Young girls are using anti-aging products they see on social media. The harm is more than skin deep

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SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — When she was in the fifth grade, Scarlett Goddard Strahan started worrying about getting wrinkles.

By the time she was 10, Scarlett and her friends were spending hours on TikTok and YouTube watching influencers promote products to achieve today’s beauty look: dewy, “glowing,” flawless skin. Scarlett developed an elaborate skincare routine using facial cleansers, mists, hydrating masks, and moisturizers.

One night, Scarlett’s skin began to burn badly and blisters appeared. Overuse of adult products had wreaked havoc on her skin. Months later, small patches of bumps remained on Scarlett’s face, and her cheeks turned red in the sun.

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“If I had known my life would be affected this much, I wouldn’t have put these things on my face,” says Scarlett, who recently turned 11.

Experts say Scarlett’s experience is becoming commonplace, with preteen girls across the country flocking to beauty stores to buy high-end skin care products. Girls as young as 8 are showing up at dermatologists’ offices with rashes, chemical burns and other allergic reactions to products not intended for sensitive baby skin.

“When kids use anti-aging skin care products, they can actually cause premature aging, destroy the skin barrier and lead to permanent scarring,” says Dr. Brooke Jaffe, a dermatologist in Scottsdale, Arizona.

In addition to the physical harm, parents and child psychologists fear that the trend is affecting girls’ mental health. Extensive data suggests that the focus on appearance can affect self-esteem and body image and increase anxiety, depression and eating disorders.

The skincare obsession offers a window into the role social media plays in the lives of today’s youth and how it shapes the ideals and insecurities of girls in particular. Girls are experiencing unprecedented levels of sadness and hopelessness. Whether social media exposure causes mental health problems or is simply linked to them is debatable. But for older teens and young adults, one thing is clear: the extended time they spend on social media has been bad for them, period.

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Young girls’ fascination with makeup and cosmetics is nothing new. Nor are children conforming to idealized beauty standards. What’s different now is the scale of those standards, says Chris Perry, executive director of Children and Screens, a nonprofit that studies how digital media affects child development.

“Girls are bombarded with idealized images of beauty that set standards of beauty that can be extremely difficult — if not impossible — to achieve,” says Perry.

Skincare obsession isn’t just about the pursuit of perfect skin, says 14-year-old Mia Hall.

It’s about belonging to a community that has the lifestyle and look you want, says Mia, a New York native from the Bronx.

Skin care wasn’t a topic for Mia until she started eighth grade last fall. At school and on social media, girls would connect over their skin care routines.

“I felt like this was the only way I could cope,” Mia says. She started following beauty influencers on TikTok. Some influencers get paid by brands to promote their products, but they don’t always mention it.

Mia started saving her $20 a week to travel to Sephora. Her daily routine included face wash, face mist, hydrating serum, pore-tightening toner, moisturizer, and sunscreen.

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The level of detail and information girls get from beauty classes sends a worrying message as they go through puberty and search for their identities, says Charlotte Markey, a body image expert and psychology professor at Rutgers University.

“The message to young girls is: You are a never-ending project and you have to start now,” says Markey.

The beauty industry has been reaping the benefits. Last year, consumers under the age of 14 drove 49% of drugstore skin-care sales, according to a Nielsen IQ report that found that households with teens and young adults spend more on skin care than the average American family. And in the first half of 2024, a third of “premium” beauty sales, at stores like Sephora, were driven by households with teens and young adults, according to market research firm Circana.

The industry has acknowledged that some products are unsuitable for children but has done little to prevent them from being purchased. The Drunk Elephant website recommends that children under 12 should not use anti-aging serums, lotions, and scrubs. These guidelines are found on the site’s FAQ page; there are no such warnings on the products themselves.

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Ingredients like retinol and chemical exfoliants like hydroxy acids are harsh by nature. For aging skin, they are used to stimulate collagen and cell production. Young skin can react with redness, peeling, and burning, which can lead to infection, acne, and hypersensitivity if used incorrectly, dermatologists say.

Mia’s mother, Sandra Gordon, noticed dark spots on her face last spring and was horrified. She threw all of her daughter’s products in the trash.

Mia wasn’t happy. But as she starts high school, she now feels her mother was right. She uses just face wash and moisturizer and says her skin has improved.

In Sacramento, California, Scarlett didn’t notice any signs that the products were harming her skin: She developed a rash and felt a stinging sensation. Scarlett realized she wasn’t using enough product, so she applied more. Then her cheeks exploded in excruciating pain.

When her mother, Anna Goddard, read the ingredients in each product, she was shocked to find retinol in products that appeared to be aimed at children — including one with a cat’s face on the packaging.

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Now, what worries her mother more than anything else are the psychological consequences. The comments from the children at school have caused her constant anxiety and self-consciousness.

Goddard hopes to see more protection. “I didn’t know there were harmful ingredients being added to skin care products marketed to children,” she says. “There needs to be some sort of warning.”

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