What You Need to Know About The Tween Teen Skincare Craze

In today's episode, I am diving deep into a phenomenon sweeping the lives of our teens and tweens—especially girls—the growing obsession with high-end skincare, makeup, and fragrance. If you look at your social media feed or walk into a sephora or Ulta, it is very clear that skincare and makeup are no longer just for women. Our girls have been drawn into complex skincare and makeup routines by glamorous influencers and persuasive marketing campaigns targeted directly at them. And it’s not just girls experiencing this, boys are interested in products like cologne, hair gel and body spray as well. 

While makeup and skincare is fun for our girls, it’s important to recognize that this obsession has real implications. It can affect self-esteem, your family’s budget, and the thing that worries me most, is the impact of toxic chemicals found in many of these products on the developmental health of our kids. 

I know that many of you are seeking guidance on how to approach these conversations with your kids. I promise that this episode will offer you both valuable insights and effective strategies to help foster both healthier choices and conversations with your kids about makeup and skincare. You will walk away feeling more informed and empowered to navigate this complex issue. 

I’ve been thinking about doing an episode on this topic for months now. In the past year I have hosted 4 events for tween and teen girls to talk about skincare and makeup, what’s appropriate for their skin and how to choose safer products. A few months ago, one of my favorite parenting podcast, actually the only parenting podcast I listen to, Ask Lisa with Dr. Lisa Damour covered the topic of why kids, specifically a 10 year old in this case is hooked on Luxury skincare. The episode was great, but it was missing one key component, she never talked about the safety risk of some of the ingredients in these products. 

So, in today’s episode I want to share some of the great points that Dr. Lisa Made to help parents address this issue, and add my own perspective. 

Let’s start with the big and important question, why are young girls so obsessed with skincare and makeup? Dr. Lisa provided some great insights into this behavior that I had necessarily thought about before. 

Part 1 Why are girls into skincare and cosmetics?

The first being` that collecting is truly a Timeless Tween Tradition

Remember when we were kids? It was all about Beanie Babies, Pogs, or Pokémon cards. Well, today's young girls are no different, except now, the collectibles have taken a glamorous turn into the world of beauty.

Just the other day, a friend shared a story about her daughter who was absolutely set on getting a specific pink skincare product. Why? Not just for the product itself, but because the bottle would look perfect in her collection. This story really highlights how these items are more than just skincare or makeup for our girls; they're part of a curated collection that expresses their identity and that word that I’ve come to loathe but I am going to use it anyway because they’re using it, aesthetic.

The second point that Dr. Lisa brought up is that girls are drawn to these products because they like things that are cute, flowery and fruity. It’s about the color and the smell that is youthful and fun and playful. 

I am sure you Have noticed how many of these products are designed to be almost irresistibly attractive? They come in pastel colors, adorned with cute logos, and often smell like a basket of fruits. It's almost like walking into a candy store, but for your skin! This sensory appeal is a huge part of what makes these products so enticing. They're not just skincare items; they're also an experience for our girls that appeal to multiple senses.  A perfect example of this is drunk elephant products. Years ago they were marketed as high-e