Is Your Child's Skincare Habit Doing More Harm Than Good?
This week, Professor Caitriona Ryan, Consultant Dermatologist at the Institute of Dermatologists, joined David McCullough on RTÉ Radio 1 to discuss a growing concern among dermatologists: the aggressive marketing of adult skincare products to children as young as seven and eight years old.
What is happening?
Across TikTok and YouTube, children are being recruited as micro-influencers by skincare brands. They are being paid to promote serums, acids, retinoids, and multi-step routines to their peers. Because these recommendations come from children who look and sound like their audience, they carry far more weight than any traditional advertisement.
The result is a generation of young girls applying 10 or more skincare products daily, following routines designed for adults in their thirties and forties.
Italy's competition watchdog has now opened a formal investigation into this practice. Ireland needs to pay attention.
What does this do to a child's skin?
Children have perfect skin. It is functioning at its absolute optimal. It is full of collagen, resilient, and does not need any of these products.
What these products can do is cause real harm:
-
Irritation and sensitivity
-
Allergic contact reactions
-
Acne breakouts caused by layering too many products (known as acne cosmetica)
-
Disruption of the skin barrier
The concern is not hypothetical. Dermatologists are seeing it in clinic.
The bigger issue
Beyond the physical effects on skin, Professor Caitriona Ryan highlighted something even more significant: the psychological impact of placing beauty and flawlessness at the centre of childhood.
The term now being used in medical circles is cosmeticorexia. It describes a fixation on perceived skin flaws that goes well beyond curiosity about skincare. This is a mental health concern as much as a skin health concern.
Children at 8, 9, 10 years old should not be preoccupied with the texture of their skin or whether their pores are visible.
What do children actually need?
Two things:
-
A gentle cleanser
-
Daily SPF
That is it. The most significant and lasting damage to the skin happens before the age of 18, caused by UV exposure. Sunscreen is the single most impactful habit a child can form. Everything else is unnecessary at that stage.
Good, affordable options are available in Irish pharmacies. Children do not need the brands being marketed to them online.
What can parents do?
-
Talk to your children about what they are seeing on social media and why brands are putting it there
-
Monitor what products are coming into the house
-
Frame skincare as health and protection, not beauty or perfection
-
If your child has a genuine skin concern, speak to a GP or dermatologist
What needs to change?
Clear regulation around the marketing of cosmetic products to minors. Honest conversations in schools about social media, filters, and what is real. And ideally, a much broader national conversation about the impact of social media on young people's self-image.
Listen to the full interview here: https://www.rte.ie/radio/radio1/clips/22601080/
