Is there someone you know who is particularly interested in skin care? Do they seem to know or want to know everything about different products, skin types, and beauty treatments? Does this person fit into this category?
The New York Times recently reported that beauty stores like Sephora and Ulta are seeing a surge in new customers, including tweens and teens seeking acne and anti-aging skin care products for adults.
Why do you think skin care is so popular among young people now? What do you think about this trend?
In her guest essay, “Toxic Beauty Standards Can Be Inherited,” Alexandra Damour writes that teenagers and their mothers’ skincare obsessions veer into unhealthy territory.
Wrinkles are the new enemy, and Gen Z and their younger sisters seem to be afraid of them. In a recent video that has racked up more than 8 million views on TikTok, the 28-year-old woman shows off her “raw” face, without any Botox or fillers. While some women and girls praised her bravery, others felt fear in her. One of her comments read: “I hope she never ends up like that again.”
Generation Z has introduced the idea of starting treatment early as a preventative treatment. They are growing up in a social media culture that promotes the endless pursuit of staying young, and at home they see their mothers using all kinds of injections and serums to deny aging. Some people are. Beauty writer Jessica Defino recently coined the term “serum mom” to describe mothers who are “obsessed with meeting certain beauty standards and fostering the same obsession in their children.”
For me, the lessons in preventative skin care came from social media, not my mom. I was a few years shy of her 30th birthday and was obsessed with Instagram and series like Emily Weiss’s Into the Gloss’s Top Shelf. My skincare suddenly became a 10-part routine, with each step promising to extend my beauty and youth.
Since then, the rise of TikTok seems to have given anti-aging beauty standards more ways to consume and stick. Many girls and women now have endless access to social media posts about their skin care purchases or before and after plastic surgery slideshows.
“Sephora Kids” is a nickname for teenagers who take up skincare under the influence of social media. Johanna Almstead, a friend in the fashion industry, said that in her local moms’ group chat, nearly every mom kept saying, “Skin care, skin care, skin care!” It was on the holiday gift list given to me by my 5th graders. Her 10-year-old daughter doesn’t have access to social media, but is exposed to her skincare obsession through her friends. Her friends imitate beauty influencers on TikTok, and her parents buy her products like acids, peels and toners. This is despite the fact that many of these products are actually targeted at aging or acne-prone skin.
In December, a representative from the expensive brand Drunk Elephant (a tween favorite) posted on Instagram a list of products that are safe for children and tweens. Buying a 10-year-old a colorfully packaged lip gloss or an adult moisturizer may seem like a small thing, but creating a pipeline to a 15-year-old discussing forehead wrinkles on TikTok It seems to me that it can be done. We need to be wary of how the cosmetics industry can manipulate both mothers and children, and how by supporting it we, as mothers, are creating new worries for our children. there is.
Dear students, please read the entire essay and then tell us:
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What do you think about what you just read? Did anything surprise you? Do you think this essay is accurate in that people your age and younger are interested in skin care regimens and products?
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D’Amour writes that when young people buy adult skin care products, they can “create a pipeline to 15-year-olds discussing forehead wrinkles on TikTok.” Do you think this theoretical “pipeline” is important? Is it a concern that some teens and young adults are concerned about wrinkles?
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Ms Damour writes:
Mothers are both victims and perpetrators of a culture that sells women the lie that “we are not good enough as we are.” Still, if her mother’s insecurities can fuel her daughter’s own self-hatred, her mother’s radical self-love may protect and even heal her daughters from a toxic culture. .
What do these ideas mean to you? Have you ever been approached by an adult about taking care of your skin or dealing with insecurities about your appearance? Have you ever been asked by your parents or adults around you how you feel about body image? Do you get messages like these? Do you think they struggle with their own feelings of being “enough” or do they feel at ease when it comes to their appearance? Do you think social media also affects how they see themselves?
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Have you heard of ‘looksmaxxers’, an online community of young men passionate about making the most of their looks? Are you facing pressure or anxiety about your appearance?
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Do you have any role models or people you look up to for their approach to appearance? Why do you look up to them? What did you learn from them?
We invite comments from students aged 13 and older in the US and UK, and aged 16 and older elsewhere. All comments are moderated by Learning Network staff, but please note that if your comment is approved, it will be made public and may appear in print.
Click here for more questions about student opinion. Teachers, check out this guide to learn how to incorporate these prompts into your classroom.
