Each leap year comes with a new sense of fear. In 2012, people thought the world was going to end because the ancient Mayan calendar said so. In 2016, society feared getting killed by “creepy” clowns roaming around the streets. In 2020, the world stressed about the nationwide COVID-19 lockdown. What will 2024 bring? 

The answer: Sephora girls. 

Starting in late December 2023 and January 2024, Tiktok “For You” pages and Instagram Reels have been polluted with 10 to 12-year-olds bragging about their Christmas presents. This may seem innocent at first glance, but what they received for the holiday was the real shocker.

From Stanley cups and Drunk Elephant skincare to Lululemon leggings, social media users were ablaze.  These items are typically not catered towards their age group, so seeing young girls with these products is strange. Stanley tumblers are usually targeted towards millennials, Lululemon’s demographic mostly consists of people between the ages of 15 and 35 and Drunk Elephant’s products are usually for older generations. On top of not being age-appropriate, these products are expensive. Stanley’s most popular item, the Quencher H2.0 Tumblers, is at least $35, Lululemon leggings are usually $118 and Drunk Elephant skincare products range from $16 to $134. 

While these luxurious products are more than enough, it definitely isn’t enough for these tweens. They are always wanting more, as seen at many Sephora makeup stores. Some have been buying Drunk Elephant retinol products, which are detrimental to their skin, along with Sol de Janeiro perfumes and Selena Gomez’s Rare Beauty liquid blushes. Not only do they test out the products, but workers and shoppers alike have noticed the mess these children leave and these kids’ attitudes towards those around them. Many Generation Z content creators have made TikToks satirizing this phenomenon. 

So what’s causing this behavior? Social media. These “Sephora girls” are the so-called “iPad kids” who are grown up now, and their unlimited Internet access starting at a young age has exposed them to these age-inappropriate products. They have essentially grown up watching social media influencers’ videos, and now, they want to imitate those they watch. This new wave of social media “Influencers” has proved to truly be influencing the next generation — often in a negative way. 

Sephora girls are spreading as a consequence of unmonitored internet access. It’s sad to see how these kids want to act older than their age, despite not benefitting them at all. Hopefully, this outbreak will be cured soon; we have already worried about a disease in 2020, and we don’t want to worry about another one in 2024. 

To Foothill Technology High School (Foothill Tech) students and everyone else: beware of the “Sephora Girls” the next time you enter a Sephora store.