Despite releasing in 2013, Drunk Elephant took the internet by storm in 2023.
Drunk Elephant became the number one product on young girls’ Christmas wish list and many parents bought them without realizing how harmful they can be to their child’s sensitive skin.
Drunk Elephant founder, Tiffany Masterson, created this brand as she suffered from bad breakouts due to any product she used. Quite common ingredients in these products did not react well to her skin so she decided to make her own products excluding these ingredients
“These are what I call the ‘Suspicious 6’ – essential oils, fragrance/dyes, silicones, chemical screens, SLS and drying alcohols. Once I eliminated them from my routine, my skin returned to a clear, balanced state. But I couldn’t find products without at least one of the Suspicious 6 in them. So I decided to make them myself.”
These products have fun, vibrant packaging which interests consumers. This drew the attention of TikTok influencers who tested the products on their pages. One haul video by sonya_styles received 7.2 million views whilst a ‘Get Ready with Me’ video by katiefanggg received 2.3 million views within the last month.
The problem arose when young teen girls were influenced and wanted to try these products. These children are using harsh serums and acids on their delicate skin, e.g., Hyaluronic Acid, Protini Polypeptide cream, retinol etc. These products are fine for late teens and adults but are unnecessary for children to use constantly.
Due to the demand for Drunk Elephant, it sells out in shops such as Sephora very quickly. Employees at such shops have come out and exposed the state that these children leave the Drunk Elephant stands in. One TikTok user Cassandra Bankson uploaded a video of her going to Sephora to see if these claims were true, she showed clips of the section left in a disgusting state “I thought it wasn’t going to be terrible, but I was sorely mistaken. This thing was disgusting. There was a lip balm with a literal hair in it. Someone put the bronzing drops all over one of the moisturizers.” Later one in the video we see that she is not the only person at the stand and these people are bumping into her as-well.
“But the Drunk Elephant section was foul. And right as I was leaving, someone between the ages of 14 and 16 literally went over there unsupervised and started switching products.”
I believe the main problem for these stands getting destroyed is that parents are leaving their children unsupervised. In most videos shown online of these situations the child is always by themselves, their parents are not being responsible enough and are just letting them do whatever they want. Sephora or any brand and business are not suitable stores for your child to play in, it is not a playground or a daycare, it is somebody’s job and livelihood.
The Drunk Elephant ‘craze’ does not seem to be ending anytime soon. All we can do is advise parents to get their children more suitable skincare products and research what they want to buy instead of just buying it without knowing what it does.
