In a now-viral TikTok video, former Sephora employee Rianna Smith recounted the time a nine-year-old walked into her store looking for Babyfacial, a chemical exfoliant from the high-end brand Drunk Elephant marketed to minimize “the look of pores, fine lines, and wrinkles.”
Smith asked the child whether she had used a chemical exfoliant in the past, to which the child responded that she uses the Ordinary Peeling Solution, an anti-aging acid peel, “daily.” According to Smith, this wasn’t a unique experience, revealing that while working at Sephora she encountered “15-year-olds… com[ing] in with chemical burns” caused by harsh skincare products.
The consensus among dermatologists is clear: expensive, intense anti-aging skincare is not good for children. In an interview with the Daily Mail, Dr. Ross Perry, medical director of Cosmedics Skin Clinics, warned that many of these cosmetics, such as retinol, another anti-aging product, not only can “cause irritation” for children but could also “damage the skin down the line.”
“It is a good idea to start a skincare regime from a teenager, but the products used should be aimed at not just your skin type but also age-appropriate,” said Ross.
Anti-aging retinoids and chemical exfoliants for children sound utterly absurd on their face, but dermatologists are having to step in and clarify the obvious for one reason: influencers.
More chronically online than even Gen Z, Gen Alpha, or the iPad generation, is uniquely susceptible to social media consumerism. Twenty-year-old influencers with beauty brand deals go TikTok and Instagram viral
