If you were a teenager in the ‘90s or aughts, the likelihood is that your beauty routine might have consisted of a tea tree oil-scented spot treatment, a thick, claggy balm to moisturise, and toothpaste if all else failed. Fast forward to today, and it’s an entirely different story. As teens and tweens navigate the world of skincare through the lens of social media, they are being told that 10-step skincare routines are non-negotiable and harsh actives are needed to ensure fitting in.
A recent YouGov poll found that 46% of six to 11-year-olds have an active social media account, despite platforms implementing age restrictions. For children whose parents have strict social media rules, advertising is still managing to creep in by way of ‘safer’ social media platforms YouTube Kids and YouTube shorts, which proves nowhere is safe from influencer marketing. But where did it all start, do we know? “What I understand is that it all kind of exploded off the back of Kim Kardashian’s daughter North West’s Get Ready With Me videos,” child psychotherapist Colman Noctor shares.
“I believe she was about nine, and had an elaborate 45-minute skincare routine that she would do every night. That, of course, went viral, and it snowballed from there. That then resulted in children mobbing cosmetics stores and either destroying tester products or buying expensive products with their pocket money.
There are reports that some of these products were things like retinol and anti-ag.
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