What’s up with Gen Alpha and skin care routines?

It has not gone unnoticed that swarms of young girls have been hurtling down the aisles of Sephora to stock up on skin care products. They flock to ‘trending’ and ‘must have’ brands, (some of which are premium priced) and use them in elaborate daily routines to keep up with beauty trends with the goal of achieving perfect youthful skin (the irony starts here folks). Of course there is a trending way for skin to look. Skin was never going to get a free pass from the endless physical body trends, afterall it is the body’s largest organ. If it can be aspirational to have a rounded bottom, pouty lips, a thigh gap or thick brows (unfortunate for us 90s kids who were around when it was cool to have thin brows and plucked the crap out of them). I’m exhausted thinking about all the ways a body can be manipulated, pulled, tugged and sculpted to meet a desirable way to present it (I’m still hanging out the gappy tooth trend, I’ve been ready and waiting since 1990). The desirable skin ‘look’ today is to be ‘glowy’ or ‘buttery’; a photo perfect sheen, but not too shiny, soft tender rosy cheeks that look like a teen girl full of life and natural beauty. Did I mention irony? 

I have been asked a few times to comment on what I think about this trend and where I think it comes from. The latter is simple to answer: 

TikTok. 

Whether they’re watching directly or absorbing the spread of fast moving trends via friends, siblings or the osmosis of popular culture, TikTok and its host of merry ‘skinfluencers’ are prompting young girls to risk their prime skin years with products they don’t need, can’t afford and possibly might cause them damage. This is a classic Gen Alpha situation where they watch a lot of content that is not on the surface age inappropriate (it’s not violent, scary etc), but is also not made with them in mind. They interpret it as speaking directly to them; influencers feel like a personal mentor or BBF in their pocket delivering them older, aspirational but still relatable individuals who they seek to mirror. 

The entire experience of kids being influenced by content creators has an element of role-play about it. There is a common assumption that kids are growing up younger, and to some extent very true, but I believe it’s more nuanced than that. It’s not that desirable to be an adult and I think Alpha actually has an appreciation of the joy of being a kid, glancing ahead isn’t always that appealing. More than just wanting to age up I think they have an overwhelming urge to participate in popular culture in a way that is heightened by the pace and amount of content they consume from ‘real people’. The movements they witness and are excited to dive into are often pitched a life stage ahead and may start out simply with the motivation of fun before they spiral into something less joyful. Overly drawing attention to the physical self is a very delicate tightrope walk during puberty and pre puberty. We are what we consume. I see that come to life when you compare a bunch of girls who are watching a lot of this kind of content on TikTok and a group who are not. 

It is however possible to have a fun and wholesome relationship with self-care, self-expression and personal style. I have never stopped my daughter (or son) from experimenting with make-up. When kids first played we entered into it from the point of view of creativity and seeing the face as a canvas not something for approval. There can be playful creativity with this, even in routines which can be meditative and healthy if the products are suitable and the context is healthy, not driven from a place of anxiety or peer pressure. I enjoy watching Glow-Up with my daughter. It's been a helpful part of communicating the role of art and creativity in telling stories about who we really are versus dressing or transforming into someone that we think people want to see. As her mum she sees me wearing make-up all the time, it’s hypocritical of me to be anti-beauty or have a shunning attitude to it. I love make-up, but I also don’t hate my face, that’s the real crux and I know that getting to that place can be a journey way too long and arduous; I’d like to find her some short-cuts along the way. And I believe that comes from playfulness. Recently she had a sleepover with her cousin and they spent hours doing face masks and various routines in the bathroom. I thought about this topic and if this was inappropriate, yet all I heard was hysterical giggling and chatter, all the hallmarks of good social fun. Laughing and having fun and being relaxed in the mirror I decided is something our kids need more of, I really do think fun and play are essential factors in combating this rather than ‘banning’ or trying to ignore it. The presentation and focus on how young people look by living life on the stage of social media is truly dystopian and requires some imagination to transform this. 

I enjoyed Kheils’ response to the madness of the skincare routines in their brand campaign. However, it’s definitely a more parent point of view, I’m not sure tween girls would feel fully seen by these images.

I do believe it’s on brands not to ignore this phenomenon (that is not an exaggeration) and to get stuck in to counter the use of unsuitable products, mis targeted messages on social media and purchase of products full of chemicals. As for me and my kiddos, I know that healthy rituals which involve touching and caring for your body can be really impactful in the journey to self-love, so that’s the angle I’m working with for my tweens and teens. I also know that TikTok is very problematic for girls (and boys) going through puberty so whilst I’m not shunning beauty or skincare fully, we will be ditching that one and focussing on playful pressure free fun.