Fears over rise in young girls using skincare products not designed for them

A young girl beams at the camera. She has braces, wears pink and white striped pyjamas, and has a string of pink balloons and the number 13 floating at the head of her bed behind her.

"It's my birthday!" she sings, "it's my favourite day of the year!"

For the next two minutes, we watch as she puts a series of creams and toners all over her face. She chats about her outfit, and her birthday trip to the theatre the night before.

The video has been watched 2.5 million times.

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Sat at the same vanity table from which she films her content, she says she posts on social media several times a day - often doing "get ready with me" videos before school, where she demonstrates her skincare routine.

"It's just nice. I get to start off my mornings talking, doing my skincare and preparing myself for the day," she says.

Many of her one million TikTok followers are girls her age and younger. They're a generation that's become captivated by skincare, thanks largely to social media trends.

For parents, Generation Alpha's fascination with "great ready with me" videos and skincare routines can be a confusing world to explore.

Many have little to no understanding of what is actually in the brightly packaged creams and serums their daughters are suddenly clamouring for, but dermatologists fear the harsh acids and strong products in some of them could be doing life-long damage.

One mother told Sky News about having to restrict her daughter's pocket money to stop her from buying products she'd seen online. Another said she's banned her daughter from social media - but the girl's friends all show her skincare videos anyway - leading her to feel ostracised without the latest popular products.

Brands know there is a huge amount of money to be made from this growing market of teens and tweens excited by the promise of "perfect skin". Earlier this year it was reported that Gen Alpha (born after 2010) was behind 49% of the growth of skincare sales in the US.

A separate Kantar study found a concerning rise in anxiety about ageing. In just one year there was a 23% jump of 11 to 16-year-old girls saying they thought they had fine lines and wrinkles, and 10% more were worried about dark circles under their eyes.

That insecurity translates to the products they're buying. In the UK alone, data seen by Sky News shows there's been a 21% jump in two years in this age group using anti-ageing moisturiser, and a 150% jump in teeth whitening products.

'Crisis point'

For Dr Tess McPherson, from the British Association of Dermatologists, this is a sign the skincare craze has reached "a kind of crisis point".

She says some viral social media skincare trends are fuelling an "addictive" obsession for expensive products that weren't designed for young people. Anti-ageing creams, and retinols, she explains "can not just cause irritation, but can actually develop contact allergies which can be life-long".

She also says she's treated girls as young as eight or nine who've been buying these products and "who have eczema-prone skin and developed facial eczema as a result".

Layla says for her, skincare is "just about self-care and love, it's fun to do and a way to express myself".

But she knows the ubiquitous popularity of skincare trends today can make some feel peer-pressured into it. "Say all of your friends are using one thing and [you're not]. You feel judged, maybe you feel out of place".

And she does worry about the growth of girls, years younger even than her, using anti-ageing products. She tells me about eight-year-old children she knows using retinol oils; a vitamin A derivative used to target wrinkles, but which can badly damage a young person's skin barrier.

"They just see other people use them," she says, and "think they also want to try anti-ageing things and wrinkle things, which they don't need".

Layla also says she's had her own negative experience of following viral social media trends and has seen her face "blow up" with a horrible reaction as a result. Now, she says she researches everything she uses, rigorously reading reviews and product information and speaking to dermatologists about what products are suitable for her age.

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For Dr McPherson, though, concerns about skin-care routines go beyond the clinical. She also fears for the mental health of a generation of girls who have become fixated on their looks from such an early age.

"It doesn't make you happier. We know it can lead to mental health issues," she says.

"We know it can lead to significant appearance-related concerns, and you might then be more likely to go for cosmetic surgery at a younger and younger age - spending money with risks to both your skin, your health, and your mental health."

(c) Sky News 2024: Fears over rise in young girls using skincare products not designed for them