I didn’t expect my 2024 to begin with a lip gloss being snatched right out of my hand by a 4-foot, 10-year-old girl, with a basket filled to the brim with makeup products, in the middle of the Rare Beauty section of Sephora. I left the store that day mourning both the loss of the lip gloss and my dignity, thinking this was surely a one-off? Call me old-fashioned, but what use do young children have for an abundance of makeup? 

As the weeks passed, I forgot about this interaction until my friends relayed a similar story they had experienced. On social media, there were numerous videos of interactions people had with young children in beauty stores. Apparently, these 10-year-old Sephora snatchers are an epidemic, sometimes terrorizing other shoppers and workers. But where does this behavior come from? What fuels their desire to spend thousands of dollars on Drunk Elephant, Glow Recipe and other expensive skin care and makeup brands? 

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It’s no secret that social media promotes this unhealthy consumer lifestyle. Recently, “Get Ready With Me” vlogs, “Must Have” hauls and restock videos encourage mass buying of products. I’m sure you’ve come across at least one influencer telling you that a pair of jeans or a water bottle is going to tilt the world on its axis and change your life for the better. 

The constant stream of creators with excessive products makes us feel as if we, too, need to own these products. Online, children are supplied with so many commodities that they need to buy, pushing them to purchase items that will likely last them less than a month. They eventually start shopping in a way that is both unhealthy and unsustainable. It isn’t just children who are affected by influencers encouraging them to press the checkout button on their shopping carts: The phrase “TikTok made me buy it” is constantly echoed all around us. 

This phenomenon is only heightened by trends and aesthetics. In 2023, trends like the “clean girl” aesthetic and “vanilla girl” aesthetic came to light online, and along with these trends came the clothes, jewelry and supplies required to fit into the aesthetic. In 2022, the trends like “the it girl lifestyle” filled out feeds. People tend to buy products that align with these trends only to trade them out when a newer trend rises in popularity, continuing the vicious cycle.  

With the advent of TikTok Shop, this has only been exacerbated. TikTok Shop allows users to buy items directly from the app. No additional website needs to be opened. The product can be viewed and purchased with the click of a button, without even switching tabs. The accessibility that TikTok Shop provides only makes it easier for consumers to purchase products they don’t need. 

Additionally, creators can get a commission if they advertise the items on their social media. TikTok is revolutionary in its creation of TikTok Shop because it promotes consumers to buy discounted products as well as sell them to their audience — fellow consumers. And so the cycle resumes. Users can even tag exact products, making shopping easier for their audience who no longer have to even search up the item. It also becomes especially accessible for young children who no longer have to depend on their parents to purchase or find items online. 

To combat this, the idea of “de-influencing” has begun, with individuals recognizing the toxicity of the overconsumption that TikTok Shop promotes and taking it upon themselves to deter people from buying products. The notion is to discuss that certain popular products are not worth the money in hopes that individuals will stop buying them — these “de-influencers” remind users that influencers gain money by encouraging us to spend ours. 

It is important to realize that TikTok Shop and social media fuel overconsumption, which is dangerous not just for us but also for the next generation. The efforts to mitigate TikTok consumerism are already underway, but it is important for us to think critically about what we are consuming and the quantity of products we are buying.