Scrolling through TikTok, you are bound to come across a “get ready with me” (GRWM) video, where creators record themselves getting ready for the day, showing their skincare and makeup routine. Recently, many children under the age of 12 have been creating these videos, raising more questions about TikTok’s negative effect on young users.
Two ten year old girls browsed the aisles at Sephora. They stopped at the Drunk Elephant stand and looked at the retinol products. These products are harmful to children’s skin and can cause aging rather than anti-aging.
In the videos, kids use skin care including cleansers, toners, retinol products, and moisturizers. They are also using very advanced makeup products that are not targeted towards the youth demographic. Skincare brands like Drunk Elephant and Glow Recipe have become more popular through social media, catching the attention of children on TikTok.
Products that are made for adults are being purchased by tweens who haven’t even hit puberty yet, raising concerns about children’s skiing aging prematurely.
One popular product is the Drunk Elephant A-Passioni™ Retinol Cream. Drunk Elephant themselves warned buyers, “more potent products that include acids and retinol—their [adolescents’] skin does not need these ingredients quite yet.” Dermatologists do not recommend the use of retinol under the age of 20. When children use retinol on their skin it worsens it instead of improving it.
Retinol is used to help with anti-aging. Not only is this unnecessary in a child, it can ironically have the opposite effect and cause premature aging. According to PubMed, “the chronic use of retinoids in children may inhibit their growth due to premature epiphyseal closure.” These products can negatively affect high school students as well, as they do not have mature skin. Students should be aware before purchasing these products, so that they can prevent themselves from harming their skin.
Drunk Elephant does make products that are safe for children. However, because of the way their products are marketed on social media, kids typically don’t care about the actual benefits of the product, but instead about the routine of using these popular products. These products are marketed as fun toys and not as things that actually affect you negatively.
According to Linola, a brand that sells helpful skincare products: “A child’s skin is not only more delicate and softer than an adult’s but also more sensitive. Often, it reacts sensitively to external influences, leading to skin irritations, dryness, and itching.” External influences such as the sun can be more harmful to a child’s skin because their skin is already sensitive, and adding these products only fuels the fire.
Children and their parents need to gain more awareness of the negative effects of using these products. Parents should not allow their kids to easily purchase these products. Parents must make sure to read the labels and be aware what products are bad for their children.
