To think pre-teen girls don't need expensive skincare - "Cosmeticorexia" BBC piece.

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I found this BBC article interesting and a bit concerning - it describes girls as young as 8 spending hundreds of pounds on skincare, including products with ingredients aimed at much older skin, such as retinol, which might damage young skin.

I'm not in touch at all with the world of teenagers and pre-teens. When I was that age (1980s) we would start buying bits of make-up probably about secondary school age, use the kind of acne-defeating products mentioned in the article, and maybe a basic moisturiser such as 'Simple' or 'Oil of Ulay' as it used to be called, but no one would think of buying anti-ageing products or having a multi-layered skincare regime costing £££.

Posters who have daughters in that age bracket - how common is this now? Would you discourage them from doing this?

The concern is not so much having a skincare routine per se - it does seem a shame for them to get locked into an expensive and time-consuming process before it's needed - but the use of retinol products that might actually be damaging their skin.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx212x41evwo

It’s more common in girls who use social media at that age. Get ready with me videos, skin care routines, influencers etc. Things become the IT thing and all they can talk about . Same as once there were toy crazes(and still are) now there’s skincare stuff.

I blame the parents for both letting them on social media AND buying the overpriced, expensive stuff that isn’t even good for their skin.

Did DD have some products? Yes, nothing fancy and mostly focused on washing/cleaning the skin , moisturiser (with SPF 50 in the summer) and fighting spots.

Oh God, my DD is obsessed with putting stuff on her face ( she's 11 )

she's allergic to nearly everything she's tried though so she's limited to aveeno face wash and moisturiser ( she used to nick my face stuff and I actually stopped buying things because she refused to stop taking them / getting allergic reactions 🤦‍♀️

It's all about the money. How much can we screw out of people? Where's the next market to exploit? I've just read a piece about school leavers paying for leaving day shirts instead of just signing one they've worn. Kids are a huge market these days and companies are happy to exploit that.

It’s on R5 right now. A young girl called Ellie May. Sounds like her mother encouraged it. Plus they are thinking products are targeted at children. Not entirely sure that’s true. But if mums give DDs the money - what can you do? It’s always the parents who are the idiots!

I saw that article and really felt for these kids. I was into makeup when I was young, but it was just fun (and quite badly applied). There's so much knowledge available on the internet now that kids really can look picture perfect.

Yes, from what I remember of my teens, the products aimed at that age group that were advertised in 'Jackie' and so on were pushed for their lack of complicated ingredients as being gentle to the skin, or for their spot-repellent properties.

SPF wasn't mentioned and should have been, but the 80s were peak sunbed era. Fortunately, in retrospect, I fancied myself as a bit of a goth so would slather on factor 50 at the slightest sign of sunshine,but I had friends whose parents would hire sunbeds in advance of their holidays so the whole family could 'start their tan' beforehand in the belief this would stop them burning when they arrived in Spain or wherever 😮

For this type of subject I highly recommend advice from Caroline Hirons. She is a no nonsense source of factual science backed knowledge. She has her own skincare range and doesn’t push anything on anyone for profit I highly rate her as a reliable and trustworthy source if you want to know what’s needed / necessary / appropriate. She seems to be morals above profit.

It's all completely unnecessary- just a money sink.
The only children who should be using skincare products beyond soap/face wash and water are those with dermatologixal conditions.

I think it’s pretty common for 10+yrs to be interested in this unfortunately. I’m pretty strict with my daughter (12) on phone / internet usage etc and so she’s got this from friends rather than directly. At the moment I’ve limited it to child friendly washes and moisturisers plus a lip gloss and mascara but her friends birthday lists are nearly entirely beauty related with some buying/getting products I wouldn’t pay for - £35 for a lip gloss 🤷🏻‍♀️

edited to add - definitely a money making scam but 100% aimed at that audience.

I saw the leaving shirt one as well! In my day people got a normal blouse signed, except I wouldn't have dared to because my uniform was destined to be passed down to my sister and my mum would probably have made me pay for the ruined blouse!

I find it really sad. These are children and they are being pushed into an adult world by parents, social media (8 year olds shouldn’t have access to social media imo) and marketing.
Washing their faces and some sun protection is all that’s needed. Maybe some moisturiser.

My DD10 and her friends are all really into skincare. I think it's she has got a routine for cleaning the skin but I don't let her buy things that will damage it.

She has a gentle micellar water cleanser, some byoma and bubble products but that's it. One her friends is using some brands that are expensive and aimed at older skin which I do think will damage her skin. I think they see things on tik tok and want to buy the same brands even though they won't be good

I don’t understand who will fund these expensive habits as the dc grow up?

Why?

I saw an advert recently (got an email,it was a brand I had searched up and I do buy) for an anti ageing cream. The model has full face make up and no older than late 20s. They are fooling no one .
I am 60, if I buy age specific or skin type spefic products I'd like to see them on age appropriate models ?

My DD loved her makeup as a young teen she wore full face but looked like she wasn't. The "no make-up makeup look". Now 24 it's Korean Beauty

@thirdpartygobetween Why push your own brand though? Of course it’s money!!! I agree with a factor 30 or 50 but they don’t need much else and anyone pushing it and blogging about it is it for money and they know stupid parents will buy. There’s very little need to buy anything beyond sunscreen and a good face wash. Maybe a lip moisturizer if dry lips are a problem. The child on the radio was putting on make up for school. Is this why we have a cost of living crisis?

8? My DD had a close friend who had a skincare regime at 6 or 7. Of course DD wanted one too and wasn't happy with my response! Unfortunately for her, I'm the parent.

Said friend is extremely SM exposed - it's basically the babysitter in her house without her parents knowing what she's watching. I've seen a steady decline in her behaviour as she's got older, but her parents give her whatever she wants because she's prone to enormous tantrums of she doesn't get her own way. This includes a mobile phone at around 7, too.

A real life Verruca Salt if ever I saw one.

It's just another example of everything that us wrong with our society these days. Pre teen kids are an easy target and highly vulnerable. If these products were being advertised on mainstream media it wouldn't be allowed. It's online influencers on Instagram Tik tok and YouTube that are facilitating this, totally unregulated and making millions for the tech companies at the same time, who as usual shrug their shoulders and say it's a free market and nothing to do with them.
Many of the girls in DDs class are into skin care now and while it's easy blame parents, if that's all your DD asks for Christmas to fit in with peers its mean to say no. DD thankfully isn't into it but the cool girls sneer at girls who aren't. It's a huge thing

I can understand it more for actual teenagers who usually have a bit of acne and so on that they want to cover up. But 8 year olds, unless they suffer a dermatological issue, have naturally perfect skin.

I've noticed more and more as I age how luminous youthful skin is, it's something that can never be recreated when you're older no matter how many products you throw at it, and it just seems such a shame that young girls are covering their youthful glow with products for older women that are designed to try to replicate exactly what they are covering up!

Birthday//Christmas presents. Or in the case of my DD , she got a bit "meh" about makeup but still likes skin care. And nails

When your DD is an adult and looking back at childhood pictures, she will thank you for your firm stance on this.

I remember in the 80’s at the school discos in Y5 and 6 so would have been about 10 all the girls wearing makeup to those. I can only hope there is no photo evidence of my blue eye shadow paired with blue mascara and probably blusher applied badly! Young girls now seem more focused on skin care than loads of makeup. They don’t need it but I can’t see the actual harm unless they have allergies

Is make-up allowed in school nowadays? It was in my day - at least, it was at secondary, I don't think anyone tried wearing it in primary - but I thought on the whole that schools these days had much stricter uniform codes.

The article says many are using retinol-based products and that retinol can damage young skin.

My ten year old is not on social media and neither are 95% of her peers and so this is not an issue for us. And I will be keeping her off social media until mid teens at the earliest. Edited to add she is interested in make up from time to time and requested a fairly grown up set for Christmas which was in for a time but she hasn't used in weeks. She knows it's not allowed at school. This is quite similar to me at the same age so I'm not concerned about it. Any mention of skincare I will be talking to her about it and maybe watching that documentary with her.