Is your year 5/6 child newly obsessed with all things ‘skincare’ ??

[Jessforless]

My year 6 child is absolutely obsessed, it’s come about in the last month. It’s all she talks about and spends hours on the Sephora website.

Apparently this is a ‘thing’ at the moment in this age group.

Is this the same in your house and where did this come from? Everything she wants is ££££!

It’s so strange that people are like, oh it’s all from Tik Tok and rolling their eyes as if they have no control over it. Surely they can ensure that their 9 and 10 year olds aren’t on that app? It’s notorious for influencing such young minds that I wonder why such young children have access to it. Weird.

Can you say more about castor oil? This is most recent item dd has asked for. V interested x

Even if the 9 and 10 year olds don't use it themselves, they'll have older siblings or cousins etc. that do.

You can't raise your kids in a bubble.

‘Just straight hair and mascara’ in year 6?!

No. And nor does my 12 year old girl. This is unhealthy.

My dd 10 does both. Obsessed with football .. and skincare

Yes.
More accurately hair care.
She doesn’t go on TikTok but she does have friends who do. The bigger factor though is the 15 year old sister who started getting into it a year or so ago in a more gradual ‘buy everything you can see in Superdrug’ sort of way. Then shes in her big sisters room - what’s this, why do you do this? And the older one saying “When you get to secondary school…”
DD2 has very curly hair and her bigger obsession is her hair not looking frizzy. Fully encouraged by her sister who, as every 15 year old is, is very keen to look perfect.
We haven’t had mention of any brands or mini fridges though. She’s happy with stuff she buys or gets given from Superdrug, Tesco and Primark.

We don’t allow my daughter on social media as her friend was groomed on tic tok and then subsequently abused. I’m always a bit horrified when people allow their kids access to it as it’s a cesspit. My daughter’s friends have mostly be banned or not allowed since their friends experience and they seem like normal little children which is lovely.

I agree with the price point messages and the fact it feels mildly crazy. Also, if it's causing skin problems then I agree it's a worry but tbh this is not a hill I'd be prepared to die on.

I would far rather this than saving and spending money on alcohol, vapes, drugs and all the worrying stuff that comes with that. For me, my DD can stick with her skincare tutorials - fill your boots DD!! I feel like there's worse stuff she could be idolising...

I can taste that lip gloss now lol 😂 gosh it was sticky and shiny - thanks for the memories ha ha

I am half indian. I just followed what my mother did.

I don’t wear make up so I have nothing to remove. I just wash my face before bed, and cover my face in a layer of cold pressed, organic castor oil. Wash off with hot water in the morning.

I get taken the piss out of, but I have no lines or wrinkles at 43 and I am always asked how I have such glowing and clear skin. I’ve never used anything else.

I also rub the inside of banana skin over my face most days when my kids eat one. Leave for half an hour, wash off with water. Again, watched my mother do it growing up.

I sound like some sort of hippy, but It’s never sat right with me covering your skin with chemicals.

DD11 likes to "play" at it rather than being obsessed. She asked about drunk elephant until I told her the price (she gets fiver a week pocket money) and was quite happy with a vitamin c oil and face roller and a "celebrity" face wash and moisturiser she'd seen (Florence by mills). She's mid way through puberty and if it gets her to wash more I'm ok with that.

She does have a mini fridge but I think the only thing in it is water and whatever chocolate is left over from Christmas.

I’m quite surprised at the level of scorn regarding this. I’m 40 - my love of skin care and makeup began aged 10, and was in full swing by 11. I loved finding products in Shout and Sugar magazine, and scouring the shelves of Superdrug on a Saturday morning. I certainly wasn’t alone in that, there were a good number of girls in my class who shared my enjoyment. I understand that social media is driving advertising and influencing kids, but they’re not the first generation to enjoy skin care and makeup in this age group. I wouldn’t allow my daughters to use products with harsh or anti aging ingredients, but they both enjoy their routines using age appropriate products…and yes, they discover some of those through TikTok 🤷‍♀️

My niece is yes- she doesn’t have TikTok (or a phone), so it must be her friends at school. She is after me to buy her some moisturiser or other that looks like a flower when it is dispensed.

My son is the same age- he isn’t interested in skin care, just makeup.

Mine is 9 and has never mentioned skincare. I'm not sure any of her friends are into it although I know some of them do go on Tiktok. She likes makeup but think Claire's Accessories sets shaped like cats and copious bright blue eyeshadow.

Yes, definitely a thing over here.

However, you may need to have some proper conversations or look on tiktok/YouTube for some videos by dermatologists. DD has bought two things from Bubble but I'v told her she can only buy basic cleanser, basic moisturiser and an SPF (actually, I've said that I will buy the SPF in due course). She is too young for active ingredients and they're not good for her skin

Learning and getting into the habit of a basic skincare routine is fine - I'm all for that albeit this seems a bit unnecessarily early - but part of a good skincare routine is understanding what you are using and why, and making sure it's right for your skin. So this is something we've been discussing quite a lot.

That's the Bubble moisturiser. There is a fairly basic one that is okay for pre-teen skins and I think the cost is £16.

Thanks! I was wondering if it would be ok for her age group. To be fair to her she has got some patches of dry red skin on her cheeks so it’s not mad to want to put something on it… but my first thought was something like E45 cream or simple- I have really good really not sensitive skin so I’ve never given it much thought before.

@Whatdoy I think a few of their moisterisers do the flower thing. I think the general hydrating moisturisers are the sort of basic ones, without the extra actives.

Yes. It's tedious. She's giving herself spots with it all and can't be talked out of it.

I've seen several threads on this but it really doesn't seem to be a thing in my dd's friendship group. She is 12 in year 7 and washes her face with whatever I buy for her!

Maybe if you live in Los Angeles.

A child in the UK does not need to be wearing spf in the winter.

Big difference being is that now that lots of 9 year old girls describe skincare as their main hobby and request expensive skincare items as their main Christmas presents.

I got flamed a few months ago for asking if 9 was too young for a skin care routine (tbf, I accidentally said regime which people enjoyed picking up on)

All I was concerned about was finding a gentle enough cleanser for her; and perhaps a moisturiser.

She was/is getting spots on her nose, and some dryness on her cheeks.

She doesn't have access to TikTok or similar, so doesn't know about all the drunk elephant/byoma/bubble brands - and if she were to come across them it would be a hard no.

I think skin care is a really important step, but I want to be super careful about the things she's putting on her delicate skin. The ingredients in all the popular brands are way too harsh.

Plus, I feel like it's a fine line between 'washing your face with this cleanser will help keep spots away' and 'urgh, spots are gross, you must not wash your face properly if you get them' .