Agence France-Presse columnists
Should children use cosmetic face masks? Dermatologists advise against it, but more and more cosmetic brands are seeking to approach this generation accustomed to “skincare” and makeup videos on TikTok.
In November, Canadian actress Shay Mitchell announced the launch of her cosmetics brand Rini, targeting children aged three years and above.
On its website, the brand offers hydrating masks, or other types, in the shape of a unicorn or a panda.
Other companies do the same. Founded in 2018, Evereden, also an American company with revenues of more than $100 million, sells sprays, toning lotions and moisturizing creams aimed at teens.
“Children don’t need cosmetics or skin care products,” says Laurence Couiffard, a professor of pharmacy at the University of Nantes in France who specializes in cosmetology.
“They just need daily hygiene products — toothpaste and shower gel — and sunscreen when they’re out in the sun,” he explains.
On social networks, it is becoming increasingly common to see young girls trying out so-called grooming and beauty “routines”.
Known as “Sephora Kids”, after the famous French cosmetics store, some have been imitating their favorite “influencers” on TikTok or YouTube since the age of seven.
But what may seem like a game has its risks, professionals warn.
Using adult cosmetics filled with chemicals entails exposure to endocrine disruptors and phytoestrogens that can alter hormonal development and increase the risk of skin allergies, as scientific studies have shown, warns Quaiffard.
To study this phenomenon, Molly Hills and Sarah Rigali, American researchers at Northwestern University in Chicago, impersonated two 13-year-old girls on the TikTok application for several months.
They then analyzed 100 beauty videos posted by 82 minors’ profiles and published their work in June in the American Journal of Pediatrics.
In one video, a girl developed a burning rash after applying 14 different products to her face.
Another said she woke up at 4:30 a.m. to do her beauty “routine” before going to school.
“I was surprised by the amount of what I was seeing in these videos, especially the amount of products these girls were using,” Hales says.
“Distorted image”
The videos featured an average of six different products, including anti-wrinkle creams for adults, with an average price of €145 ($168).
Some brands were “disproportionately represented,” such as Glow, Drunk Elephant, or The Ordinary, which claim to be healthy, natural alternatives to other companies that offer chemical products.
In the 25 most viewed videos Hills analyzed, the products contained an average of 11 to 21 substances that were likely to cause irritation to children’s skin.
These new brands, such as Rini, Evereden or Saint Crewe, claim to steer tweens and teens towards more convenient alternatives.
“Children are naturally curious, and instead of ignoring that, we can accept it” and we can offer them “safe and gentle products that parents trust,” Shay Mitchell, co-founder of Renee, said on her 35 million-followed Instagram account.
Hills warns that in addition to their potentially harmful effects, these products “perpetuate a beauty ideal” and normalize the use of these “extremely expensive and time-consuming” items.
On a psychological level, “the danger lies in giving the child a distorted, even sensationalized, image of himself,” said Pierre Fabrice, a member of the French Society of Dermatology, at a conference in Paris this month.
“In the same way that a child is not a miniature adult, cosmetics is not a toy,” he recalls.