Sephora Baby and Tween Skincare

Have you heard about the "Sephora Baby" trend? As a double board-certified Dermatologist, I've gotten lots of questions from patients, moms, and even teens and tweens themselves about skincare that is appropriate during our younger years.

As a mom of 3 teen and tween daughters myself, I am deeply invested in this topic. As a Dermatologist, it's my job to steer parents and children towards skincare that's safe and effective for young skin.

Sephora Baby refers to the recent behavior of tweens inundating Sephora or Kohls Sephora stores and shopping malls across the country, sampling, testing, and mixing all of the skincare creams, serums, and tints from the tester bottles and jars, and trying their concoctions on their own skin! 

Here's the honest truth: my own 3 teen/tween daughters love nothing more than a shopping trip to Sephora (possibly complimented by a Starbucks stop before or after). Typing in a search for the Sephora Near Me, they basically navigate themselves to the closest location. Our girls could spend hours perusing the aisles of Sephora, sampling brands such as Glossier, Drunk Elephant, and Glow Recipe! Trialing these products on their skin allows them to experience self-care, and there is an aspirational component of using these brands that celebrities and influencers are endorsing. And they are aware of every Sephora sale and want to take full advantage of these opportunities to buy tween skincare gifts for their friends as well as some goodies for themselves.

Recently, there's been a slew of TikTok videos and Instagram posts, many from Sephora employees, about how the search for the best tween skincare is taking over Sephora stores across the nation! Tweens love going into Sephora, creating a skincare smoothie by mixing Glow Recipe Watermelon Glow Niacinamide Dew Drop Serum into the Tatcha Water Cream Moisturizer, and topping that off with the Drunk Elephant D-Bronzi Bronzing drops with Peptides. This makes for a creative, yet messy, experiment...and is NOT the best option for tween skin. Why? These products have ingredients such as Peptides and Niacinamide that are not necessary, and can even harm and irritate young skin. As a Dermatologist/Mom, I'm also not a fan of tweens feeling that they need to "bronze" their skin with a product that is really tailored to a more mature audience.

And the process of Sephora store tween skincare smoothies with all of the tester bottles and jars creates a huge mess in the Sephora stores! First of all, the Sephora employees are fielding questions from 10-yr-olds about retinol creams and undereye puffiness! Since when has a 10-yr old needed an eye cream? Secondly, those employees are left dealing with the Laneige, The Ordinary, and Summer Fridays bottles and jars that have been raided by the young customers!

To learn more about tween skincare products that are appropriate for skin during the tween years, read my blog post here. 

And you'll love this blog post, comparing safe and effective skincare options for tweens with the adult brand counterpart. I.e. If you're tween asked for Tower 28, try "this alternative" that's made for tween skin. If you're looking for the best skincare for tween or tween skincare gifts, this guide will help you find the Dermatologist-recommended alternative.

Sephora Baby, there's a safe Tween Skincare option for you...so choose wisely!

--Dr. Angela