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12th June 2025
01:09pm BST
Research has revealed why "TikTok teen skin-care routines" are dangerous and put children at risk of long-lasting health risks.
On social media, there has been a spike in the trend of children making 'Get Ready With Me' videos.
Scientists at Northwestern Medicine found that girls as young as seven use six products on average on their skin.
They even noted that some girls would use up to a dozen skincare products.
"These products tend to be marketed heavily to younger consumers and carry a high risk of skin irritation and allergy, the study found."
According to the research team, a teen's daily skin routine costs an average of $168 per month, with some costing more than $500.
Scientists also noted that only 26% of skincare routines include sun cream, the most important skin care product at any age.
The most popular 'Get Ready With Me' videos typically contain 11 "potentially irritating active ingredients".
These ingredients put these children at risk of sun sensitivity, skin irritation, and allergic contact dermatitis.
The team also notes that evidence has proven that developing contact dermatitis limits what cosmetic products you can use.
Senior author, Dr. Tara Lagu, says:
“As she’s applying the products, she begins to express discomfort and burning, and in the final few minutes, she develops a visible skin reaction.”
These skincare products can cause high irritation, says the corresponding author, Dr. Molly Hales:
“That high risk of irritation came from both using multiple active ingredients at the same time, such as hydroxy acids."
"As well as applying the same active ingredient unknowingly over and over again when that active ingredient was found in three, four, five different products.”
"It's problematic to show girls devoting this much time and attention to their skin,” Hales adds.
“We're setting a very high standard for these girls."
"The pursuit of health has become a kind of virtue in our society, but the ideal of ‘health’ is also very wrapped up in ideals of beauty, thinness and whiteness."
"The insidious thing about ‘skin care’ is that it claims to be about health.”
Lagu added, "We saw that there was preferential, encoded racial language in some cases that really emphasized lighter, brighter skin. I think there also were real associations between use of these regimens and consumerism."
