Latest status-symbol gifts: Pricey lip balms and sanitizers

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.