I'd love to know how many people posting here have actually taken a fifth or sixth grade kid to Sephora. There is so much disdain on here for a situation that is largely mythical. I took a group of them this weekend (boys and girls) and they don't buy Drunk Elephant, hyluronic acid, etc. because it's not in the cute packaging, made my Selena Gomez or Millie Bobbie Brown or they can't afford it.

They are buying Sol de Janiero (which is like that Bed Bath and Beyond body spray), Bubble (cleanser), Glossier lip balm (fruity flavors) and similar products. Did you never go to the drugstore and browse the Cover Girl section and buy yellow mascara in 1988? Or want whatever the trend was everyone was doing in middle school? This is the same thing.

As PP said, not the hill I'm going to die on.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes it's fine to teach good skin care habits now. Acne is a bacterial infection. Good skincare is just part of good hygiene. Sephora is fine. Some products are less than the drugstore. I like the transparency in sourcing and ingredients at Sephora that I don't often find at drugstores. There are so many endocrine disruptors that affect children out there.

Not all acne is bacterial.

+ 1.

The vast majority of acne is not bacterial and is not related to poor hygiene. It’s not surprising to see total Venn overlap between Sephora elementary kids and truly idiotic moms who also need to pretend it’s easy to find inexpensive products at a Sephora as at a Duane Reade.

This whole trend is about the crows-feet crew trying to find a popularity they never had back when the wheel was invented by letting their girls feel grown up enough to f their faces up. Go ahead, good plan.

Shut up

Hit a nerve?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes it's fine to teach good skin care habits now. Acne is a bacterial infection. Good skincare is just part of good hygiene. Sephora is fine. Some products are less than the drugstore. I like the transparency in sourcing and ingredients at Sephora that I don't often find at drugstores. There are so many endocrine disruptors that affect children out there.

Not all acne is bacterial.

+ 1.

The vast majority of acne is not bacterial and is not related to poor hygiene. It’s not surprising to see total Venn overlap between Sephora elementary kids and truly idiotic moms who also need to pretend it’s easy to find inexpensive products at a Sephora as at a Duane Reade.

This whole trend is about the crows-feet crew trying to find a popularity they never had back when the wheel was invented by letting their girls feel grown up enough to f their faces up. Go ahead, good plan.

Shut up

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I bought my 5th grader some Bubbles skin care for Christmas. Fash wash, lotion. I don’t know that it’s different from noxema or the st eves scrub we all used? She does ‘skin care’ with her products a few times a week.

Of all the hills to die on, this isn’t mine.

This. Choose your battles. Skincare is a positive thing.

Because it isn’t skin care. Skin care for a 10 hr old means washing face in the shower. A 10 yr old using vitamin C serum, hyalruonic acid serums, face masks, etc is feeding into the idea they “need” these products to have healthy skin. Would you let your kid buy $50 freckle juice?

Anonymous wrote:Yes it's fine to teach good skin care habits now. Acne is a bacterial infection. Good skincare is just part of good hygiene. Sephora is fine. Some products are less than the drugstore. I like the transparency in sourcing and ingredients at Sephora that I don't often find at drugstores. There are so many endocrine disruptors that affect children out there.

Ingredients are required by the FDA to be placed on everything you put on or in your body so that’s not accurate.

Cosmetics and skin care products are tightly regulated by the FDA for safety. I would not buy any products from Shein, Dollar Store or any place similar. The FDA regulates them but they can’t find everything. The FDA has found makeup with microbiological contamination in cosmetics coming from China. The FDA found asbestos in City Color Collection makeup.

There are clean products in Sephora. But not the ones that kids are being sold to. Drunk Elephant is being marketed to children as young as 8 years old but it’s full of oils and peels and harsh chemicals.

CeraVe is made in France and some in the US. It has so many options for teens. That’s what I got my 7th grader who is starting puberty

I bought some Sol de Janeiro spray and body moisturizer but makeup will come later. I usually hate perfume but she did smell nice.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So, skin care products are ok if they come from the grocery store or some discount pharmacy but bad from everywhere else? Ok. Some of you take yourselves way too seriously.

OP here - I've seen things about young girls buying all sorts of serums, retinols, eye creams, anti-wrinkling things that they don't need, that's what I was referring to when I said "skincare routine". I guess I should have been more clear.

So they want to buy a bunch of products that don't even work? Again, so what? What do you care what other people do with their money?

Why are you so defensive? How much money did Olivia spend at Sephora this month?

Anonymous wrote:I bought my 5th grader some Bubbles skin care for Christmas. Fash wash, lotion. I don’t know that it’s different from noxema or the st eves scrub we all used? She does ‘skin care’ with her products a few times a week.

Of all the hills to die on, this isn’t mine.

This. Choose your battles. Skincare is a positive thing.

Anonymous wrote:Yes it's fine to teach good skin care habits now. Acne is a bacterial infection. Good skincare is just part of good hygiene. Sephora is fine. Some products are less than the drugstore. I like the transparency in sourcing and ingredients at Sephora that I don't often find at drugstores. There are so many endocrine disruptors that affect children out there.

This is false. Not all acne is bacterial.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As for the question in the title: yes. DS has a skincare routine. I know he watches youtube shorts at school and he has seen those videos about sephora kids. He has also seen commentary on those videos from skincare experts, who all say that those kids a) definitely do not need the skincare they are buying and b) even if they did, a lot of it is extremely overpriced.

As to the question about having an expensive routine or going to sephora alone, no. I have taken him to sephora to get a serum from the ordinary, and he also uses a moisturizer, sunscreen, and cleanser from CeraVe or cetaphil. It's kinda cute and while he doesn't need the serum I'm happy he is getting into the habit of using a cleanser and sunscreen.

I cannot believe those parents let their kids roam around free in sephora and buy products that are actually damaging for young skin. Bizarre. I really think sephora should ban them from coming in without parents, at least.

Your son is watching YouTube shorts about skincare? At school?

He’s a gay obv

I wouldn't care if he was gay, but he isn't. Taking care of your skin isn't considered as much of a threat to masculinity as it was in days of yore. Most of the videos of people responding to sephora girls with skincare recommendations are dermatologists, male and female.

Buying a bunch of products at Sephora isn’t “taking care of your skin.” All it is a falling prey to the social media trap to just spending money on things they see good-looking people endorsing. That is all.

Skincare means washing face twice per day with a basic wash. Maybe a basic moisturizer and sunscreen.
That is it. Most teens don’t even need a moisturizer at all unless they are on acne meds. Add some Stridex pads in for occasional break outs

I can barely get my 6th-grade boy to shower and brush his teeth, but the girls at his school talk about their multi-step Sephora routines ...

My 5th grader has a “routine” in that I require her to wash her face and use moisturizer. She is an athlete with sensitive skin so she breaks out a lot. A good wash with CeraVe works well. She uses CeraVe moisturizer as well - the one with spf in the am and the pm one at night.

Her friends are absolutely into the Sephora brands but that’s ridiculous.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So now not taking care of skin and bragging that your kids don't wash their face is s badge of honor? I had acne in 4th grade and distinctly remember using stridex pads on my "T-zone". Why is this a problem?

This. Weird. Most 6th grade girls are in the early stages of puberty if not well into it and that is when skin starts getting more oily. Some of DD's friends use stuff like Drunk Elephant but I won't buy it and DD is okay with that. She does have a skincare routine (wash and moisturize and little acne patches as needed) and uses Bubble products. She does not wear makeup other than lip gloss occasionally but many of her friends do and she will next year. She does like Sephora but does not go unsupervised.

Those mothers are idiots buying Drink Elephant products full of retinol and oils and glycolic acids. I have a feeling there will be more acne breakouts at younger ages because of so many using adult products. A new phenomena of parents not doing their job by researching what the 10 year olds are buying.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So, skin care products are ok if they come from the grocery store or some discount pharmacy but bad from everywhere else? Ok. Some of you take yourselves way too seriously.

OP here - I've seen things about young girls buying all sorts of serums, retinols, eye creams, anti-wrinkling things that they don't need, that's what I was referring to when I said "skincare routine". I guess I should have been more clear.

So they want to buy a bunch of products that don't even work? Again, so what? What do you care what other people do with their money?

There is some incredibly effective mass marketing going on towards kids going on.

9 and 10 year olds don’t need 1,2,3 step wash routine. All they need is sunscreen. Something like Neutrogena sunscreen for sensitive skin. When skin changes happen during puberty is when skin care probably will be needed. We use Cerave.

As for makeup when dd is 8th or 9th I’ll bring her to Chanel or Clinique where you have professional help to make sure she gets the right colors and show her how to be subtle with application.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes it's fine to teach good skin care habits now. Acne is a bacterial infection. Good skincare is just part of good hygiene. Sephora is fine. Some products are less than the drugstore. I like the transparency in sourcing and ingredients at Sephora that I don't often find at drugstores. There are so many endocrine disruptors that affect children out there.

Not all acne is bacterial.

+ 1.

The vast majority of acne is not bacterial and is not related to poor hygiene. It’s not surprising to see total Venn overlap between Sephora elementary kids and truly idiotic moms who also need to pretend it’s easy to find inexpensive products at a Sephora as at a Duane Reade.

This whole trend is about the crows-feet crew trying to find a popularity they never had back when the wheel was invented by letting their girls feel grown up enough to f their faces up. Go ahead, good plan.