A California legislator has introduced a bill to ban the sale of anti-ageing products containing “potent and harsh” ingredients to under-18s.
Alex Lee, the California Democratic Assembly member behind Assembly Bill (AB) 728, said it aimed to prevent the beauty industry from “cashing in on the ‘Sephora kids’ phenomenon”.
Surfacing in early 2024, this phenomenon saw the popular beauty retailer inundated with Gen Alpha, buying products from buzzy beauty brands including Byoma, Drunk Elephant, Glow Recipe and Sol De Janeiro.
“Kids do not need anti-ageing products,” said Lee in a press release.
“The beauty industry knows that, and some companies have acknowledged the issue.
“But their statements – absent [of] real and meaningful action – are performative and fall short of responsible behavior.”
Lee added: “We have to stop the beauty industry from exploiting our youth.
“It is time we take action, and my bill is a common sense measure to protect kids from unnecessary and potentially harmful anti-ageing products.”
If passed, the bill would make it unlawful to sell to another person under 18 years of age an over-the-counter skin care product or cosmetic product that lists any of the following chemicals as an ingredient without first verifying the purchaser’s age and identity:
- Vitamin A and its derivatives, including, but not limited to, retinoids and retinol
- An alpha hydroxy acid (AHA), including, but not limited to, glycolic acid, ascorbic acid (vitamin C), or citric acid.
AB 728 is not Lee’s first attempt to tackle selling anti-agers to teens.
Last February, he proposed AB 2491, which would have required businesses to take “a reasonable step” to prohibit the sale of over-the-counter skin care products and cosmetics that advertise that they are intended to address skin ageing.
The bill ultimately failed to pass, with the US’ Personal Care Products Council (PCPC), describing AB 2491 as “well intentioned, but hastily drafted, overbroad, overcomplicated and effectively impossible to enforce”.
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