Microluxuries like $10 hand sanitizers and $20 lip balms are the latest flex for school kids.
The big picture: These pocket-size purchases are being "traded, shown off, and incorporated into personal brand-building," Casey Lewis wrote last month in After School, her newsletter about youth trends.
State of play: Teens and tweens say they're drawn to Touchland's candy-colored sanitizer mists (packaged in sleek rectangles) for the aesthetic and because they're less likely than gels to leak in pencil cases and backpacks.
- Owning just one usually isn't enough: "Our teacher tells us we can only have one on our desk because we all have too many," Vaida Jaunzemis, a 10-year-old in Minneapolis, told the Wall Street Journal.
Young fans similarly flaunt Rhode's Peptide Lip Treatments and Summer Friday's Lip Butter Balms — glossy tubes with names including Strawberry Glaze and Pink Sugar.
- Limited editions and sold-out drops offer extra social currency.
Reality check: Mini status symbols aren't new. Pokémon cards and Lip Smackers once filled the same role for earlier generations.
The bottom line: $10 is steep for hand sanitizer — but cheap compared to what some Labubus go for online.
