Under 18s should not be using retinol

A new bill has been proposed in California that would ban the sale of skincare products containing retinoids or alpha hydroxy acids (AHAs) to under 18s. This comes hot on the heels of a Swedish pharmacy chain who, last year, decreed that to buy certain active skincare products, consumers had to be over the age of 15 – or have parental approval.

All of this comes in response to what has been dubbed the “Sephora kids” trend, so called after videos appeared of tweens rampaging through the beauty megastore in search of the anti-ageing products they’d seen on TikTok. And, while it might seem like an overreaction, it’s a very real issue.

“The biggest problem with ingredients such as retinoids and liquid exfoliators, such as AHAs, is that they’re not formulated for young skin,” explains consultant dermatologist Dr Mary Sommerlad, who specialises in paediatric dermatology. “They’re designed to disrupt the skin barrier and strip away layers of dead skin, as well as boost collagen production to make skin plumper and firmer. That’s useful in your late 20s or early 30s when skin starts to produce less collagen and elastin, and cell turnover starts to slow down, but children won’t see any of the benefits, and are very likely to see the adverse effects.”

These adverse effects include “perioral dermatitis – tender bumps around the eyes and mouth. I see this often when teens are using a lot of products or exfoliating their skin a lot – sometimes as much as twice a day. I’m in my 40s and I only exfoliate once, maybe twice a week at most.” And damaging the skin barrier can also lead to irritant dermatitis – dry itchy skin that requires medical management, such as topical steroids, and can take months, even years to recover.

Serious consequences

More worryingly, young people using these products may be unaware that they frequently need to be used with sun protection as they can make the skin more susceptible to sun damage.

“Without education about how to use these products safely and in conjunction with sun protection, you could end up with terrible sunburn that can leave you with permanent pigmentation for the rest of your life,” warns Dr Sommerlad.

And there could be even more serious consequences too.

“We know that sunburns in childhood are associated with a greater risk of developing skin cancer in later life, so it’s reasonable to extrapolate that if a child is regularly burning their skin because they’ve sensitised their skin and aren’t using sun protection, there is a theoretical risk that using products like these could increase skin cancer risk.”

The social media effect

So what’s actually driving the skincare obsession among Gen Alpha? It’s largely social media. These kids, born in 2010 and later, were born into a social media world, and while they might not necessarily be creating content, they see YouTube and TikTok as sources of entertainment, in the same way that previous generations viewed television.

Jodi Katz, a marketeer and founder of the Base Beauty Creative Agency in New York, discussed Gen Alpha’s beauty obsession on the Mintel podcast. She says: “This generation have been seeing [influencers on social media] since they were kids. It’s been a part of their world ever since they started consuming entertainment. They see older beauty influencers creating content and [even though it’s not targeted at them] they want to emulate it, they admire it – it’s aspirational for them.”

This is where their interest in beauty is being sparked. 51% of Gen Alphas say that they first hear about brands via YouTube and, because of the way the algorithm works, you only need to watch a couple of videos about say, Drunk Elephant, the colourfully packaged adult skincare brand that is hugely popular with teens and tweens, to be fed more of the same.

It’s little wonder that US store Ulta revealed that skincare has overtaken makeup as the number one category for tween buyers, and that beauty emporiums, such as Sephora and Glossier, have become the hottest new venues for teen and tween birthday parties.

Perceptions of beauty

In June this year skincare expert, Caroline Hirons, will launch a new book, Teen Skincare: The ultimate no-nonsense guide.

She says: “At a time where young people are already dealing with immense change and hormonal havoc, they’re also – these days – constantly being bombarded with unrealistic images on social media that they can’t possibly hope to live up to. Social media can be brilliant fun, but it can also easily poison perceptions of beauty and distort what is ‘normal’. Add to that the fact that there’s a lot of crap out there and countless ‘influencers’ trying to sell it to young people.”

But while there’s no doubt we should be worried about the idea that young people are using anti-ageing products, Jodi Katz isn’t convinced that it’s entirely driven by wanting to change their appearance.

“I don’t really believe that 100% of the customers who are in this cohort actually want the goop that’s in the bottle. I think most of them are collecting. They’re collecting these really pretty, colourful bottles. They see older influencers doing it and it drips down. At the root it’s about being part of something, part of a community.”

Advice for parents

Apart from policing their children’s purchases, what can parents do?

“If your teen or tween has problem skin, don’t ignore it and think it will go away,” advises Dr Sommerlad. “I see kids with horrific acne who have exacerbated the situation by using a load of different products when actually if they’d just seen a dermatologist or GP earlier, all this could have been avoided.” And, as for what young skins actually need…

“Tweens and teens absolutely don’t need a 10-step routine or a shelf full of products,” says Caroline Hirons. “Pre-puberty, you don’t need anything more complicated than a cleanser, a moisturiser and sun protection. That’s it. Once you hit puberty, if you get regular breakouts or suffer with acne, you might want to add in a gentle acid toner a couple of times a week – Indu Clear and Glow Tonic Juice, Skin Rocks The Gentle Acid, and The Ordinary Lactic Acid 5% + HA are ones that I’d trust on teen skin – some spot stickers – hydrocolloid patches that soothe redness and inflammation, protect the spot from bacteria and stop picking – and/or an acne treatment prescribed by a dermatologist or GP.”