They’re called the ‘Sephora kids’, and you might’ve seen a gaggle of them out shopping on your recent trip to the cosmetics store. These tweens, mostly equipped with their parents’ cash, love adult brands and products, from $90 Drunk Elephant serums and $30 Rare Beauty blushes to Sol de Janeiro body mists and Laneige lip masks in every colour of the rainbow.
It’s a scene borne from social media consumption — hours of YouTube and TikTok tutorials and brand advertisements — that tends to ruffle the feathers of older shoppers. Gen Alpha — kids no older than 14 — and the youngest of Gen Z have grown rapidly as a beauty consumer group, with a spending power projected to reach $5.5 trillion by 2029, according to global market intelligence agency Mintel. Their favourite brands are emerging: consumer intelligence firm Nielsen IQ reports Gen Alpha has spent $17.9 million on Byoma, $41.7 million on Bubble Skincare, $63.4 million on Drunk Elephant and $56.6 million on Glow Recipe in 2024.
