The infamous battle cry, “It’s so preppy in here!” marked the start of the Internet’s humor war against, some might say, the professional invaders, expert intimidators and successful conquerors of Sephora. The weapons that they take into battle include Drunk Elephant skincare smoothies, Glow Recipe watermelon toners and Rare Beauty blushes. Please maintain a safe distance from the warzone as Sephora employees try to combat and resolve this issue as soon as possible. 

The 10-year-old girls-in-Sephora issue has caused major controversy throughout the Internet, resulting in many teenagers and parents being concerned with the fact that young children are trying to act like adults. These girls are known for purchasing overpriced products that are not made for customers their age. The real cause for this is a simple issue, which many schools, no matter the grade level, struggle with. 

“[The pandemic grew] because of a popularity contest for school,” Pragna Rajashekar (10) said. “And they look up to older kids.”

Many people say this generation of Sephora-addicted and spoiled children are “screwed” for the future. Because the products that these children buy lie in a high price range, buying them consistently appears as a poor decision. It is also viewed as a bad choice to purchase potentially damaging products at such a young age. However, if this issue is placed in a positive light, one might argue that children are learning how to take care of themselves from a young age. 

“I guess you can find out what fits you, but then again your skin changes throughout the years so [these products] may not fit you anymore,” Rajashekar said. “When we were growing up we had [simple-ingredient products], but we still struggle with breakouts every week.”

But does this one positive outweigh the list of cons this controversial topic creates? 

“10-year-olds are really ruining their skin for the future…because you have all these chemicals you know. Like retinol is usually used by older women or men to reduce smile lines and forehead wrinkles and stuff,” Rajashekar said. “A 10 year-old usually doesn’t have all [those problems] and they shouldn’t. So it makes no sense for them to be using that and other acne products.”

When the issue reached TikTok, it suddenly became a humorous topic amongst millions of people. Hundreds of videos of young girls walking around Sephora, harassing employees and being rude to customers quickly spread on the app and instantly became a controversial meme. Many people found the young girls buying skin care entertaining and absurd, but others viewed the excessive bullying as borderline harrassment. 

“Yes, I think this issue has become a humor topic because people are making parodies of girls going to these stores and testing out [products] and talking to customers and buying a lot of products,” Grace Vipparthi (10) said. 

While many people consider this problem lightheartedly, others took a more serious approach to this topic as many people think this pre-teens-in-Sephora crisis has gone too far, considering many of the products the young girls are using could potentially risk permanent damage to their still-developing skin.

 “Personally, I like the humor but I think stores should take more precaution…” Vipparthi said. “I think adults should monitor what their kids are watching, and teach them to be better citizens.”

As people are trying to figure out a solution to this problem, some people have suggested that age restrictions on customers purchasing products should be placed to limit the amount of young children purchasing random products they most likely saw on the Internet. Other people believe security guards need to monitor these stores to prevent more “10-year-old tantrums.”

“I wouldn’t say there should be an age limit…” Vipparthi said. “…But there should be, you know, a parent with you if you’re [under] a certain age, to Sephora.” 

One characteristic that is commonly associated with the 10-year-old Sephora girls is their rude and spoiled attitudes they present themselves with. However, the blame is put on the parents. Many people blame the parents for allowing young children to believe that it is okay to disrespect Sephora’s employees, products and store. This has caused the Internet to question whether the parents are taking this issue seriously or not. 

“I don’t think most parents are taking it seriously enough because if [kids acting rude to Sephora employees] is happening on so many occasions then they need to do something about it,” Vipparthi said.