The Scottish Mail on Sunday - You
I’m a beauty editor and my daughter is giving me advice?
Rosie Green may have nearly three decades of industry experience but, of course, her Tiktok-educated teenager knows best
Don’t wash your hair, it cleans itself.’ ‘If you want glowy skin sleep with a thick layer of Vaseline on your face.’ ‘Rosemary oil makes your lashes grow.’ All beauty advice doled out to me by my teenager Sophia. All highly questionable. Despite my 20-odd years as a beauty editor, she thinks her knowledge supersedes mine, having been convinced by Tiktok and Instagram experts, whose emphatic statements tap into the young brain’s aversion to ambiguity. The more extreme the advice, the better. Lube as primer? Tattoo on some freckles? Contour with sunscreen?
Of course, I was into beauty at her age. I used an Aapri facial scrub that would have got barnacles off a boat and a Body Shop henna dye (RIP) that turned my hair an unattractive shade of plum. I layered on Lipcote, which made my lips burn and my eyes water. But it was fun.
Now it’s serious business. According to market-research company The Insights Family, the annual spend on toiletries and cosmetics by teens and pre-teens reached £709 million in 2020, and brands and influencers are chasing their market share. Impressionable teenagers are putty in their hands. Spotty skin? It’s because you don’t follow a ten-step routine as showcased by Kim Kardashian’s ten-year-old daughter North. Oh, and you’re not treating it with the right ingredients.
Dermatologists like Dr Sam Bunting are reporting a rise in teenagers with distressed skin caused by overloading it with adult products: ‘Children have a different microbiome to adults and their skin barrier can be disrupted if they use actives-based anti-ageing skincare such as serums or rich moisturisers that are not formulated with them in mind.’
Such was the seriousness of the situation that cult brand Drunk Elephant released a statement saying teenagers should ‘stay away from our more potent products that include acids and retinols’.
Because, yes, the children are using Drunk Elephant, which has moisturisers priced at more than £50. They also want Charlotte Tilbury and Glossier – stuff that we grown-ups would consider a treat. #sephorakids is trending because teens, rather than loitering in the park with peach schnapps, are hanging out in upscale beauty stores, causing chaos by being rude to staff and snaffling testers.
Now Sophia’s hit the grand old age of 16 she’s realised that the ‘slugging’ trend (slathering a very thick product such as Vaseline on your face overnight) doesn’t deliver the ‘glazed doughnut’ look she wants, but breakouts instead. Oh, and the flawless skin of her beauty idols is down to a filter not a nightly two-hour beauty regime. She says she now knows ‘nothing will magically change your face. But I do think society bombards teenagers with the message that they need to look a certain way, so it’s unfair to laugh at us when we try to achieve it then get it wrong.’ So wise. Well, in
The annual spend on toiletries and cosmetics by teens is more than £700 million
some ways; she has yet to learn that loo rolls don’t replace themselves.
Teen-appropriate brands (see right) include Bubble, Byoma and Sol de Janeiro. Charlotte Tilbury and Drunk Elephant are better for adults – though if your teen does want to use the latter, go for a product such as a barrier repair cream (far right) and avoid retinols and acids.