Before computers took over our world, our children were victimized by advertisements on television a few times an hour during commercial breaks, or they saw promotions and photos in magazines once a month. Usually the products were toys. Now, they are bombarded several times each minute. The advertisers and influencers putting their opinions and promoting their products are ruthless, and their targets are getting younger. So are the products, like cosmetics. Yes, cosmetics are becoming the must-have for children.
A recent article detailed a phenemon not unlike the Stanley pink cup craze I mentioned recently (folks stood in line at 3:00 AM for the privilege of purchasing a limited edition vessel from a legacy thermal cup company). The mad crowd in this case were youngsters at ten years old.
A product line with the questionable name Drunk Elephant (as one example) is offered at cosmetic mega-retailers Sephora and Ulta. The youngsters are visiting the stores in groups, and come armed with their parents’ credit cards and no regard for respect. They have been reported to open products, touch and then not purchase them (leaving them contaminated and unsellable, and damaged samplers), steal items other shoppers have selected out of their baskets if the item has been depleted at the sale tables, harass and assault store employees and even argue with their mothers about spending $900 for such items as retinol creams.
Ten years old, and they suddenly woke up thinking that they need these things at any cost.
When I was ten years old, I was happy to have a wonderful, light complexion. In a year or so, acne did a job on me (and back then there was little that helped), but never once did I consider using aging products. Those are for people who are showing signs of breaking down skin elasticity. At around the thirties or so. Not at ten years old. In fact, doctors and beauticians are chiming in about how bad for children’s health these products are. There is no research about whether the chemicals that deter skin aging interfere with the normal growth processes in pre-pubescent youngsters.
Ten is a wonderful age; two digits at every birthday from now on, a few years of basic schooling under the belt and a world ahead. This is not the time to spread tinted grease on faces or stop a process that hasn’t even kicked into gear yet. Besides, why do ten-year-olds want to buy a third Porsche for some male executive (Tim Warner for Drunk Elephant, and who, by the way, likely doesn’t wear any of his own products) when they could buy something useful or enjoyable for themselves.
I look at these articles from about forty-some-odd years of using products on my skin, and I realize that a ten-year-old would look at me and declare I am an ancient crone who should just curl up and die so they can glamorize themselves and forget that old people exist. These ten-year-olds feel falsely empowered without earning the years of learning that parents and grandparents are breaking their backs to instill in them. They respect nothing, not even the very products they’re scrambling with $900 to buy though they don’t need them. The destruction they leave behind in Sephora is evidence of their immaturity and callousness. If you look up “Sephora Kids,” you will see and read about the chaos.
Just what we always wanted: ten-year-old Karens.
Those Drunk Elephant products are, essentially, tinted science projects of blended animal and chemical elements, packaged in eye-catching containers and marketed to make you believe that they make your appearance better. The blending and swiping you do to apply the products tug on your young skin, and you may not see it today, but before you turn 30, you will notice those tugs in the form of WRINKLES, for which you really will need to either firm up with a cream or see your local cosmetic surgeon.
I have watched influencers apply layers of foundation, blush, highlighters and contours to their faces while talking about a totally unrelated subject. This has become an element of video production, and it’s one reason why I don’t do video podcasts. I learned to apply makeup in private, not to use what isn’t needed, not to keep anything on longer than necessary and to try not to look like a cartoon or a hooker. If I have to do a tutorial while vocalizing my blog post, I would feel like the former, and I respect myself too much to do anything that would come off as the latter.
The idea of spending $900 on stuff that soaks in or gets wiped off hours later has never entered my mind. No wonder these folks are growing into adulthood without any idea of how to budget; it’s going on their faces, and not into their college fund. Drunk Elephant appears to be focused on aging products rather than makeup, since their most popular items are masks and serums. I find great benefits from the products in the pharmacy, such as Olay and L’Oreal, to moisturize my skin after working outside or evenings after spending time in the sun at the beach.
I wonder if these same ten-year-olds use sunscreen as religiously as Drunk Elephant anti-aging creams? Do they value youth or avoiding skin cancer more? Only time and maturity will tell.
Susan's Scribblings the Blog 