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

Anyone remember Clearasil? That stuff was bloody harsh too.

Why are parents giving into pressure to spend £100's so their dd [usually] so their 8 year old can wreck their skin with this shite?
I don't go with 'I buy it because I love my kids and want to make them happy."
It might just be setting them on the path to future entitlement of needing parents to pay for botox, nails, derma fillers et al.
Looking like Katie with her weird face and football boobs started somewhere. We know she has MH issues but even so.
There are going to be a lot of very strange looking people, women, in particular once they get old, all silcone and face lifts that didn't go to plan and wonky lips.

Yes, it's so sad that girls that young are worrying about such shallow rubbish. The parents or grandparents enable or finance it, and it is incredibly unhealthy.

No wonder we have teenagers with low self esteem and so little confidence that they are easy victims to grooming gangs who just need to tell them they are beautiful to gain their trust. We have college students looking for sugar daddies, and women with no career experience or qualifications stuck in abusive relationships because once their looks fade, they are valueless.

Just awful parenting.

Child being the operative word.

You’re many years being a woman and a childhood based on the things that are important as opposed to insecurities, obsessions with appearance and early exposure to unnecessary chemicals is hugely important for future mental and physical health

I strongly suspect many mothers are living out their fantasies and wants through their daughters. It’s just awful. There should be protections in place.
Sephora for one should have age restrictions but hey let’s make money and harm children instead.

Honestly, at age 11 parents should be teaching their children about marketing and advertising and how it's about making them spend their money not improve their lives. It's age appropriate and really important to the world they now live in. Certainly by 14 I was doing media studies for GCSE and one of the things I did in depth was looking at women's magazines and stereotyping so I see absolutely no reason you can't start softer teaching at home at 11.

A really good way to start is by comparing a photo / video of a fast food burger compared with the sorry looking thing you actually get (even if it's tasty!) as it gives you a really good visual representation between marketing and reality.

I find it so depressing that girls this young are already been made to feel they don’t look good enough and have to buy their way to being ‘better’. But I find it more depressing that parents allow them access to the social media that pushes the idea. Does nobody care how damaging it is or know how to say no?

As soon as DD1 started secondary school she got into makeup in a more serious way. She seems to have about 3 different products that are all foundation-lite.

Skincare wise I was fairly on top of this and read various articles about what is and isn't okay for young skin. She is good about putting SPF on (clearly my haggard face has been an inspiration!) and she's more focused on cleanser etc than moisturiser.

I know. That’s what being smart is.

I have really oily skin, I still use something that looks a bit like clearasil, in my late 40s! 🫣

Yes.

I wanted some.

My mum said "you don't need that, it damages your skin more and it's normal to have some spots. If you had severe acne, it still wouldn't be appropriate as you should see a doctor".

She was right.

How come my mum could say this, but my peers and younger are incapable of saying it?

my mum bought my skincare and makeup. After the apricot scrub debacle, she paid for dermalogica skincare. When I wanted foundation she took me to Prescriptives and got me shade matched as she said I wasn’t walking round with an orange jawline

i started my periods at 9 and was using skincare from a young age, mostly as I needed to cleanse really well due to hobbies

i wasn’t using any actives, just mild stuff that couldn’t harm anyone and I’ve worn SPF since I was tiny on my face especially

My friend owns a very high end skin care company based on a multiple step regime. He promotes daily use of spf, a clean face and a suitable moisturiser at that age.

It’s utterly batshit but the money to be doing this is coming from somewhere.

I also think that labelling it “skincare” is disingenuous, given it seems less about “care” and more about amassing products. It’s giving toxic “wellness” industry vibes.

DD 2 is 8 and in y4 - she definitely does not have access to social media, but some of her peers at school do. Some of the girls in her class are very focused on skin care and make up with their parents buying them premium brand skincare.

It is utter madness year 4 children should not have access to social media at all. These young girls are being influenced by much older influencers in their late teens and early twenties, and do not realise that they are making marketing, cosmetic and influencers ££££.

DD 2 has pestered me for high end skin care products because she wants to fit in with the cool girls ( in her eyes) in year 4 and year 5. The answer is a firm no every time DD asks me, of course she isn't happy with my reply, but I am the parent.

DD2 does have a mild kids face wash, E45 for her skin, as it is dry and prone to flare ups. Suncream when necessary.

Teenagers, I can understand being into skincare and make up. I know I was at that age. Pre - teen girls, should be allowed to be children and not worrying about skin care and make up!

The sooner social media is banned for under 16s can't come soon enough in my opinion.

I know!!! My mum told me that. She was soooo right. I had perfect skin all through my teens and now as late 50s. All these products deregulate natural oils and skin and once it gets irritated and dry or reacts you’re on a cycle. But that is what the skin care giants want. Get them trapped early. They drop in words like water, Korean, milk etc and parents are dumb enough to get sucked in too. I think some look at these young girls and wish they had young skin so are living out their fantasies through their daughters. Why else would you just hand their young faces over to cosmetic, chemical giants?

What’s the betting the powers that be do SFA until it’s too late in the same way they didn’t react to SM, grooming online, screen hours,vapes etc.

Oh, yes - see my post upthread about the 'cleansing milk'!

Yep. No 8 year old is spending hundreds on skincare stuff. A parent is buying it.

Parents need to be parents and say NO. These children aren't getting these products for free, so someone is giving them the money. Manufacturers are relying on pester power, just as they have always done with promoting toys or sweets.

Again your making a lot of assumptions. We both just enjoy having nice clean feeling skin that isn't dry! It's not even about looks - it's about how it feels. I don't live any way through her.

You seem to think because a child does skin care they don't do any child related things, that's your own silly viewpoint.

No child needs skincare

daily showering and probably hair wash, so many teenagers with greasy
lank hair going to school here - wash face with a leaping bunny or vegan
friendly facewash or quality soap (we use fine milled French soaps or
olive oil soap) and most importantly to soak your face in cold water to
close the pores, no chemicals needed.

Who remembers Almay? pure products. Simple is Unilever.
Waitrose PURE is the gentlest most effective, cleanser, micellar water,
face wash etc., I have found and used.
My girls went to school with clean skin moisturised from year 7 and in very
cold winter or wind, a smear of Vaseline across cheek bones preventing
broken veins.
I wanted my girls to have better awareness of skin care than I had, nor
to have open pores from washing in warm/hot water and not closing them,
through ignorance really. My contemporaries with mums ‘on it’ put me right,
thank goodness, so simple, so effective.
My mum bought herself Neutrogena soap and kept it separate, we had
Camay, Lux, Palmolive, whatever and a rough towel.

Young skin is fine and delicate and should be treated gently, with care,
no harsh chemicals!

Lilac eyeshadow! cringe, was all I was allowed until I left home at 17 but
that was a while ago, so many improvements in skin care and make up,

11 year olds will be watching tutorials from Harper, although we have
here enjoyed VB’s make up sessions, she is at least a grown up and
buying /or using her own (which is really good actually)
the a la mode skincare/makeup being Korean, which is bizarre when
they have a different skin type anyway.

Little girls from toddlers love lipsticks, its genetically bred into us.

Absolutely. It really is fucking tragic that girls this age are already being brainwashed into thinking their appearance is the most important thing about them.

Even the phrase ' skincare routine' is a marketing tool. We used water. I never had skin problems.
There is no reason on earth why pre teens or even most teens need to put anything on their faces, aside from those with dermatological conditions, advised by a pharmacy. I agree OP it's a racket. And It's a market that we should be ashamed of.

I feel incredibly strongly about this. Until puberty water alone is fine. Even after that unless they have spots or are wearing a bit of makeup then water continues to be fine. My 20 year old uses a bit of micellar water and some moisturiser I have never allowed her to hve a “routine”. She has wonderful skin overall and I am sure it’s because she has barely ever put anything on it.