Six weeks, seven preteens, and one looming question:
When did tweens become beauty experts?
Close your eyes and picture yourself.
(Im wearing Limited Too.)
Did you worship the Backstreet Boys?
Use an eye cream?
The tweens of 2024 do not collect Beanie Babies; they collect Summer Fridays lip balms.
TikTok inspires twins Ginger (on bed) and Geneva, 11, to try new products.
London, 10, wears the tween beauty accessory of the moment: a puffy headband.
Maybe thats why youre here: Your 11-year-old asked for night cream for their birthday.
Do you get it for them?
Before we hear from the experts, though, we thought it best to go straight to the source.
And who better to tell us about what preteens are using and lovingand whythan the kids themselves?
From there, we selected seven to represent what were calling Generation Beauty.
(Theyre all Gen Alpha, technically.)
I am a woman in my early 30s living in New York City.
My friends have infants; my youngest cousin is 21.
I didnt know what to say to an 11-year-old.
But then, the Zoom screen clicked on and we started speaking a language we both understood: beauty.
What They Like
Do you know who Alix Earle is?
asks Nicky, the 13-year-old Brooklynite.
I nod my head in affirmation.
She made Drunk Elephant blow up.
And then Katie Fang started using the D-Bronzi drops, and I wanted to try them, says Nicky.
(Fang, 18, is another influencer whose name came up more than once in my conversations.)
Listen HereNicky on going to battle for the last bottle of D-Bronzi drops.
Eventually, he ordered the $38 drops directly from the brands website.
Ginger demonstrates how she uses her Drunk Elephant face oil.
Drunk Elephant has become something of a poster child for the preteen beauty craze.
Still, that playfulness and approachability didnt result in astronomical sales among middle schoolersthat is, until TikTok happened.
As in, theyre not intendednor appropriatefor tweens.
London keeps a mini fridge on her vanity to cool down undereye patches and face massage tools.
Not every product we have is for every person, says Masterson.
Its not like we recommend these products [for kids], says Masterson.
If someone is choosing to [use us], then thats a different story.
Glow Recipe, with its pastel color palette and fruit-inspired product ranges, is another.
Why does she like it?
It’s not heavy at all and it just smells really good.
It lasts longer than any other perfume I’ve had, she says.
Gen Alpha is turning middle-school lockers into fully stocked beauty cabinets.
They sell samples of cologne to each other.
Listen HereOlivia on the cologne sales happening in the hallways at her school.
New York
I offer that it sounds like a good business idea, and Olivia agrees.
It is, she says, until they start testing them in the halls.
Its so gross at this point, says Nicky of the collective aroma.
I want brands that don’t really care about gender lines, he says.
Olivia and her younger sister Sydney experiment with nail polish in their backyard.
Before appointments, they scroll through TikTok and Instagram for style inspiration.
He also watches barbers on YouTube and gives style recommendations to his friends.
Listen HereKionn recalls all the colors he’s dyed his hairand why.
Each time he and I meet over Zoom, his hair is a different shade.
(Ive done blue, red, pink, purple…, he says.)
I let Kionn dye his hair for the first time when he was six, says his mom Michelle.
Saying it out loud sounds crazy to me because I never thought I would allow it.
But he really, really wanted to do it.
Now, Blake plays around with makeup at home while watching YouTube tutorials.
Blake, 10, has been playing with makeup for the last couple of years.
I know a lot of adults don’t think children should be wearing foundation, says Alia.
Theres a time and place; its not part of her everyday routine.
Summer Fridays Lip Butter Balm, in particular, has made its way into backpacks.
I was like, What?!
More specifically, its $24but you get the point.
For Olivia, applying a sheet mask is an act of self-care.
London shows off her Sol de Janeiro fragrance mist collection.
Listen HereLondon on the differences between Ulta and Sephora.
At this point, maybe youre starting to do some mental math.
Well, they arent.
Their parents are financially feeding their beauty habits, andwithin reasontheyre doing it happily.
But just because a tween is in Sephora without parental supervision doesnt necessarily mean theyre shopping.
Some locationsespecially those within walking distance of middle schoolshave become post-dismissal destinations.
I feel like you see more preteens and teens in Sephora these days than grown-ups.
Nicky asks for fragrances for birthdays and holidays, and often gives recommendations to his friends.
Before Sephora became the after-school hot spot for tweens, it was Starbucks.
Before that, Nicky says, Everyone used to have babysitters.
The 13-year-olds say the 11-year-olds are out of hand.
The 10-year-olds point fingers at the 9-year-olds.
I dont really like the image that the kids put out, says Olivia.
It’s gross the way they treat testers.
I really don’t like the image that the kids put out…
It’s gross the way they treat testers.
Among our seven subjects, there was no talk of department stores.
There was also very little talk of online shopping.
I get most of my products in person, says Ginger.
He also enjoys checking out the grooming section at his local T.J.Maxx since the stock is forever changing.
Some tweens shop even closer to homethey borrow from the shelves of their siblings and parents.
After seeing her older sister use the face massage tool, London wanted to try a gua sha.
I ask her if shes a fan of the brands founder, the actor Millie Bobby Brown.
Not really, says London.
Why They Do It
Tweens are not moved by celebrity beauty brands.
They are also, seemingly, unmoved by influencer-founded brands.
I didnt know that.
He is, however, very tuned into what influencers are using on themselves.
Nicky and Olivia both follow 18-year-old influencer Katie Fang.
I think her videos are honest and relatable, says Olivia.
Fang gets that a lot.
Did she, too, get into beauty as a tween?
I actually never had that much interest in it, she replies.
They didnt exactly know how to define what makes a product or ingredient clean versus unclean, though.
(To be fair, neither does the beauty industry at largethe term clean remains totally unregulated.)
One thing most tweens do knowdespite what TikTok might have you believeis that retinol is not for them.
But these pressures did not bear out in our research.
After using it for a few weeks, I noticed that my skin got clearer, she says.
Before they get their hair braided, Ginger and Geneva often scroll through TikTok for styling ideas.
Listen HereGinger and Geneva on the term “anti-aging.”
Nor did they say that theyre looking to prevent aging.
Anti-aging products dont make you look better, says Geneva.
Its weird to look 20 when youre 50.
Anti-aging products don’t make you look better.
And thats certainly valid.
Nicky says his grooming routine helps him feel his best.
There was another phrase I heard a lot: Everyone is doing it.
And by everyone, they mean their friends, siblings, and parents.
And, of course, influencers.
Listen HereBlake remembers the first time she shopped for skin care.
Our other six subjects are also on social media, though some more than others.
Olivia pumped the brakes on TikTok after it became a big obsession of hers in 2020.
(I can relatebut I was 27 that year, not nine.)
She is on Instagram and Pinterest, the latter of which was a surprise to this millennial reporter.
I remember using it to make a mood board for my dorm room sometime around 2012.
Pinterestwhile not populated by influencers per seis favored among tweens for the way it promotes discovery.
London immediately asked her mom for permission to use her Amazon account to buy one.
Blake likes to watch makeup tutorials on YouTube and follows along using her own products.
Its a very vulnerable period.
My concern is, why skin care?
Thats not to say there arent positive side effects, too.
Kionn uses sunscreen everyday, even when its not sunny.
Dr. Naversen Geraghtys own kidsages 13 and 15have been wearing sunscreen since birth.
Theyre very much into taking care of their skin, she says.
But young people are, of course, peopleand can have infinitely different responses to the same situation.
For Kionn, styling and coloring his hair is a matter of self-expression.
Also see beauty filters, which can blur complexions and contort facial features.
Even if tweens arent using filters on photos of themselves, the influencers they follow almost certainly are.
At this point, you might be tempted to throw your childs phone into the nearest body of water.
More recently, she started experimenting with makeup.
I think it’s probably a combination of peer influence and media influence, says Dr. Evans.
(Her daughter does watch YouTube and television, she says.)
Whats a parent to do if their tween starts consuming contouring tutorials?
First of all, take a deep breath.
Ginger and Geneva learned how to care for their hair from their mom, Jennifer, seen here.
Hard, but not impossible.
Because here is the cold, hard truth: None of uswhether 9 or 99actuallyneedbeauty products.
(Yes, youre still readingAllure.)
But boy, do we want them.
They make us feel good, even special.
And is that the worst thing in the world?
To me, there are worse vices for kids to have.
(Did I mention that before she was a dermatologist, she was anAllureeditor?)
As long as the product doesn’t cause them irritation and they want to use it, then fine.
It’s not about skin care anymore.
It’s a hobby.
It’s a pastime.
It’s an obsession.
And sometimes it’s a flex, right?
If my 12-year-old daughter just wants a hyaluronic acid serum to fit in, great.
Nicky, the 13-year-old, was the first tween I interviewed, and weeks later, also the last.
As we sign off, I ask him if hes got any fun plans for the weekend.
Ive got to go to Sephora.
