Colman Noctor: The ugly side of skincare routines for young girls
Dr Colman Noctor: The use of skin care products and worrying about the ageing process at 10 years is concerning; I see this as a symptom of a more significant problem
When I read my 11-year-old daughter’s letter to Santa this year, I noticed she had asked for ‘skincare’ as one of her gifts. I naively thought it was similar to what my sisters in the 1980s had got at Christmas — baskets with dainty little bars of coloured soaps packaged in a bed of potpourri. Gifts like these were all the rage for pre-teens then and were usually accompanied by some scented writing paper or fancy pens. However, what Santa left under the tree for my daughter was quite different: a series of expensive-looking moisturisers and creams.
I didn’t think much more about it until the topic came on my radar again last week when I heard numerous radio shows discussing the surge of pre-teen girls buying skin-care products. The radio talk show panellists described how TikTok influencers are driving the demand by promoting skincare creams to young girls.
