But the Personal Care Products Council, a Washington, D.C. based trade association that represents hundreds of global cosmetics and personal care products companies, opposes the bill, calling it “a hastily drafted attempt to use legislative force to stop a social media trend. Every ingredient targeted by this bill is safe when used as directed at the appropriate age.”

The bill recently cleared the state’s Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials Committee, and is now headed to the Appropriations Committee, which reviews all bills with fiscal impact once they pass a policy committee.

While the proposal is a first for California, age-related cosmetic bans have been established in other places. In March, the Swedish pharmacy chain Apotek Hjärtat, which has about 390 pharmacies in Sweden, began restricting the sale of advanced skin care products including retinol and alpha hydroxy acids to customers under 15.

Carol Chan, Emily’s mother, who also supports the ban, said stores shouldn’t sell any anti-aging products to children. She hopes the bill will raise awareness about the importance of checking product ingredients.

“We just see the buzz words, like ‘anti-wrinkle’ and ‘anti-aging,’ and don’t realize what the actual ingredients are in there,” Chan said. “That’s scary; even I’m not conscious of it. I can’t imagine an 11- or 13-year-old really caring. They just say it smells good, it feels good, and it’s free — it’s on the counter of my mom’s bathroom, so I’m going to try it.”

But other youngsters have some reservations about implementing a full ban.

Thirteen-year-old Noga Arditi of Palo Alto thinks preteens should be able to choose whether to purchase cosmetic products.

“They should learn about (products) before they put it on their skin, but maybe not ban it totally from people,” the seventh-grader said.

Before deciding whether to support the bill, Palo Alto resident Ellen Payne said she would like to see more research conducted on the long-term effects of children using anti-aging products.

“I’m interested in learning more about the scientific basis of the bill,” she said. “The harmful effects (anti-aging products) have on the skin, and more on the social and psychological effects.”

Her 12-year-old daughter, Tessa, who sticks to using moisturizers and sunscreens, wonders why the “Sephora Kids” her age would even use such products in the first place.

“From the videos I’ve seen, they seem annoying. They don’t really need to use it,” she said. “They are already pretty young. They don’t need to look younger.”

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