Italy investigates Sephora, Benefit over skincare marketing to kids

Italian regulators are looking to clamp down on the tween skincare obsession and are investigating the LVMH-owned cosmetic brands Sephora and Benefit over an “insidious” marketing campaign to children.

The Italian Competition Authority (AGCM) said Friday that it has launched investigations into the two cosmetic brands centred on “unfair commercial practices,” which saw children and young people, even those under the age of 10, being encouraged to purchase serums, masks, and anti-ageing creams.

The regulator said the marketing is fuelling behavior known as “cosmeticorexia,” which refers to an unhealthy fixation on skincare amongst minors.

It emphasized that both Sephora and Benefit had failed to appropriately label products or omitted at times important precautions on products not intended for use by minors, both in-store and online on social media, which could cause serious harm to their health.

Additionally, AGCM said the popular cosmetic brands employed an “insidious marketing strategy” which involved young micro-influencers promoting other young people to buy their products.

AGCM officials and the Italian financial police carried out inspections of the premises of Sephora Italia, LVMH Profumi e Cosmetici Italia, and LVMH Italia on Thursday.

LVMH said Sephora, Benefit, and LVMH P&C Italy had been notified of the investigation.

“As the investigation is ongoing, Sephora, Benefit and LVMH P&C Italy cannot share further comments at this stage, they express their willingness to fully cooperate with the authorities,” LVMH said in a statement to CNBC. “All the companies reaffirm their strict compliance with applicable Italian regulations.”

Sephora boasts nearly 23 million followers on Instagram and over 2 million followers on TikTok, with the beauty brand at the center of tween beauty trends.

The “Sephora kids” social media trend has gained traction over the past few years, with viral videos on TikTok and Instagram showing stores flooded with teenage girls loading up their baskets with brightly-coloured and fun-looking skincare products.

In some videos, young girls show off their skincare routines with products containing anti-ageing ingredients like retinol.

A CBS News analysis of 240 skincare posts from teen influencers on TikTok found that many of the videos hadn’t been properly tagged as promotional content, with only 15 videos, or just 6% of posts, doing so. This means many content creators may unintentionally be advertising products to unsuspecting children.

One teen skincare influencer, Embreigh Courtlyn, told CBS that some brands would ask her not to label videos with “#ad,” which could be off-putting to viewers, but instead be referred to as partners, which would enable the content to perform better.

A peer-reviewed study published by Northwestern University in June last year reviewed 100 popular skincare videos posted by influencers aged 7 to 18 years old. It found that only a quarter of the videos included sunscreen, while the top 25 most viewed videos had an average of 11 and a maximum of 21 potentially irritating active ingredients.

Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and Threads, faced two stinging defeats in court cases centered on social media harms this week. Meta was found liable by a New Mexico jury on Tuesday for nearly $400 million in damages after it concluded that it failed to protect children on its platforms from predators.

A separate trial in Los Angeles found Meta and Google’s YouTube negligent on Wednesday, and said the companies failed to warn users of the dangers associated with using those platforms, in a case brought by a plaintiff who said addictive use of Instagram and YouTube resulted in her developing body dysmorphia. Meta and Google are facing compensatory damages of $3 million in the case.