This tot’s glamming up what she’s got.
Armed with over $2,000 worth of chic cosmetics and bougie beauty must-haves, Naiya White, 10, puts the “doll” in doll baby — literally.
“I’m a proud Sephora Kid,” the fourth grader, an aspiring “skinfluencer,” from Colorado, declared to SWNS. She’s festooned her face in high-quality goodies since age 3.
“I’m obsessed with makeup and skincare,” added White, who’s developed a daily 9-step skincare routine and an 11-step makeup regimen. “I spend up to 30 minutes every morning on my skincare, and 15 minutes doing my makeup.”
The mini tastemaker is in the growing number of wannabe glamor tweens, or “Sephora kids,” who’ve recently ditched board games and Barbie dolls for dolling up with expensive primping products from luxe brands such as Morphe, ColourPop, Essence, Bubble and Drunk Elephant.
Thanks to Gen Alpha influencers — trendsetting tikes born after 2010, such as White — kiddos as young as age 5 are racing to makeup retailers, like Sephora and Ulta, for the viral goops, powders and creams they’ve seen online.
But the pint-size shoppers have been accused of ransacking shelves for anti-aging treatments and “bullying” store associates with “mean-girl” antics. The Sephora kids movement has, too, received flak from folks who feel certain makeup goodies should be off limits to little ones.
Still, it’s a charge White gladly leads.
“You’re never too young to start looking after your skin,” said the itty-bitty icon.
She spent the majority of the COVID-19 lockdown watching tutorials from adult makeup artists such as Mikayla Nogueira and Jeffree Star, under the supervision of mom, Ashley Paige.
“The most important lesson I want Naiya to teach is, you can be a Sephora Kid and have a childhood,” said Paige, 38, a former Ulta cosmetologist.
She purchased White’s first-ever “prestige” preening product, a $20 tube of Anastasia Beverly Hills liquid lipstick, in 2018.
The elementary schooler’s cosmetics collection has since ballooned to more than 200 hot commodities — embellishment items, White stores in her vanity table, dresser drawers, and three make-up bags. She also refuses to leave the house without at least seven lip glosses in her purse.
It’s an obsession Paige is carefully fostering.
“For me personally, as a mom, I don’t believe she needs all those products,” said the single parent. “I want her to have makeup and skincare and to play with them freely, if they’re child-safe.”
“But, we don’t believe in promoting overconsumption.”
To protect her little girl’s skin health, Paige only allows White to use age-appropriate coveralls.
“I’m not worried about what it’s doing to Naiya’s skin,” she said. “We only use child-safe products like moisturiser, cleanser and SPF.”
The mom does, however, let White watch as she undergoes her own regimen of more mature treatments.
“A few years ago, I was going to Botox and facial peel appointments, Naiya would come with me and get very interested in them,” Paige admitted. “I share a lot of my skincare products with her, as long as they’re age-appropriate.”
“I think a lot of people forget that our skin is our largest organ,” she added. “You can’t really teach your child to take good care of their body and not teach them about their entire body.”
“We’re happy to teach kids about eating healthy food, exercise and mental health, so why not about skincare?,” wondered Paige, whose caught severe social media scoldings for her permissiveness when it comes to White’s love of makeup.
“We’re not saying kids should be using anti-wrinkle cream, or worrying about that,” Paige continued. “But it’s important for everyone to be protecting themselves from the sun, and keeping their skin moisturised.”
Her tiny trailblazer, who’s privy to the internet’s ire, agrees.
“If a kid has a bunch of breakouts, they’d tell them to take care of their skin more,” said White. “But I do take care of my skin – and they just say I’m too young.”
“You have to be careful and educate yourself, because there are skincare products which can harm a kid’s skin barrier,” she added. “But even babies have skincare products — I don’t think you can be too young.”
Here’s a look at the little belle’s beauty routines.
Naiya’s morning skincare routine
- Bubble Fresh Start gel cleanser – $17
- Bubble Slam Dunk moisturiser – $16
- Tinted sunscreen – $10
- Aquaphor chapstick – $8
Naiya’s daily makeup routine
- Tinted sunscreen – $19
- Concealer – $29
- Bronzing stick – $35
- Blush – $15
- Eyebrow gel – $7
- Clear mascara – $3
- Highlighter – $31
- Eyeshadow – $29
- Lip liner – $7
- Lip gloss – $21
Naiya’s nighttime skincare routine
- Evereden multivitamin face wash – $39
- Evereden Mini Cloud face wash – $12
- Moisturiser – $8
- Lip mask – $10
- Lip scrub – $10
