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Scarlett Goddard Strahan began worrying about wrinkles when she was in fifth grade. By the time she turned 10, Scarlett and her friends were spending hours on TikTok and YouTube watching influencers promote products to achieve today’s go-to beauty aesthetic: a dewy, “glowing,” flawless complexion. Scarlett developed an elaborate skin-care routine with facial cleansers, mists, hydrating masks, and moisturizers.
One night, Scarlett’s skin burned badly and blistered. Overuse of products made for adults had wreaked havoc on her skin. Months later, Scarlett was left with small pimples on her face and her cheeks turned red in the sun. “If I had known that my life would be affected so much by this, I would never have put these things on my face,” says Scarlett, who recently turned 11.
Scarlett’s experience has become common, experts say, as teenage girls across the country rush to cosmetics stores to buy high-end skin-care products. Even girls as young as 8 are arriving at dermatologists’ offices with rashes, chemical burns and other allergic reactions caused by products not made for children’s sensitive skin.
“When kids use anti-aging skincare, they can actually cause premature aging, destroy the skin barrier and leave permanent scars,” says Dr. Brooke Jaffee, a dermatologist in Scottsdale, Arizona. More than the physical harm, parents and child psychologists are concerned about the effects of this trend on girls’ mental health. Extensive data shows that focusing on appearance can impact self-esteem and body image and lead to anxiety, depression and eating disorders.
Skin Care Obsession takes a look at the role of social media in the lives of today’s youth and how it shapes girls’ ideals and insecurities. Girls are experiencing sadness and depression at record levels. Whether exposure to social media causes mental health problems or is related to them is up for debate. But for older teens and young adults, it’s clear: spending too much time on social media has been bad for them, absolutely.
Young girls’ fascination with makeup and cosmetics is nothing new. Nor are kids holding themselves to ideal beauty standards. What’s different now is the magnitude of it, says Chris Perry, executive director of Children & Screens, a nonprofit that studies how digital media impacts children’s development. “Girls are bombarded with idealized images of beauty that set a beauty standard that can be very difficult — if not impossible — to achieve,” Perry says.
Mia Hall, 14, explains that her passion for skin care goes beyond just wanting perfect skin. It’s about belonging to a community that has a lifestyle and look that matches your own, says Mia, a New Yorker from the Bronx. Skin care wasn’t a big deal for Mia until she went into eighth grade last year. Girls would connect with each other about their skin-care routines at school and on social media. “I felt like it was the only way I could fit in,” says Mia. She began following beauty influencers on TikTok. Some influencers are paid by brands to promote their products, but they don’t always mention it.
Mia began saving her weekly $20 allowance for trips to Sephora. Her daily routine included face wash, facial mist, hydrating serum, pore-tightening toner, moisturizer and sunscreen. The level of information and detail that girls get from beauty tutorials sends a troubling message as they are going through puberty and exploring their identities, says Charlotte Markey, a body image expert and Rutgers University psychology professor. “The message to young girls is that, ‘You are a never-ending project just starting over,'” Markey says.
The beauty industry is benefiting from this. Last year, consumers under the age of 14 drove a 49% surge in skincare sales at drugstores, according to a NielsenIQ report, which found that households with teens and teens were spending more on skin care than the average U.S. household. And in the first half of 2024, a third of “prestige” beauty sales at stores like Sephora will be driven by households with teens and teens, according to market research firm Circana.
The industry has acknowledged that some products are not suitable for children, but has done nothing to stop kids from buying them. Drunk Elephant’s website advises children 12 years of age or younger not to use their anti-aging serums, lotions and scrubs. This guidance is on the site’s FAQ page; there is no such warning on the products themselves.
Chemical exfoliants like retinol and hydroxy acids are inherently harsh. For aging skin, these are used to stimulate collagen and cell production. Dermatologists say if used incorrectly young skin can react with redness, peeling and irritation that can lead to infection, acne and hypersensitivity. Mia’s mom, Sandra Gordon, noticed dark spots on her face last spring and became concerned. She threw all of her daughter’s products in the trash. Mia was not happy. But as she heads into high school, she now feels her mom was right. She’s been using just the face wash and moisturizer and says her complexion has improved.
Scarlett, from Sacramento, California, didn’t realise the products were harming her skin: she developed a rash and felt stinging. Scarlett thought she wasn’t using enough of the products, so she applied more layers. That’s when her cheeks started to blister and hurt. When her mother, Anna Goddard, read the ingredients on each product, she was shocked to find retinol in products marketed to children – including one with a cat’s face on the packaging.
Now, what worries her mother most is the psychological consequences. Comments from kids at school have led to anxiety and self-consciousness. Goddard hopes for more protections. “I had no idea that harmful ingredients were being put into skin care marketed to children,” she says. “There should be some sort of warning.”
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