Teenagers and tweens have gotten main shoppers of skincare merchandise, fueled by social media influencers and their elaborate magnificence routines. Are these merchandise secure for youthful children?
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Teenagers and tweens have gotten main shoppers of skincare merchandise. Some are responding to younger influencers demonstrating expensive skincare routines on social media, however do children actually need them? NPR’s Maria Godoy finds out.
MARIA GODOY, BYLINE: Like a number of teenagers, 14-year-old Stella Siers cares about having clear pores and skin.
STELLA SIERS: I attempt to maintain it as a lot as I can, so if, ooh, I see a pimple, I am going put a patch on it. I’ll maintain it, ‘trigger it is simply necessary that my face is wholesome and looking out good.
GODOY: To maintain her pores and skin freed from the bumps and pimples that include adolescence, she depends on a multistep routine that features an pimples face wash, a gentle moisturizer, a hydrating serum and sunscreen. Considered one of her favourite merchandise was made well-known on TikTok. It is a watermelon toner which is available in an attention-grabbing translucent pink bottle.
STELLA: I adore it. It is my favourite. I received all of it. That is, like, the one factor I am like, ooh, that appears good – I’ll get it.
GODOY: Like tens of millions of different teenagers and tweens, Stella says she’s tempted to attempt skincare merchandise that pop up on her social media feed.
FADEL: I see it, and I am like, OK, everybody has this. Let me attempt it out.
GODOY: Now, Stella’s mother is a nurse practitioner, so she steers the teenager away from components that are not acceptable for her age – issues like retinol, which will increase cell turnover however may make pores and skin extra delicate to the solar. however not all children or dad and mom are as conscious of potential pitfalls. Dr. Carol Cheng is a pediatric dermatologist at UCLA. She says she’s been seeing extra children and adolescents are available in with rashes brought on by layering on too many merchandise in pursuit of a flawless look, promoted on Instagram and TikTok as glass pores and skin.
CAROL CHENG: Sadly, that may backfire, inflicting redness, peeling, flaking, burning, and so we see sufferers coming in for these considerations greater than we did a pair years in the past, at youthful ages.
GODOY: In some circumstances, she says, sufferers as younger as 8 or 9 are coming in with unhealthy reactions to those magnificence merchandise. One downside is that youngsters and their dad and mom could not notice that a few of these viral magnificence merchandise embody lively components reminiscent of chemical exfoliants, often known as AHAs and BHAs, that assist take away useless pores and skin cells and oil. Whereas these components might be acceptable for teenagers with oily pores and skin, Cheng says they’re too harsh for the thinner pores and skin of preteens.
CHENG: Their pores and skin barrier might be compromised extra simply. Their pores and skin’s extra delicate. Their pores and skin’s not as sturdy, and so any of those merchandise can have an effect on their pores and skin extra simply and trigger irritation.
GODOY: So what ought to a skincare routine seem like for a tween or younger teen? Dr. Elizabeth Houshmand is a dermatologist in Dallas who sees many sufferers on this age group. Her recommendation is to maintain it easy.
ELIZABETH HOUSHMAND: Fundamental pores and skin look after that demographic ought to simply be a really gentle, light cleanser, perhaps some moisturizer and a sunscreen – nothing extra.
GODOY: She says for teenagers battling pimples, over-the-counter merchandise with components like benzoyl peroxide are wonderful, although it is a good suggestion to test in with their pediatrician or a dermatologist. Houshmand says one upside of this social-media-fueled curiosity in skincare is that it is a chance to coach teenagers and tweens that good pores and skin begins with wholesome habits.
HOUSHMAND: I at all times inform sufferers, I am unable to offer you lovely pores and skin except you’re wholesome and also you maintain your self as a result of the pores and skin actually displays what is going on on internally.
GODOY: She says train, a balanced weight-reduction plan and an excellent evening’s sleep can all play a task not simply in good well being, however good pores and skin, too.
Maria Godoy, NPR Information.
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