From sea to shining sea, preteens are spending their birthday money on barrier-repair creams and collecting fragrances like Beanie Babies. Allure set out to find out when and how tweens became beauty experts—and over the course of six weeks shadowing seven of them, we got some compelling answers. Come get to know Generation Beauty.When I opened my TikTok app and began scrolling my feed last week, I was inundated with a barrage of users on a PSA mission. Apparently, Sephora stores across the country are no longer safe due to an infestation of tweens in search of Rare Beauty and Drunk Elephant. Adults complained that these children were making their favorite products sell out, employees shared how 12-year-olds were making messes of samples, and dermatologists tried to tell kids on the app that the expensive products they’re coveting were not designed for their younger skin. Some people even made calls to place an age limit on entering a Sephora. While I understand the frustration these adults have faced due to some unruly tweens, barring youths from shopping at Sephora is not only ridiculous, but actually inhibits their ability to play, think creatively, and learn how to take care of themselves. I’m taking this strong stance because I was a Sephora tween myself.I entered the 7th grade in 2006. YouTube was only a year old and Instagram didn’t exist. It was a time where I spent hours chatting with my friends after school on AIM, carefully curated my MySpace page and Top 8, and mostly used my flip phone to call my parents to pick me up from theater rehearsals and sports practices. On Friday nights, the parents of Pasadena, California would drop their tweens off to converge in front of a movie theater at the Paseo Colorado outdoor mall. It was the social event of the week, bringing together kids from different middle schools in the area. I felt so cool and independent having a night out unsupervised. We would sit down at Islands Restaurant and fill up on fries and unlimited soda, or occasionally convince our parents to give us enough money to have a pre-show dinner at the mall’s hibachi restaurant. If we had extra time before the 7pm showing of the latest blockbuster, we would explore the aisles of DSW and practice walking in high heels or spend our little allowance on a new lotion at Bath & Body Works. After the movie was over, I’d catch up with friends and flirt with crushes until my ride arrived.One of my favorite activities before showtime was to visit Sephora with my friends. I have distinct memories of walking through those aisles at that age. We were at a moment in our lives where we barely used makeup, our tiny collections at home consisting mainly of Covergirl mascara and whatever leftovers our mothers would let us borrow from their collections. But when we went to Sephora, we entered into a wonderland of play and exploration. Every product we read about in magazines was there for us to try out in real life. We could make our eyes sparkly or smoky with Urban Decay Naked palettes, cover up those hormonal pimples with Benefit Boi-ing concealer, gloss our lips with Lancôme Juicy Tubes, or spritz ourselves with fresh and fruity scents like Marc Jacobs Daisy and Juicy Couture.