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

[Prombles]

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

Bymoa and bubble aren't made for 10yr olds!!!!

They dont need a skin cleansing routine at 10!

Parents need to parent.

It's that simple.

I've always had comments about having good skin. I've never used products and very rarely wear any makeup. I know a number of people of a similar age who say similar.

The whole industry is a con. It just found a new market. It's not really a surprise but parents still can parent. I'm sick of this 'oh but peer pressure' stuff that seems to be increasing as an excuse to failing to say no.

My DD11 has shown an interest in skincare and has done for the past couple of years. I don’t mind indulging it a bit, I’m sure I started getting interested in beauty products the same age- Body Shop stuff mainly.

I’ve bought her a few bits for Christmas and birthdays and she’s used her own birthday money for treats. However, before anybody starts getting outraged, I’ve had a good conversation with her about how complex ingredients are not for her age skin. I bought her the Caroline Hirons teen skincare book which basically says the same thing.

So in all reality DD is limited to a Byoma cleanser, a basic moisturiser with added SPF, a gentle Superdrug night cream and about 15000 lip balms.

@Prombles Apparently. If the journalist is accurate and certainly the child who spoke was saying she did. Also the products some use are anti aging and not made for young skin. They are expensive and parents are buying them. I cannot say I’ve seen any advertising geared towards dc but I’m not a child on SM looking at other stupid children.

The 13 year old who is pictured in the article is very pretty but the make-up makes her look much older - I guess that might be what she wants - but there is no luminosity in her complexion, it's all buried under her foundation, concealer etc.

I see quite a lot of threads on here from parents asking about this or that for their quite young children and pre teens

When challenged they get arsey and think its just a bit of fun and helps them feel 'grown up'

This is the problem, no one has any common sense.

The answer is no, you cant use this and you cant have this, its for grown ups

People dont like to parent thats the problem.

A lot of these influencers are the same people who tell their followers they should tan 'naturally' and not wear suncream because of the chemicals...

I have noticed compared to my young days , it's all about multi product prepping and cleansing. In my day it was slapping a load of pretty awful make up on and then usually going to bed with it still all over my face. Lip glosses have always been a thing.

KPop seems to heavily influence a subset of girls aged about 12 to 13. You can see their make up form 100 yards away. LOTS of very pink blusher all over the face.

I have a 14yr old dd and she has ordinary, ce rave, and inkey list skin care. She has a routine as she suffers acne prone hormonal skin. I read and read and these have suited her skin. We tried bubble- made it worse. Byoma same.

Parents need to take accountability and stop buying this stuff for young girls, its not needed !!! Girls that age shouldn't be on tik tok. Tough shit regarding tantrums you are the adult! And parent. I have to do this still with my dd.

We recently had a school message in primary regarding uniform standards, make up, acrylic nails etc.

I mean who is allowing and paying for primary school age girls to have acrylic nails ! Its bloody mental!

The anti ageing products at age 13 fits with data that suggests young women think botox should begin at 22.

This is exact example of what Im talking about. An 11 year old child does not need this stuff, doesnt need a cleanser or moisturiser unless they need a moisturiser for medical reasons.

Its ridiculous.

I think it's good hygiene, soap can be really bad for the skin so she has some products that are age appropriate and keep her skin clean and soft. She sees me looking after my skin and wants to copy but my a lot of stuff wouldn't be good for her to use. There's nothing wrong with a pre teen understanding how to look after her skin.

Exactly this! Zero parenting

But you are using products not aimed at pre teen skin. And soap at that age isnt bad for skin !

YANBU to the extent that some seem to get into it. It's good to start learning how to look after your skin though in puberty and this applies to boys and girls.

I soon learned in the 1980s age 11 that Aapri facial scrubs were not a great idea. I was definitely affected by advertising, books and magazines, if it was much too early for social media. Took me until I was 20/21 to realise that women's beauty magazines were selling insecurity, so we had our own issues back then too.

DDs buy more expensive stuff at 20 and 17 though than I do at 50.

We have the same book and funnily enough it mentions not using all the stuff she has bought her dd.

Oh yes, I forgot to mention the other 'reason' that posters give for giving their kids all this shit, its necessary because they 'need' it for some high faluting reason for their skin, theres always a pseudo medical reason. 'looking after their skin' is a thing trotted out

Funny how its not the same for the boys isnt it?

My niece sees a dermatologist for acne,
the dermatologist told her that a lot of the expensive skincare brands can actually be very damaging to child and teen skin.

Soap is bad for anyone's face!

I remember washing my face with soap as a little kid and my skin feeling very tight and horrible. I don't think standard soap is particularly great, it's just that you get away with it before spots start to appear. Unless you have eczema etc of course.

I had to get advice about what to put on DD1's skin as a baby as she had baby eczema. Certainly not soap.

To you maybe. She swims a lot so does get some dry skin. I like her to wear spf during spring summer for obvious reasons and she cleans her face in the evening to get the spf off.
The lip balms are an indulgence just because she’s got quite a few but I bet you wouldn’t be so outraged about by boys buying football cards of Pokémon cards. Or maybe you would.

It causes absolutely no conflict in our house. My daughter has healthy skin and it’s not her only interest- swimming as mentioned above, drama, gymnastics.

By the way, the moisturisers and cleansers combined cost a total of about £20. I spent more on my sons replica football kit.

Oh, yes, some 80s products were harsh. 'Clearasil Cleansing Milk' was like putting vinegar on your face - I used it once and threw it away, I decided I'd rather put up with my spots!

I had the 'Oil of Ulay' moisturiser which I used sporadically - at the time it was cheap and just a lanolin-based moisturiser. It later became 'Oil of Olay' and got more expensive.

I had some lipsticks and eyeshadows as a teen but I didn't really use foundation or concealer until I was in my 20s.

Agree. I don't agree with kids using hard products designed for adults but also don't agree with them been clueless and using harsh soaps ect. I've never used Johnson's etc when she was a baby, instead it was coconut oil, natural bathing products etc. I suffered with really bad eczema as a kid and fully blame the daily baths in Johnson's bubble bath, imperial leather soap ect.

And not all kids do have glowing skin. One of my DDs friends already has acne and she doesn't use any skin care products. I think prevents acne is easier than trying to cure it

I used Rimmel concealer from being about 11 or 12 when I started getting one or two spots. I still use it!! Have tried loads of other but have never found any better. We weren't allowed to wear makeup at school but I still wore a bit of eyeshadow and mascara at 13 or so as well and got away with it.

Not true. Go to page 63. For tweens getting interested in skincare, they can have cleanser moisturiser and sun protection. Obviously, with the exception of the spf, most kids won’t need the stuff but like I said, my dd likes it, it helps with her post swimming skin, we bought a few inexpensive products and causes zero drama in our house at all.

My 14yd old dd suffers horrendous eczema and us under a dermatologist. We never used soap. But body wash as a baby. No one actively uses soap because to be honest no one at 10 has a skin care routine!