In defence of the 10 year old girls using Drunk Elephant
When you're little, all you want to be is a grown up
I don’t know why, but at the moment my TikTok feed is filled with grown women slating 10-year-old girls.
A brief recap for anyone unfamiliar: Sephora customers and employees (mostly in America, but some in the UK) have been posting videos to vent about the influx of younger customers in store and their alleged “rude” and “entitled” behaviour.
One woman shared her experience of a younger shopper telling her to move, before asking if she was buying the serum she was looking at. To spite her for her rudeness, the woman bought the sought after Drunk Elephant product, just so the girl couldn’t.
In a since deleted TikTok video, a Sephora employee posted a video complaining about her experience with younger shoppers.
“Imagine how bad it is for an employee,” she began. “Last time I was in for a shift, I cleaned up three skincare smoothies from Drunk Elephant.”
These ‘skincare smoothies’ FYI are where people are mixing a number of skincare products together. I’ve seen young girls on TikTok use the Drunk Elephant moisturiser as their palette to make a custom blend of serum and moisturiser.
Her complaints didn’t stop with messy testers. “Worst is when they just go into the drawer. I walk up and I’m like ‘Hey, you’re not supposed to be in there. Are you looking for something?’ And they don’t move. Or react.”
She continued to give her own take on why she believes this is happening. “I’m going to be brave and draw a parallel: the kids not being able to read, and the kids wanting Drunk Elephant— Millennial parenting,” she began.
Before adding, “We are now seeing after effects of what it does to a child when you give them an iPad to shut them up instead of yelling at them to shut up. ‘Cause at the end of the day, let’s be real, it’s not the kid’s fault they’re annoying.”
Now, when I first saw this video, I found it a little eyebrow raising, but not because of the behaviour these ‘10-year-olds’ are being accused of.
No, it was the naivety of this woman thinking it was okay to make these accusations -specifically the parenting comments - and post them online, without any repercussions from her employer.
It’s of zero surprise to me that the video has since been taken down. It’s one thing a Sephora employee complaining about customers leaving the store in a mess, but it’s another to theorise an entire generation’s parenting.
Would love to see the after effects of posting these rants online, instead of having them in person in a few years….
Side note: The vast majority of 10 year olds can read very well.
These videos have seemingly opened the floodgates for everyone to talk about the bad behaviour of 10 year olds and their obsession with skincare, especially Drunk Elephant.
Here’s my issue with these videos, however. First and foremost, how do you even know these young girls are 10? There’s a big difference emotionally between the ages of 10, 11, 12 and 13, but not necessarily physically.
It feels a lot like how my generation describe anyone who looks remotely young to be “About 12”.
Secondly, even if they are 10, did you not want what your older sister used or what your mum used? I would steal my sister’s J17 magazine all the time because it made me feel I was cooler and more mature than Girl Talk.
Everyone that age wants to be considered a grown up and if using a Drunk Elephant moisturiser helps them feel more mature, leave them be. They’re not harming you.
Finally, if their parents are buying them expensive skincare products, if they’re saving up to buy it themselves or if they asked for it for Christmas, it’s none of your business. I saved up my Saturday job wages to buy Versace lip glosses when I was 13. It was ridiculous, but it was a passion that I turned into a career. I cherished them.
Finally, let’s not taint all 10-year-olds with the same brush. I’ve seen enough rude adults in my time to know it’s not just children who are the problem. When Sephora Westfield first opened there was complaints from everyone about how messy the testers were, but no talk of ‘10-year-olds’.
Also, I’m not gonna lie, I’ve been guilty of checking in the drawer when a product I really want isn’t on the shelf. So, if that’s an indicator of bad behaviour, throw me in there. It’s also scary at any age to feel you’re in trouble, so no wonder they go quiet when questioned.
My main issue is that girls are criticised for everything. Not to gender stereotype, but what about ‘boys’ hobbies? Do you know the age rating of the games boys are playing? Do you know how much video games cost?
I’ll give you a clue, it’s about the same price, if not more, than a Drunk Elephant moisturiser.
Also, it’s skincare. You judge them for wearing makeup, now you’re judging them for looking after their skin? As long as their parent keeps them away from acids and retinols, what’s the issue?
We get criticised enough as women, don’t start on girls now.
Ugh, I really want TikTok but I also get so angry at these type of videos shitting on children / teenagers and parents usually girls and their mothers, who for the most part aren’t as absolutely awful as everyone makes out. In fact some are truly delightful even with their raging hormones, which speaks even more to their character as it’s so hard to be a consistently nice person when you are full of emotions and hormones, or for me anyway, see time of the month 🤣🙈. As a parent of a one year old girl I do fear for her navigating all the daily misogyny.