As L'Oréal Group's second-largest luxury brand and a notable contender in the skincare category, Kiehl’s is on a mission to “protect and heal our communities”. When the hazardous "Sephora kids" trend began circulating on social media, it was clear Kiehl’s needed to respond. The brand launched a unique, non-profit campaign on social media that challenged the skincare industry's excesses. Using powerful viral visuals, Kiehl’s not only raised awareness about this social issue but also underscored the vital message that children, above all, should remain children. This message was so strong that L’Oréal decided to turn it into a group commitment.

The rising interest in beauty products among children aged 3 to 13, predominantly girls, is a cause for concern. Their skincare rituals, mirroring adult routines, often involve harmful elements like peptides, retinol, and collagen.

This alarming trend, initially propelled by young influencers such as North West, Kim Kardashian and Kanye West's daughter, first emerged in the US.

NielsenIQ data reveals that US households with children aged 6-12 and 13-17 saw skincare expenditure surge by 27% in 2023, far outstripping the overall US growth rate of 13%.

The widespread fascination for skincare among young girls has led to the "Sephora Kids", with Sephora emerging as their top skincare shopping destination. This perilous trend has transcended borders, reaching Latin America and making inroads in Europe. The hashtags #sephorakids and #kidsatsephora have amassed over 550 million views on TikTok.

Skincare brands can be easily tempted to capitalize on this rising business opportunity. But, amidst this, Kiehl’s, as a worldwide skincare brand available at Sephora, felt compelled to confront this issue. Upholding its mission to "protect and heal our communities", Kiehl’s aims to safeguard skin health through an empathetic, holistic approach. This ethos extends to help parents in preserving their children's skin health, particularly when it's at risk during their formative years. As the sephora kids skincare trend is a real threat for children, L’Oréal decided to turn Kiehl’s message into a group commitment to onboard all its brands into the movement.

A concerning social media trend has emerged recently, where young children, influenced by TikTok, primarily girls between 3 and 13, are adopting adult skincare routines, with harmful ingredients and useless numerous steps.

Kiehl’s is one of the largest skincare brands in the world and is available at Sephora. With the mission to “protect and heal our communities”, the brand had to stand up against this scourge via a purpose-driven brief with the objective to raise awareness, especially among parents, about this social issue that jeopardizes children's skin health.

To raise awareness on the “Sephora Kids” phenomenon, Kiehl’s launched a campaign starting on Instagram, where this target is. Instead of promoting products, Kiehl’s delivered a bold message denouncing excesses into the skincare category, and reminding everyone of what a child's routine should truly be. Through four impactful visuals, the campaign urges people not to let children miss out on the beautiful and innocent moments of childhood.

The campaign going viral on social media, Kiehl’s decided to go further and to support its message on OOH and DOOH with flyposting and trucks driving and passing by schools and famous beauty retailers like Sephora and Ulta Beauty. These tactical locations were an opportunity to better catch the attention of the “Sephora kids” parents. The brand also maximized its reach by publishing its prevention message into newspapers, including the The New-York Times.

Childhood innocence is under threat. Numerous children, aged 3 to 13, are imitating adult skincare regimens, involving multiple steps and ingredients like peptides, retinol, and collagen, driven by what they see on TikTok. This trend has led to these children being labelled "Sephora Kids", as they buy expensive products from leading cosmetic retailers.

Dermatologists’ studies have issued warnings about the harm these ingredients can cause to young skin, and this trend exemplifies the many data revealing social media's impact on children's self-perception.

Understanding that parents control their children's purchases and social media use, Kiehl’s chose to confront this issue directly. The brand initiated a viral campaign on social media, and then in OOH outside schools, and in front of beauty retailers, to target parents. The campaign's viral nature resulted in a global reach, engaging beauty, and lifestyle influencers, and crucially, the medical profession, who amplified the campaign amongst their communities.

The campaign kicked off on Kiehl’s USA Instagram account, organically reaching nearly 1 million people, including parents. First visuals depicted children playing by the sea, covered in mud, with the caption "The Only Face Mask Kids Should Put On", and a young girl enjoying ice cream, with the text "The Only Anti-Aging Cream Kids Should Buy." The content quickly went viral on social networks, then Kiehl’s posted two additional visuals after five days. These assets were then shared by the brand's other local accounts worldwide.

This needed statement was spread further than social media with flyposting, OOH, and trucks equipped with screens displayed the campaign in front of schools and beauty retailers, such as Sephora and Ulta Beauty, to effectively reach parents. Meanwhile, Kiehl’s prevention message was published into newspaper for maximum reach.

Initiated on Kiehl’s social media organically, the campaign swiftly gained momentum, resonating with many expressing their own disapproval of “Sephora Kids”. Globally echoed from the US to Mexico and Italy, it became Kiehl’s most shared campaign. As the #sephorakids trend is a real danger, L’Oréal decided to turn Kiehl’s message into a group movement.

On social media, it exceeded average engagement by +90%, with +256 stories, 42,700 total interactions, and 99%+ positive sentiment, marking a +3600% engagement increase. Top markets for interactions were the US (60%), Mexico (17%), and UKI (12%). OOH & DOOH garnered 14.7M impressions in New York.

The campaign earned acclaim from beauty influencers and medical professionals :

· "As a holistic pediatric nurse practitioner (and mom) I can't thank you enough for promoting such a sound message. Bravo @kiehls."

· "As a pediatrician and allergist, I can only thank you for such an amazing message!"