Little girls and skincare: what's the problem?

What did you do in your free time between the ages of 10 and 14? Personally, I used to concoct a slimy potion by mixing all the perfumes and creams from my grandmother, then used it to give her hand massages. In return, she taught me how to play card games like Briscola and Rubamazzo while attempting (unsuccessfully) to get me interested in crochet. Alternatively, I went to the movies with friends, participated in afternoon activities at the youth center, sent chirps on MSN, and exchanged messages with Tim Tribù (for those who remember). In general, I led a fairly normal pre-teen, or tween, life in recent times. No "back in my day" stories, no inappropriate comparisons, and no moralizing about a youth spent studying Latin, memorizing world capitals, or other stuff like that from an old aunt. Yet, something has changed.

Very Young Girls Discover Skincare

Just before Christmas, a Twitter (or X) user shared the Christmas wish list of their niece. No dolls, no books, just skincare products. That's right. Whether it's an attempt to imitate older girls they see on social media or a genuine concern for the quality of their skin and the onset of wrinkles, the truth is that there has never been so much attention to creams, serums, eye contour, and the like from girls so young. Now that the holidays are over and we've reluctantly entered 2024, the debate is revived by another related phenomenon. It seems that Sephora stores in the United States have been swarmed by chaotic tweens ready to do anything to get what they want, even mistreating the staff, and then going home to indulge in applying layers and layers of product on their faces. Or at least, that's what eyewitnesses report on TikTok.

Skincare, the secret to eternal youth

The situation it's interesting. Wanting to feel grown-up by strolling through malls and buying beauty products at that unique age between childhood and pre-adolescence is not a new phenomenon; it's as old as time. It's not even absurd to think that a spoiled ten-year-old, without proper parental guidance, intoxicated with power and newfound independence, could come off as unpleasant to staff and other customers, even though it probably should be curbed. Can we really be surprised that these girls feel this completely unreal need when bombarded every day with messages pushing for the purchase and use of an extensive beauty routine, all under the slogan "better prevent than cure"? In a world where youth is a value and where eighteen-year-olds resort to botox, how did we hope this kind of message would escape the minds of future girls, already too immersed in the internet to save themselves?

What If It's a Problem of Places?

In reality, the matter is complicated. As sheherzog points out on TikTok, girls have decided to gather in Sephora and other cosmetic stores, perhaps because there are no more places for them to hang out peacefully. Loitering, or simply hanging around, is increasingly subject to fines in various US cities. The gradual elimination of parks and safe places for their age group is often discussed. The same happens on the internet. There are no more colorful websites with mini-games where we spent our afternoons. On the internet now, every place belongs to everyone, meaning adults. This is a problem because it doesn't allow for any content differentiation. We are all victims of relentless advertising and messages telling us to get injections. Unlike us, however, very young girls don't have the means to defend themselves. For all these reasons, many girls in online discussions about annoying tweens express a great lack of empathy towards those who were, after all, us just a few years ago, each in our own way.

All can be true

That these girls apply expensive creams to their faces (apparently, the Drunk Elephant brand is popular) is pointless, a worrying waste of money and products. There's no denying that the tolerance towards them is too low, though. Is there really some thinning of true values in favor of extreme and sexualized youth and a symbol of the deterioration of the times? Is this a phenomenon to be condemned entirely, a matter of rudeness, or simply a sad and useless thing happening right before our eyes that we should try to do something about? All these things can be true simultaneously. This doesn't change the fact that if it's influencers with entire rooms of products giving strange ideas to these young girls, then we, the women in their lives—mothers, aunts, cousins, older sisters, neighbors, teachers—should explain to them that wrinkles don't matter (especially not at 10 years old) and that it's possible to build a healthy relationship with the relentless passage of time, starting from now. And that yes, that should be addressed early on.