Business product idea for teen girls...is this good or bad?

[Mummaneedswine]

I have a little girl who has started noticing the differences between our bodies and talking to me about it. She's very inquisitive and asks about body hair, babies and products I use. She's dying to be grown up bless her.

Anyway, shaving came up as I was shaving my legs and she expressed she didn't look forward to hairy legs. I said it's a part of growing up and she asked what kids products she will have to use. It got me thinking. I know she won't use anything for a while but I've researched and there is very little for teens that remotely seems fun or less icky as a embarrassed girl with a changing body. My mum made me feel so awkward about periods and shaving and tbh I was left alone to just figure things out by myself.

So my question I guess is does anyone think there is market for a fun personal care brand aimed at teens to early twenties. Something that is colourful, informative but made to make using those things less embarrassing and more like a fun form of self care? I'm thinking natural deodorants, razors, shaving foam potentially period products if it took off?

Would you regularly buy something like this for your teen girl if it made her less embarrassed and more excited about taking care of herself?

I would love all your honest thoughts on what is missing from the market, price point, subscription thoughts, etc 😊

Think it's just more adult pressure being put onto kids.

What matters is the parental approach, not the product. You said yourself your mum's attitude was the issue.

Shaving products won’t be needed until she’s much older though, and you could argue they’re not necessary at all and a more useful discussion should be it’s purely optional to remove body hair and not in anyway connected to whether you’re a grown up.

Natural deodorants more suitable for younger teens are already available.

There could be something in period products aimed at younger teens but I think that market has really grown recently with period pants etc that didn’t used to be available.

Personally, I think that by the time teenage girls start needing to shave, they should embrace being on the verge of adulthood and shouldn't be encouraged to have a protracted childhood. I really only see a "child's" shaving product for the small proportion of much younger children started to shave at a much younger age than is the norm, and that won't justify a brand/business. I'm sure most teenage girls will want to be doing "adult" things and will be more interested in becoming an adult, rather than being held back by continuing to use "childish" products.

I wouldn't encourage young girls to shave at all. It only makes the hair tougher and harms the skin.

Use hair removing cream if necessary, or preferably encourage girls to accept the body they have and to decide for themselves how they want it to be, rather than make out that hair removal is a fun chore we all must embrace.

Sorry, I think this is a terrible idea. Girls need period products and deodorant when they are not children any more. Shaving legs is a choice, children certainly don’t need to do it and the last thing we need is marketing aimed at making impressionable children think they need to do it.
I have a dd who chooses not to shave. I’d have hated it if on top of all the marketing aimed at women, telling us we need to be “smooth”, she’d been exposed to the same stuff targeted at little girls.

I think you just had a DM who was a bit weird about it all

It's not that deep and shouldn't be embarrassing

Most girls will talk about it at school

And girls just buy women's or men's razors 🪒 for legs and armpits etc

DD was a bit embarrassed I supposed and awkward re her period the first few times but of course is now over that and just gets on with it

No I don't think there is a market, too niche - my DDs had electric razors as I did as teens as they are easy and safe. Standard roll on or spray deodorant is just fine too

I think its hard to imagine when our kids are so young but by the time she is shaving and needing deodorant she won't want 'kids' things, she will just use adult razors, some of which are colourful like the Venus ones. Or hopefully we will have developed a society that doesn't expect this stuff from women and she won't have to bother at all!

I don't equate eliminating body hair with "self-care".

That aside - I'm not sure I understand the concept. Do you mean for teens whose parents won't have the conversations with them? (The informative part). And the having a different branding marketed to teens, my experience is that teens like to be using the grown up brands.

Are you imagining teens will buy this themselves or parents will buy it for them? for my DD at that stage, she wasn't buying stuff herself. when she started getting interested in removing hair for example, I just talked to her about the options (wax, cream, shave etc) and she plumped for one (she uses a trimmer as she's not too bothered about no hair but doesn't like long hair). Same with deodorant etc. she just added stuff to the shopping list when she needed it.

Shaving isn’t “taking care of yourself”

it’s a choice.

shaving legs isn not puberty related either, we all have it. Teens often choose to shave at that point when they become self conscious and realise hair is often viewed negatively.

it’s not fun or something to be excited about, and it’s not part of being a grown up.

It doesn't make the hair tougher at all
It makes the hair blunt so it feels thicker

Shaving can split the hair follicle so you get more hairs.

As for the toughness of each hair, we'll have to agree to disagree on this.

There are loads of products already aimed at this market. Period products especially cater primarily to the teen girl market, and there are loads of little starter kit options designed for discreetly tucking in school bags etc. Hair removal the same, there are little shaving stones etc that appeal to younger users. Even high end skincare brands are trying to appeal to ten year olds etc, just look at a place like space nk which is weirdly now the holy grail for 11 yos on their first shopping expeditions.

I don’t see how it’s needed to be honest, you can get all those things already, modibodi does all sorts of colourful period pants, you can get razors in various colours, ditto natural deodorant. Teens to early 20s don’t really want kid versions of things either.

People are being a bit harsh, some girls start their period before leaving primary school - I got mine in the summer before I went into year 7, and I also started shaving my armpits for swimming lessons in year 7. At 11 years old I certainly wasn't an adult!! I started shaving my legs at 13 or 14.

I understand that removing body hair is a choice and therefore any marketing that is targeting teens is seen as insidious, but as someone who was mortified by my hairy pits and resorted to stealing my dad's razors to sort it (also blessed with an awkward mum in that department) seeing a reasonably priced accessible alternative in superdrug would have been amazing.

Anyway can't offer any real advice as it's been ages since I was a tween/teen and don't have my own yet, but from memory I'd have appreciated some age appropriate products to deal with things.

I think this is quite a good idea. When dd started using this stuff I used to search for the gentlest products for her, so a range of very gentle deodorants, shaving foam etc that looked appealing to teens would have been great.

I wouldn’t think of it as “self care” or in terms of what your young daughter might like though.

I think there's a market for teen-specific products, yes.
Teen-specific products should feel quite grown-up but be focused on sensitiveness, sustainability, and good quality.

Being 'colourful' and 'informative' feels too childish - it reminds me of the 90s 'Groovy Chick' stuff which won't chime with today's teenagers.

Moreover, call me a cynic but I think shaving and hygiene products marketed to teenage girls (especially if they're 'informative' and have text about puberty, changing bodies, hair, odour etc. on them) will also find a market among fetishistic men.

Yep I did say it's been ages since I was a teen! I just meant everyone who jumped on and said 'it's not necessary because only adults should shave' or whatever I'm paraphrasing were being a bit unreasonable for saying that. And I stand by that even more so if there are in fact lots of options on the market now, clearly there is a need for them.

Yes that’s definitely for younger girls.

I’d look at some of the make up brands that target the teen market eg Glossier.

Grr accidentally deleted my post.

Here it goes again...

I think this is a great idea. My work I'd heavily involved in the beauty industry.

I think you need something targeted at the tweens to mid teens age group. By 17 most are using or aspiring to use trendy adult products. This is also being driven hard by social media campaigns and influencers.

Age appropriate products are needed to keep these kids away from brands like Drunk Elephant and products that contain retinol and other chemicals that may cause long term damage.

A brand that inspires good hygiene and personal responsibility from an early age in grooming is definitely missing and I would say there is enough market space and potential for a brand like this.

You will need to do a shit tonne of research in these age groups pH balances, skin conditions and how skin and hair mature. This research can be prohibitively expensive. The development and research needed for products like this can be extensive. Not mention licensing, insurance and safety guarding.

For example, off the top of my head, there is not a decent product available for the over production of sebum that can be triggered by puberty unless you look at professional adult brands.

There are also brands like Clearasil and Neutrogena which are primarily marketed for teens. Their ingredients tend to be cheaper, harsher and use a lot of filler chemicals.

Amazing ingredients, great packaging and QR codes which link to information relevant to the age groups, how to, hints tips and tricks would go down very well.

As a pp has said there are already loads of brightly colour products available. I would also look at keeping the price point realistic and in line with allowances/pocket money. Making them too expensive will make these potential products out of research for many. Also, great scents and on trend botanicals will be needed.

Good luck. This may have legs if you do your primary research carefully and find the right niche.

There are already period products and deodorants and skin-care ranges aimed at tweens and younger teenagers. As for hair removal, I think there's far less pressure on girls now than there used to be - DD and her friends who are in their late teens have a range of approaches from removing everything to removing nothing and nobody seems to care much either way. I feel.as though products aimed specifically at young girls are limited in their lifespan and encourage the idea of hair removal for young girls as the norm. Also, to be honest, many of the hair removal products aimed at adult women don't exactly ooze mature adult sophistication - they are already in the sort of colours and patterns that you find in stationery products aimed at teenage girls.