Forget pin the tail on the donkey. Kids today would rather play with Drunk Elephant serum, according to Texas mom Jessica Bazan.
Bazan’s daughter Camila recently celebrated her 7th birthday with friends at Sephora.
“Camila wanted a princess party at mommy’s job,” Bazan, an assistant store manager at the beauty retailer’s Willowbrook Mall location in Houston, tells TODAY.com.
During the hourlong in-store celebration, princesses enjoyed a $30 makeup service (the No. 1 request was glitter eye shadow) and goody bags filled with samples — and full-size Fenty and YSL Beauty lip glosses.
“There was also regular kid stuff in there like little rings and a headband,” Bazan says.
At the Sephora in Wesley Chapel, Florida, birthday parties are held on Sundays before the store opens at 11, an employee tells TODAY. While young revelers wait for their turn in a makeup chair, they get a lesson on the ABCs of skincare. There’s also a special station where they can play with products.
Now, before you pick up the phone to book a Sephora birthday, know you may hit some roadblocks.
“Sephora does not offer a formal party program for customers of any age at any location,” a spokesperson for the company told TODAY in a statement.
It’s also important to note that a customer under the age of 18 cannot receive a beauty service unless a guardian is present and signs a waiver.
One mom on TikTok expressed sadness after her 10-year-old daughter was invited to a Sephora birthday,
“Why all of a sudden are our children needing to grow up faster?” she asked.
While many echoed the sentiment in the comments, Bazan says times have changed.
“This is just what girls are into at the moment,” Bazan explains. “It’s a different generation.”
Meghan Warren, an event planner in Texas, agrees with Bazan and calls Sephora a “dream location,” for kids’ birthdays. Warren recently shared footage of a Sephora party she organized at the Woodlands Mall just north of Houston in December.
“They get pampered and learn about age-appropriate makeup and hairstyles,” Warren tells TODAY.com. “Then they take home this amazing gift bag that Sephora puts together for them. Sometimes the moms will get a gift bag, too!”
Warren says Sephora birthdays could be the next big thing.