After shopping at Sephora becomes a hot topic among tweens, California lawmakers are calling for more restrictions on what they can buy. California bill AB 2491, filed by San Jose Democratic Rep. Alex Lee, would ban the sale of anti-aging skin care products to children under 13.
“Children don’t need anti-aging products. AB 2491 protects children and preteens from the potential of using products that can cause short-term or long-term skin problems that they otherwise would not experience.” It will protect them from serious harm,” Lee said in a press release.
Children do not need anti-aging products. Using these powerful products can cause serious harm. Scarlett told TODAY that she is a 10-year-old fifth-grader who thought using these products would make her “glow,” but instead it caused a painful reaction. pic.twitter.com/JWbkiLzhCD
— Alex Lee (@alex_lee) April 24, 2024
If signed into law, the bill would require companies to take “reasonable steps” to ensure that customers purchasing anti-aging products are at least 13 years old. This could include displaying a sign or asking for your date of birth at checkout.
But some people and businesses are already pushing back. The Personal Care Products Council, an industry group representing Sephora’s parent company Ulta and about 600 other cosmetics and personal care brands, said the bill would be “nearly impossible” to implement.
“This bill threatens to overregulate products essential to safe and healthy skin care by proposing sales restrictions on a wide range of cosmetics and personal care products, including basic necessities such as sunscreens, moisturizers, and cleansers. ,” the association said in a statement. .
The first public hearing was held after the bill was introduced, and one of its supporters, a 10-year-old named Scarlett, spoke about how she experienced a painful skin reaction after purchasing an anti-aging product. Ta.
“I was mainly looking for sheet masks, creams, mists and other products with words like ‘brighten,’ ‘moisturize,’ ‘whiten,’ ‘anti-wrinkle’ because I don’t want to get wrinkles. Sorry, it makes me look older,” she told the room full of lawmakers, who responded with laughter.
She added that some of the products gave her a rash that was so painful she couldn’t sleep and that she still suffers from redness and bumps on her face.
“I really wish I knew these things affected me, because if I had known, I never would have used them,” Scarlett said. “I didn’t know you could buy products that looked so good but could actually harm your skin.”
