“Sephora Kids” is using anti-aging cream. A new study says harm is not just deep in the skin

If you recently witnessed a 10-year-old applying her face with a $80 anti-wrinkle cream – both in real life and in any number of “Prepare with Me” Tiktok videos – you may have been aware of the skin care trends of “Sephora Kids” that make the anti-aging products young people see on social media speak up.

Now, a new study published this month in Pediatrics, the first paper from a peer review, found that skin care solutions promoted on Tiktok are not only of little benefit to children and adolescents, but can actually be harmful. The authors point out that the risk is beyond skin lesions (although there are also).

“It’s a problem to show girls so much time and attention,” Dr. Molly Hales, a postdoctoral fellow and dermatologist at the Department of Dermatology at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, said in a press release.

“We set a high standard for these girls. The pursuit of health has become a virtue in our society, but the ideal of 'health' is also very encased in the ideal of beauty, thinness and whiteness.”

The authors in the study analyzed 100 unique videos of content creators between the ages of 7 and 18, with an average viewing of 1.1 million per person. On average, each program has six products, totaling around $230. The author said that at the high end of the scale, some girls use more than a dozen products on their faces.

They found that only one in four skin care programs include sunscreen, the most popular videos contain on average 11 harsh active ingredients (such as hydroxy acids), and content creators often layer multiple active ingredients over and over in a variety of products.

In one video, a girl applied 10 different products to her face in 10 minutes, the author said.

The authors noted that the videos also sometimes have racially coded language, emphasizing “lighter skin.”

The problem of “Sephora kids”

The “Sephora Kids” trend is the trend of eight-year-old or nine-year-old skin care products purchased from beauty retailers like Sephora, which started to be popular last year, so try to stop it.

In California, for example, state legislator Alex Lee has been introducing a bill that would prohibit the sale of anti-aging products that contain effective and harsh ingredients to children under the age of 18. In May, the CBS reported that the bill quietly died.

Last December, chemists in Quebec issued a warning warning that certain skin care products designed for adults and popular on social media should be avoided by children because the active ingredients can be harmful to young skin.

Dr. Julia Carroll, a dermatologist and lecturer at the University of Toronto, said these products often contain powerful active ingredients that cannot be handled properly.

Watch | Quebec chemists warn that skin care products and dimer too:

Quebec chemists warn children using certain skin care products

Quebec chemists order warn that certain skin care products designed for adults and promoted on social media should be avoided by children because the active ingredients can be harmful to young skin.

Carroll told CBC News that young skin is often more sensitive, so α-hydroxy acids and retinoids can cause irritation, dryness, peeling and dermatitis.

“It can actually sensitize their skin and make them lifelong allergic to ingredients,” she said.

“When they really need mild cleansers, moisturizers and sunscreens, this trend also creates a dependency that kids think they need a 10-step routine,” Carroll added.

Gen Alpha Drives Sales

Canadians spend nearly 9 billion Canadian dollars About Beauty and Personal Care Products in 2024. According to Statistics Canada, families began spending more on personal care “basically” after the Covid-19-19 pandemic, while people in 2023 increased by 30% in 2023.

Meanwhile, according to the latest data from Nielsen, the Alpha Generation continues to drive skin care sales in the United States. This year's global Mintel marketing intelligence report noted that the number-first generation also predicts that by 2029, the oldest accomplice will be 19 years old, with an estimated $55 trillion.

Mintel reports that Alpha Gen members were born roughly between 2010 and 2024, and they used beauty influencers and their routines as sources of inspiration.

It added: “However, this accelerated adult-oriented skin care often leads to daily appearance prioritizing health, a gap that the beauty industry must address.”

Currently, on Tiktok, there are about 18.3 million “Prepare with Me” videos, Alpha Regances Gen shows off their skin care routine and “drag” in videos with millions of views and comments.

In a study in the Journal of Pediatrics, the authors found that these products tend to be sold in large quantities to young consumers. They also expressed concern that parents and pediatricians can accurately track what children or teenagers are watching are “nearly impossible”.

“We're seeing kids aged only eight to nine, and they're using anti-aging ingredients they picked up on tiktok,” Carroll said.

“You are setting unrealistic beauty standards for kids, which is not for an eight-year-old nine-year-old, 10-year-old. They usually already have very perfect skin, so it can be very harmful to set their path to that early road.”