I Will not Let My Daughter Develop into a ‘Sephora Child,’ Obsessed With Make-up

• I do not need my younger daughter to develop as much as be a “Sephora child” who’s obsessive about make-up.
• I am educating her younger in regards to the risks of the wonder trade and the way she will injury her pores and skin.
• I am additionally educating her that magnificence is not tied to make-up, and filters make folks look good.

I like skincare. I like the way it makes me really feel within the morning earlier than I begin my day or within the night as a particular deal with. I like it a lot that I co-founded a magnificence model as soon as offered at Goal and Nordstrom.

However when my daughter, now in pre-k, turns into a tween and asks me to purchase her skincare or make-up merchandise, I’ll refuse till she will get older.

“Sephora children” is a reputation for Gen Z and Gen Alpha children who’re so obsessive about skincare that huge magnificence retailers are complaining about children inflicting havoc at their shops, and summer time camps are banning tweens from sneaking skincare inside.

Many mothers set guidelines in regards to the skincare merchandise their children should purchase, however I do not suppose children ought to use make-up or skincare in any respect till they’re older. Here is why.

I would like my daughter to know make-up does not equate to magnificence

My younger daughter has began telling me that she desires to put on my make-up to look stunning. I inform her that make-up is supposed to make you look fancy, not prettier. I attempt to emphasize that she is already stunning.

It is nice to love make-up, however I do not need her to develop up considering that she is just not adequate and that some product is magically going to “enhance” her.

We’ve social media accountable for this perception. Younger children are participating with social media filters and AI edits — all of which may simply make pores and skin look flawless.

Research at the moment are exhibiting that elevated social media use is related to greater charges of hysteria, melancholy, and low vanity in youngsters.

I hope to keep away from a few of that as my daughter grows right into a teen, so I am educating her now.

I am educating my daughter tips on how to inform if what she sees on a display is actual or pretend. Once we watch content material collectively we discuss what filters had been most likely used and tips on how to inform {that a} video is all or half AI.

I hope this turns into so ingrained in her that at any time when she sees a magnificence influencer on social media, she’ll marvel in the event that they’ve used filters or AI to make themselves look good.

She’ll be too younger to put on a whole lot of the merchandise

When she’s a tween, my daughter will not want collagen-boosting elements  Since younger folks’s pores and skin is already collagen-heavy, oxidative injury will arrive a lot later.

If she asks what model of exfoliator I like to recommend, I’ll say, “Skip it,” as a result of scrubbing will injury her pores and skin barrier, resulting in irritation and peeling.

When she sees a viral skincare development, I would like her to ask, “Is that this proper for me?”

Presently, medical merchandise meant for growing older pores and skin — like retinol, peptides, and vitamin C — are trending. However these merchandise may do extra hurt than good to youthful pores and skin.

Magnificence overconsumption is an actual difficulty she must keep away from

I’m responsible of overconsumption, however I am attempting to show my daughter higher buying hygiene. She’ll be taught she does not want 4 morning cleansers and 7 mascaras in her lavatory cupboard.

I would like her to keep away from chasing the dopamine rush of buying or falling for “RFOMO” (retail concern of lacking out).

Make-up and skincare merchandise are additionally extremely wasteful. When she sees a skincare product, I hope she’ll see the person elements that should be thrown out and take up area in a landfill: the plastic bottle and cap, the dropper, and the pump.

Earlier than you suppose I am an outlier within the magnificence trade, even the CEO of Sephora agrees with me, saying teenagers solely actually need three merchandise.

I am not towards skincare or magnificence; I simply need my daughter’s first magnificence counter expertise to be age-appropriate — guided by data, energy, and confidence. In doing so, I hope she by no means calls herself a “Sephora child.”