing other girls how to properly treat products and testers. Instead of shutting young girls out of skincare completely, it’s crucial to recognize what products are meant for younger skin types and to steer them away from expensive creams meant to reduce their nonexistent wrinkles.
It’s worth it to check out what kind of media Gen Alpha is consuming to make sure their interest in beauty is coming from a place of curiosity rather than insecurity. And if it’s the latter, it’s important to check in with them and remind them that their ability to conform to these rather impossible beauty standards doesn’t define their self-worth.
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