Miniature models of beauty

Cosmetic brands market face masks and moisturisers to pre-teens, while experts caution against hormonal and skin risks

PARIS:

Should children be using beauty face masks? Dermatologists say no, yet a growing number of companies are targeting a generation of kids who have grown up with TikTok skincare and make-up routines.

The cosmetics industry and parts of the internet have been abuzz since the launch of Rini earlier this month, a beauty company aimed at children as young as three and backed by Canadian actress Shay Mitchell.

Its bundle of five child-friendly hydrating face masks, including "everyday" varieties named Puppy, Panda, and Unicorn, sells on its website. Another growing US-based brand, Evereden, offers products for pre-teens such as face mists, toners, and moisturisers.

Fifteen-year-old American YouTuber Salish Matter unveiled her brand Sincerely Yours in October, drawing tens of thousands of attendees—and police reinforcements—to a launch event at a New Jersey mall.

"Children's skin does not need cosmetics, apart from daily hygiene products — such as toothpaste and shower gel — and sun cream when exposed," said Laurence Coiffard, a researcher at the University of Nantes who co-runs the Cosmetics Watch website.

Child-focused beauty products are part of a broader societal trend. Many girls in Gen Alpha — a marketing term for those born between 2010 and 2024 — are adopting skincare, make-up, and hair routines more typical of older teenagers or adults.

The most precocious have been dubbed 'Sephora Kids', in reference to the popular French retailer, as they emulate TikTok or YouTube influencers, some as young as 7.

Coiffard cited research showing that child users of adult cosmetics and creams have a higher risk of developing skin allergies later in life, as well as exposure to endocrine disruptors and phytoestrogens, which can interfere with hormone development.

American dermatologist Molly Hales, of Northwestern University, posed on TikTok for several months as a 13-year-old interested in beauty routines. After creating a profile and engaging with videos by minors, the platform's algorithm "saturated" her and fellow researcher Sarah Rigali.

They watched 100 videos from 82 different profiles. In one video, a child smeared 14 different products on her face before developing a burning rash. Another showed a girl waking at 4:30 am to complete her skincare and make-up routine before school.

The most popular videos, titled 'Get Ready with Me', featured an average of six products, often including adult anti-ageing creams. "I was shocked by the scope of what I was seeing in these videos, especially the sheer number of products these girls were using," Hales told AFP.

Several brands disproportionately represented, such as Glow, Drunk Elephant, and The Ordinary, market themselves as healthier, supposedly natural alternatives. Hales found that the top 25 most-viewed videos contained products with an average of 11 — and a maximum of 21 — potentially irritating active ingredients for paediatric skin.

New child-focused brands, including Rini, Evereden, and Saint Crewe, claim they are offering safer alternatives for tweens and teens. "Kids are naturally curious, and instead of ignoring that, we can embrace it — with safe, gentle products parents can trust," Rini co-founder Shay Mitchell told her 35 million Instagram followers.

Hales expressed "mixed feelings" about the trend. While there may be benefits in providing less harmful products, she stressed that these routines are "really not necessary" and "perpetuate certain beauty standards or the expectation that children must follow costly, time-intensive routines to care for their skin."

Pierre Vabres, a member of the French Society of Dermatology, added that exposing children to beauty routines can have psychological consequences. "There's a risk of giving children a false image of themselves — an 'adult in miniature' who feels the need to focus on appearance to feel good," he told journalists in Paris.