Look, Sephora makes a perfectly functional shopping app for adults. The problem is that it's become the epicenter of a cultural phenomenon where second-graders are begging for $68 retinol serums because TikTok told them to.

The app itself has no age verification, no parental controls, and no guardrails to prevent kids from accessing (and purchasing) products formulated for adult skin. Dermatologists are sounding alarms about 10-year-olds using active ingredients that can damage their skin barriers, and retail workers are reporting nightmare behavior from unsupervised tweens treating stores like playgrounds.

If you have a high schooler who's genuinely interested in makeup artistry or skincare science, supervised use with a prepaid card and spending limits can work. But for middle schoolers and younger? This is a hard pass. The app is designed to sell, sell, sell—and kids don't have the developmental tools to resist marketing tactics or understand that their skin is already perfect without a 10-step routine.

The real enrichment here is teaching your kid that self-worth doesn't come in a $42 bottle of face serum.