Italy has become the first European country to launch a formal regulatory investigation into the marketing of adult skincare products to children, with the country’s competition authority opening two separate probes into Sephora and Benefit Cosmetics — both owned by French luxury conglomerate LVMH — over practices it says are fuelling a growing mental health concern among young girls.
As reported by The Guardian, the Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato (AGCM) said it was examining whether the two brands had deployed what it described as a particularly problematic marketing strategy — one involving young micro-influencers who actively encourage compulsive purchasing of face masks, serums and anti-ageing creams among minors, including children as young as ten. The regulator said the practice is directly linked to what medical literature now recognises as “cosmeticorexia” — a culturally reinforced obsession with achieving flawless skin that results in excessive and age-inappropriate use of cosmetic products. AGCM officials, accompanied by Italy’s specialist antitrust financial police unit, the Guardia di Finanza, conducted on-site inspections at the premises of Sephora Italia, LVMH Profumi e Cosmetici Italia and LVMH Italia as part of the probe.
Sephora has more than 23 million followers on Instagram and over two million on TikTok, placing the brand at the centre of a social media-driven beauty culture that is being consumed in substantial volumes by minors. A CBS News analysis of 240 skincare posts from teenage influencers on TikTok found that only 15, or 6%, had been properly tagged as promotional content — raising questions about the transparency of influencer marketing directed at underage audiences. The “Haul from Sephora for Kids” tag on TikTok alone features hundreds of videos of children, some as young as five, reviewing and purchasing adult skincare products in Sephora stores. The broader “Sephora kids” phenomenon — a term used to describe the intense attachment between preteen girls and high-end beauty products — has drawn mounting concern from dermatologists and child development specialists, who argue that children’s skin is more sensitive than adult skin and that exposure to unnecessary active ingredients such as retinol, alpha-hydroxy acids and beta-hydroxy acids increases the risk of long-term irritation and sensitisation.
According to CNBC, the AGCM probe centres specifically on whether both Sephora and Benefit failed to adequately label products or omitted important precautions for cosmetics not intended for use by minors — both in-store and across social media channels. The regulator flagged the Sephora Collection and Benefit product lines as the primary focus of that disclosure concern. The investigation also examines whether marketing campaigns were designed to blur the boundary between organic content and paid promotion — a concern amplified by evidence that some brands have asked influencers to avoid standard advertising disclosure tags in favour of softer “partner” labels that tend to generate higher engagement.
The Italian investigation is the first of its kind by a European regulator and arrives as medical literature has increasingly formalised the concept of cosmeticorexia — also referred to as dermorexia — as a clinically recognised pattern of behaviour driven by social and digital reinforcement. The condition is defined as a preoccupation with flawless skin that leads to compulsive or excessive use of cosmetic products, often using formulations intended for adult skin on children who are still in primary school.
Sweden moved ahead of regulators in other markets a few years ago, with several beauty companies voluntarily introducing age restrictions on advanced skincare products containing active ingredients — a model that European consumer advocates are now calling for at a continental level.
As noted by the Irish Times, LVMH confirmed that Sephora, Benefit and LVMH Perfumes and Cosmetics Italy had been notified of the investigation and pledged full cooperation with authorities, adding that all three entities operate in strict compliance with applicable Italian regulations. No findings of liability have been made and the investigation remains ongoing. The probe lands at a commercially sensitive moment for LVMH’s beauty division, which reported revenue of €8.5 billion in 2024 and has identified selective retailing — the segment that houses Sephora — as a strategic growth engine. Sephora previously distanced itself from the tween skincare trend in 2024, with its North American chief executive stating publicly that the brand does not market to that demographic. The Italian regulator’s findings, if upheld, would directly contradict that position.