Sales of children's skincare and cosmetics have grown rapidly over the past few years, turning into a multi-billion pound industry. Now dermatologists say they are seeing the fallout of that trend, with an increase in both severe skin conditions and mental health problems among young users. The phenomenon has become common enough that a new term has recently been coined to describe it, cosmetic arexia.
The term is used to describe a very unhealthy obsession with trying to achieve flawless skin, one that results in an obsessive use of cosmetic products. Rather than an occasional indulgence, it points to a pattern in which the pursuit of perfect skin begins to take over a young person's daily routine and sense of self.
One Italian dermatologist who has been looking into the issue was so perturbed by what he was seeing in his clinics that he decided to study it directly. He interviewed 55 of his patients aged between eight and fourteen, an age group that would once have had little interest in elaborate beauty routines.
What he found was an obsessive use of social media alongside the use of as many as ten different products on a daily basis. Perhaps most worrying, he said, was that these young people were refusing to leave the house, to socialise or even to see family members without first completing a full skincare regime and putting on makeup.
The harm is not only psychological. The dermatologist also reported a rise in contact dermatitis, a type of eczema he says is being caused by products that contain very strong active ingredients, including anti-aging ingredients that are simply not suitable for young skin. The result, he warned, is children left with eczema, potentially long-term contact allergies and widespread skin irritation.
Tackling the trend is difficult. With a multi-billion pound industry involved, it is hard to put the brakes on, and simply banning sales may only push children to buy the products elsewhere, including online, where they are marketed as adult rather than children's items. Complicating matters further, many children say the routine brings something positive to their lives and has become a big part of who they are.
Regulators have begun to take an interest. In Italy, the advertising authority has launched an investigation into LVMH, the company which owns Sephora and Benefit, looking at whether it is targeting children under the age of ten and using micro-influencers to sell its products. LVMH has responded that it is cooperating with the Italian authorities and that it is not targeting under-teens.
Much of the effort, however, is being framed around education rather than bans. The body representing the cosmetics industry in the United Kingdom recently surveyed 2,000 families about the phenomenon, and found that 40 percent of parents admitted to knowing less about skincare than their own children. It is now trying to educate both parents and children about what is suitable for young skin and what is harmful, rather than attempting to halt an ever-growing industry.