Child skincare

[yonnie8]

I want DD to use a serum and I was wondering if Estee Lauder anti aging serum would make much difference to her?

This is her skincare routine she has been following since she was little:
Day:
Wash with warm flannel
Rice water
Yuja niacin melatin inhibiting gel cream
White in milk moisture cream
White in milk sun cream
Skinzen sun stick (for reapplication every 2 hours)
Atopalm kids facial sun pact (for reapplications during winter)

Night:
Cleansing oil (to remove all layers of sun cream)
Esfolio egg cleansing foam
Rice water
Yuja nicin brightening sleeping mask

I was thinking of using the serum as part of her night routine but Estee Lauder's serum is an anti aging one so I was wondering if her skin would just stay the same as she's very young. Would Beauty of Joseon Calming serum be a better option?
What are your thoughts? Did anti aging serums work for your children?

I don't think there would be any point adding an anti ageing serum at this stage, OP. That will be designed for mature skin, not 9 year old skin. Do you feel like her routine is lacking?

@chipsandgin So you're saying nearly everyone in Korea needs to see a counsellor? Just because we think appearances are important?

@chipsandgin just because you don't know an 11 year old that doesn't have gorgeous skin doesn't mean they don't exist!
My DD is 11 and has terrible acne on her face and back. I've been trying to get her into a skincare routine for months.

Yes I am Korean. Skincare in Korea is the same for both genders- the products are for both genders here. It does depend on the parent but most Koreans will start extensive skincare routines much earlier than other countries.
We are very beauty conscious so we make sure that our children get good skincare habits and nice skin. I won't make my daughter do this but some people even let their 10 year olds get double eyelid surgery (one of my nieces did). So serum is not that strange to us.
I hope this explains a bit

May I suggest you might be better seeking advice from a Korean or ex-pat source?

My experience of MN is it’s mainly British, and this kind of skincare isn’t common. Many people will find it a very odd thing to do, as you’ve seen from the responses.

It seems unnecessary to me, and your comments on the ages of those who don’t follow this skincare routine are bordering rude.

I couldn’t advise on Korean skincare routine any more than I could advise on Black hair care.

@yonnie8 Yep, quite possibly! I mean enjoying dressing up, hair and make up, skincare etc all have a place as most people like to look nice, it’s just the level of obsession as well as the emotional/financial/time investment coming across in the OP that are a bit of a red flag!

Culturally speaking it’s always been considered quite vulgar to be vain and self obsessed here in England, although in recent times there is a trend amongst a certain sector of society (& I presume this is driven by social media etc) to spend a lot more time preening, having procedures and taking duck face selfies etc rather than living their lives...it does seem to go hand in hand with an empty vacuous mind and lack of character though (google ‘Love Island’ and you’ll see what I mean..).
Your child should be laughing, running round outside, being creative, developing interests and covered in mud or paint, having fun and exploring her world not fannying about doing things to her face every day (an eleven step skincare routine doesn’t count as an interest!)..

The whole encouragement to value looks so much and be so vain is deeply unpleasant and has worrying implications for the mental health of these young people. Historically here we’ve always valued kindness, humour, integrity, intelligence, loyalty etc over superficial looks...if a society has normalised eyelid surgery in children that is horrifying & nothing to be proud of.

@IndieTara No of course treating skin problems isn’t the issue, the OP was about using anti-wrinkle cream on a child, which is both bonkers and a bit sad, that’s all! I’ve got a friend who’ve visited dermatologists to get treatment for her daughters pre-teen acne (& buying lotions etc off the shelf can be a bit soul destroying & there isn’t much about that isn’t too harsh for young skin). As it’s more likely to have a hormonal cause and is can be caused by a spreading bacterial infection in the skin then getting a short course of a combination antibiotic and steroid cream can get rid of the underlying skin issue/infection and may sort out the acne quite quickly? Definitely worth exploring the idea (& during normal times was something that could be accessed via the NHS, no idea now though!?).

@chipsandgin have you actually just called an entire nation vacuous?!!
Way to go.
I think you win racist of the day.

I'm from nearby country, and yes, it was norm to have skin care routine from quite early age in my country too. Though I think antiaging stuff is ott and not necessary for children. Have you checked the ingredients? Sometimes the products for mature people have unwanted ingredients for children that may cause adverse effect.

I do remember my mum buying all sorts of lotions and potions when I hit puberty “for my spots”.

I remember it being utterly humiliating, i only ever got the odd very rare blackhead but it definitely felt like I wasn’t “perfect” or pretty any more, and feeling the need to hide away or cover it up.

If it’s the cultural norm youngsters may feel differently. You say you’ve never had a spot @yonnie8, have you thought about how your daughter will feel if she does, or if she develops hormonal acne or similar?

@QueenPaws

She doesn't need a serum, but if you're going to add one anyway then the calming one would be a better option

White in this sense isn't skin bleaching, it's a common in Korean skin care for meaning brightening, its not going to bleach her skin

Fair enough, I stand corrected! I saw “9 shades lighter” on one of the product listings and thought it was skin bleaching and cringed!

So sorry Op! Tbh if you’re Korean, you could probably teach us more about skincare than we could teach you I would say that anti aging skincare is probably not the best option for a child, because it’s not necessarily preventative but rather seeks to diminish the initial signs of aging eg filling in fine lines, which a child wouldn’t need.

Soap and flannel...seems to be ok for both my girls?

@DameCelia nope, not remotely racist here, nor did I call an entire nation vacuous, maybe have a little re-read. I personally have contempt for anyone and everyone who is shallow/vain and self-obsessed regardless of where they come from (& if you do re-read you'll notice I used Love Island as an example..). This is especially true if it potentially impacts the mental health of the children that they project that vanity on to by making them feel inadequate if they don't measure up.

Personally I measure someone's worth by their actions and the way they value and treat the people that they love, not every by their gender, race, sexuality, religion or class.

Are you saying that as I said in my post (to paraphrase) that 'vanity often goes hand in hand with being vacuous' that presumably YOU think ALL Koreans are vain therefore somehow I inadvertently called an entire nation that YOU are generalising about vacuous!? It's quite a leap, also a massive and unfair generalisation, undoubtedly untrue/implausible & definitely not what I said....(& if you are saying that about ALL Koreans then it's not me being racist!!)...

My 10 year old dd’s face gets washed along with the rest of her when she goes in the bath, which is about two or three times a week. She has beautiful skin.

I’ll talk to her about skincare routines when she hits puberty, and not before. It’s just not necessary.