Is 9 too young to have a skin care regime?

[DrMeredithGrey2023]

If not, any recommendations on where to start?

My teenage sons have developed a lazy and potentially expensive skincare routine by using my facial cleansing wipes and moisturiser as it was easy!!

I only use those wipes on a heavier makeup day, but now the boys have their own face wipes and spf day creams.

They’ve seen an improvement in their
skin and I think (after asking them how they washed before the wipes) that is because even though they were showering, I don’t think they were actually properly washing their faces 🤦🏼‍♀️

It isn't hygiene. You really believe that all her 9 year old classmates who don't have a skin regime with products have bad hygiene. That all the people in the world who just wash their face have poor or bad hygiene? Hygiene is about health and disease prevention. There is absolutely no evidence that one must use a a skin regime to stay healthy or to prevent disease and teaching your daughter that at a young age is just misinformation. Hygiene means that if you don't do it, there can be a negative impact on your health and a higher risk of illness / disease. I (and millions of others) have lived many years without a skin regime and do not have a diseased face. Buying products for skin that has no health issue is beauty not hygiene.

🤯 We really need to licence for parenthood.

People are weird
My face needs washing! It gets sweaty, dusty, sometimes even muddy and you wouldn't just rinse your hands with water and say you've washed them
It's like showering and not washing your feet or neck seems to be a badge of honour to use nothing but water on your face and say you don't have a routine
I just like having a clean face and nice skin

You asked how to start her on a skin care regime at 9.

You aren't alone. A lot of parents care about beauty when it comes to young girls. There are 9 year olds on diets, 9 year olds already wearing make-up to make them prettier, 9 year olds whose parents ensure they are always in brand clothes and looking perfect. For you it is important she has a beauty routine at 9. Does she wear make-up?

No one needs a skin care regime for good hygiene if they don't have skin issues. Her friends who wash their faces without a skin care regime and products are not unclean or dirty children with poor hygiene. Many people wash their faces and keep their skin healthy without specialized products and a skin care regime.

Obviously you can do whatever you want. Just be aware of the messages you are sending a young impressionable child.

Don't worry. The sensible people understand that it might be nice to help our young people deal with the often traumatic changes that happen to their skin when hormones start getting to work.

The OP hasn't asked for a beauty routine. She's asked how to help her child deal with hormonal skin changes.

?? No she didn't. That was a different poster.

*You asked how to start her on a skin care regime at 9.

You aren't alone. A lot of parents care about beauty when it comes to young girls. There are 9 year olds on diets, 9 year olds already wearing make-up to make them prettier, 9 year olds whose parents ensure they are always in brand clothes and looking perfect. For you it is important she has a beauty routine at 9. Does she wear make-up?

No one needs a skin care regime for good hygiene if they don't have skin issues. Her friends who wash their faces without a skin care regime and products are not unclean or dirty children with poor hygiene. Many people wash their faces and keep their skin healthy without specialized products and a skin care regime.*

Yes. I asked - is she too young, and where to start, as in, a gentle cleanser that would be appropriate. Apologies, I assumed that anyone interested in/that had knowledge of skin care would get that. A lot actually did, but perhaps I should have made it clearer.

Not one of her immediate group of friends are in the sea as much as she is. They don't wear sunscreen other than in the summer. They don't get bumps on their cheeks after being in the sea. What they do or don't do is irrelevant, as they are not in the same position as my daughter.

No, she does not wear make up. Would she be allowed to mess around with some eyeshadow if she wanted to? Yeah, as long as we weren't leaving the house, I wouldn't have a problem with that. She could go nuts and give herself a bright green eyelid if she wanted to - because that would be the fun side of make up, the creative side, that she is playing with. It wouldn't be about concealing or enhancing anything. If she wanted to have a full face of grown up make up then my answer would be absolutely not.

Is that ok with you? Or should she be taken from me immediately?

I have never said anything about her being taken from you. She is impressionable. If you posted asking about what concealer she needs to wear or child safe lash lengthening mascara is there to make her eyes stand out, yes I would have an issue with that too. Many skin products are full of chemicals and actually lead to a need for other products to counter act the effects of the first product. Skin is actually a pretty healthy organ if left mostly alone. When you start to strip it and clog its pores and mess with the natural state, you end up with skin issues. Once you start regimes and product use it can be hard to stop as your skin is now affected and you are in a cycle. Skin has many important functions and other than being clean, it doesn't need (and can be harmed) by treatments and products unless there is a skin issue. Much of the pressure that girls and young women have to meet some standard of beauty comes from their moms and other women. Beauty regimes starting from a young age will reinforce that messaging. Our bodies are actually pretty amazing as they are, including skin.

@Whatsthefrequencykenny

Well, I didn't ask about concealer or mascara for a child - because that would be insane.

Perhaps my initial post was clumsy, but I have made it very clear since that I was interested in a) a gentle cleanser that would remove the spf from her face and b) perhaps a moisturiser that would sooth the dry skin/bumps that she gets on her cheeks, as we currently use zero base, and maybe something else would be better.

I can see where you are trying to go with this, but it's a swing and a miss in this case. The products I was interested in were to care for her skin, not beautify it.

I think I must have started a sort of routine when I was about 11, nearly 12, mostly because my 2 years older sister had started.
sebamed face wash (smelled like fairy liquid) for spot prone skin, I was already getting a few spots. And then when that was too harsh, Clinique face wash bar! (Generous mum!!!)
I think I may also have used toner (witch hazel??) which I haven’t used now in about 25 years.
Also a light daytime moisturiser.
I used to enjoy it and it helped with spots (until proper acne kicked in years later…)
I have fab skin now, aged 47! I think starting a gentle regime at that age (a bit older than 9, tbf) helped!
Still wish I had started daily spf earlier than when I did (in my mid 20s) though…

what does the word "gentle" mean to you in the chemicals-on-face context? Because it has no meaning, other than as a advertisers lure.

@Nimbostratus100 I imagine stuff that doesn't have acids, retinol, unscented etc etc
Like the different between AHA toner and rose water. One I would put on a child's skin, one I wouldn't
Like if you have eczema you don't tend to put heavily scented products on, you would say gentle meaning aveeno type stuff
Yes gentle can be used as a marketing gimmick but if I said I was looking for a gentle shower gel, most people would guess not scented/coloured/hypoallergenic

Here is a good list of chemicals to avoid

How Do I Know If A Product Contains Harmful Chemicals? Read the labels on your skincare products before you buy them.

• SLS (sodium lauryl sulfate) and SLES (sodium laureth sulfate) are the common sulfates that you spot on the labels of your shampoos and other personal care.
• Chemicals under methyl, butyl, propyl classes fall under parabens.
• Toluene is often labelled as benzene, phenylmethane, toluol and methylbenzene.
• PEGs can be spotted as numbers like 100, 120, 14M, 30, 32, 40, 75 and so on.
• Formalin, formaldehyde, glyoxal and bronopol on the labels of skincare products indicate formaldehyde.
• Diethanolamine is abbreviated as DEA on skincare products.
• Ethanol, methanol, denatured alcohol, ethyl alcohol are all drying alcohols.
• Petrol or petroleum based products
• FD&C or D&C represent artificial colors. F means food and D&C means drugs and cosmetics.