Quinceañera Gabriela Moncada has her makeup done for free, in Bogota, Colombia. A wave of tweens and teens are embracing pricey skin care routines and documenting their rituals online.Fernando Vergara/The Associated Press
A couple years ago, Tara Lagu asked her 12-year-old niece what she wanted for Christmas. Her wish list consisted of around US$300 worth of skin care products. Dr. Lagu, an adjunct lecturer of medicine at Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, was baffled. Why did a tween want anti-aging face creams, peptide serums and toners?
What seemed like an odd request was, in fact, a symptom of a growing phenomenon.
Known as “Sephora kids,” a wave of tweens and teens are embracing pricey skin care routines and documenting their rituals online.
There was no existing medical literature systematically analyzing these TikTok videos, so Dr. Lagu partnered with dermatologist and medical anthropologist Dr. Molly Hales to conduct the first peer-reviewed study investigating the potential risks and benefits of such skin care routines.
The rise of ‘Sephora kids’ and the tween obsession with pricey skincare products
Released earlier this month in the journal Pediatrics, the study found that girls aged seven to 18 use an average of six different products on their faces, with some girls using more than a dozen. These products carry a high risk of skin irritation and allergy, the study found.
In the study, Dr. Hales and another researcher each created a new TikTok account with a reported age of 13 years old. They scrolled the “For You” feed – which is powered by an algorithm that adapts to a user’s likes and saves – and collected data on the first 100 skin care videos they viewed.
The top brands used by the creators were Drunk Elephant, The Ordinary and Glow Recipe, and the average daily regimen cost US$168, which the authors estimated would typically last a month. Some cost up to US$500.
The researchers found that in the 25 videos with the most views, these skin care routines included products that contained an average of 11 active ingredients, such as the chemical exfoliant alpha hydroxy acids.
“For this age group, the recommendation is zero. A young teen or preteen who doesn’t have any acne yet doesn’t need to be using any active ingredients,” says Dr. Hales, who is a postdoctoral research fellow at Northwestern. “For an older teen who does have some acne, an argument could be made to having an active ingredient like salicylic acid maybe once a day as part of a skin care routine, but certainly not more than that.”
The study also found that fragrance, one of the most common contact allergens in personal care products, was added to more than half of the products used in all the videos. “Although there’s not a lot of research around this, especially with kids, there’s concern that with the earlier and more frequent use of personal care products, the rates of allergic contact dermatitis are going up,” says Dr. Hales.
Most surprising for the researchers, however, was how only 26 per cent of the routines involved any SPF, especially since many active ingredients increase sensitivity to the sun.
The rise of viral anti-aging skin care products prompted a California assembly member to introduce legislation earlier this year that would ban the sale of anti-aging products that contain harsh ingredients, such as vitamin A and its derivatives, including retinol, and alpha hydroxy acids. “We have to stop the beauty industry from exploiting our youth,” assembly member Alex Lee said in a statement.
In the videos, creators said they liked specific products because of how it made their skin look more “glowy,” “dewy” or “like a glazed doughnut.” Others said certain products “soothed” undereye bags. Many videos featured the products, in their pretty vessels, carefully arranged in the girls’ bedrooms and on vanities, like status symbols.
“Sometimes in the videos, part of it is displaying all of these products that you’ve purchased and have ownership of, like an expensive sneaker collection,” says Dr. Hales.
Past generations swore by their own questionable skin care hacks – think abrasive fruity scrubs, toothpaste on pimples and dehydrating alcohol pads – but Dr. Hales worries the Sephora kid trend is reshaping what young people see as healthy living.
“What was disturbing to me as a dermatologist, but also as a mom, was seeing how this pursuit of beauty was also tied up in this language of health and self-care,” says Dr. Hales.
“I wouldn’t want these young girls to be getting the message somehow that they need to spend 45 minutes every day and $200 worth of products on skin care in order to be healthy or to be taking care of themselves.”