What the Sephora Tweens want now

They're dreaming of a Pink Palm Puff Christmas

Dec 24, 2024

One of the biggest stories to emerge from last year’s holidays was that pre-teen girls are obsessed with designer water bottles and luxury skincare. They earned the name Sephora Tweens following reports that they begged for Stanley cups and swarmed high-end beauty stores demanding lip masks, bronzing drops and serums for their poreless skin.

This year Generation Alpha’s fixation with beauty continues to grow. It’s magnitude is symbolised by the security guard manned queuing system at Sephora in London’s Westfield, the only store in the shopping centre where it’s required.

But the under 14s are notoriously fickle, so what’s new for 2024? After interrogating Sephora staff in three cities and surveying the parents of tweens from the U.K., the U.S. and Australia I have an answer. I even have their wish lists.

While some girls write them out on paper, others create spreadsheets or slide show presentations and the most online use the wish list app Giftful. Whatever their method the lists are remarkably similar, the trends very apparent. Generation Alpha from three different continents want pretty much the same things and it’s giving monoculture.

I should flag that some of the consistency may be a result of me sourcing many of the lists from friends and contacts. The vast majority of contributors are ethnically white, but they do straddle social class groups, religions and income levels. To temper the similarities that crop up in my bubble I cross checked the lists against dozens of TikToks of tween girls presenting theirs. What I ended up with was a wish list that confirms how much Gen A girls have been captured by consumerism. Let’s dig in…

The new tween beauty must-haves

Anything from BYOMA, specifically the cleansing range.

The product that was most name-checked was the Creamy Jelly Cleanser, £9.99/$12.99.

The blush and lip stain product, Cooling Water Jelly Tint, from Milk Makeup, £22/$24.

OUAI’s St. Barts range, specifically the hair and body mist, £38/$38, and body creme, £34/$38.

Meanwhile some of 2023’s most-wished-for items have proved they have major staying power as they made 2024’s lists too.

The cult products tweens love

Sol de Janeiro’s fruity fragranced perfume mists, £38/$38. According to several frazzled Sephora workers 62 (the yellow one), is the top seller but 76 and 68 are popular too. As are the body creams, £21/$24, and deodorants, £16/$16.

Laneige’s lip sleeping mask, £19/$24, continues to be in high demand.

Glow Recipe in general, but particularly the dew drops, £32/$35, made multiple wish lists.

And Summer Fridays lip butter balm, £23/$24, is coveted by tweens, particularly the pink sugar tone.

Help highly flammable grow by sharing with a friend, liking and restacking on Substack or posting on your socials

The fashion brands tweens care about

Clothes from cult brands also dominate wish lists and new to them is Pink Palm Puff. The Californian brand has got tweens in a chokehold with their "Everything Comes in Waves" Hoodie, $79, and it was featured repeatedly.

White Fox Boutique was popular last year but it’s unlocked a new level of popularity as it was mentioned on the majority of lists I had access to. The Offstage hoodie, £55/$59.99, is the brand’s stand out star and available in 24 colours.

Skims, Hollister, Peter Alexander and Brandy Melville products or gift cards were frequently requested. And fashionista tweens requested tracksuits from the cool British streetwear label Corteiz, jeans from Motel Rocks and tops from Lahils, Edikted and Subdued.

Best of the rest

Vinyl records from artists like Gracie Abrams, Olivia Rodrigo and Chappell Roan are also in demand, as are digital and Instax cameras.

One of the most requested items is a suction phone case. The phone accessory that costs around £10/$10, is popular with content creators because it makes it easy to mount phones on surfaces to take selfies and videos.

Unsurprisingly the vast majority of gifts tweens want have been heavily pushed by content creators on YouTube and TikTok. Thousands of videos have been created about each of them and recommendation algorithms push those repeatedly into the feeds of girls. Given the dynamics it’s no wonder they all want the same things. Whether they get them is a different question.