Tween skincare! Why is it such a trend? Walk into a Sephora these days and you will see groups of tweens, tweens with reluctant parents and grandmothers shopping for tweens. When my 10 -ear old daughter wanted Drunk Elephant products over the medical-grade skincare products I was giving her, I knew I had to investigate!
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Why is tween skincare so popular?
It’s all about Selfies, Social Media, and Screens
Tweens want to have healthy and flawless skin on the selfies they are sharing with peers.
They may feel peer pressure to use these products at an earlier age due to influencer access on social media.
Tweens have more access to skincare education and have purchase power because of their smartphones, computers and tablets. Companies are starting to target this demographic because of these factors.
Should families support tween skincare?
The products should fit within the budget of the family and should be something fun they do, and not an obsession.
What can happen if tweens use a lot of products too young?
If tweens are using products that have strong active ingredients, their skin can get irritated – resulting in redness, sensitivity and causing them to feel like they look worse, not better.
Sometimes “natural” products or products with fragrance have ingredients that can cause allergies. Again, this can result in redness and irritation.
I also worry about chemical exposure if kids start to layer on too many products. We don’t know the consequence of using these products for such a long time. For this reason, I recommend products that are fragrance-free and paraben free.
Recommendations for tweens
The tween years are a great time to start healthy skincare habits. The following general guidelines apply to tweens without any dermatologic diagnoses. For those with acne, eczema, allergies, etc, we are happy to curate a program for them in our office.
Washing the face twice daily is a great habit to start and this will help prevent acne as the tween heads into puberty.
Applying moisturizer is a great habit for the future antiaging regimen and keeps skin nice and moisturized in the desert.
Applying sunscreen in the morning is a great habit for preventing skin cancer and slowing down the aging process. Tinted sunscreen can have a makeup-like effect – which can be fun for a lot for tweens. Tinted sunscreen can also cover up redness from blemishes.
Examples of products great for tweens with “normal” skin
(paraben and fragrance free):
Cleansers
Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser
Cerave Foaming Facial Cleanser
Kiel’s Ultra Facial Cleanser
Moisturizers
Cerave PM Facial Moisturizing Lotion
Burt’s Bees Sensitive Daily Moisturizing Cream
Neutrogena Hydro Boost Water Gel
Sunscreens
La Roche-Posay Anthelios Mineral SPF 30 Gentle Lotion
CeraVe Hydrating Mineral Sunscreen SPF 30 Face Sheer Tint
Blue Lizard Sensitive Mineral Sunscreen SPF 30/50
Masks:
Neutrogena Hydro Boost Hydrating 100% Hydrogel Mask
Simple Kind to Skin De-Stress Sheet Mask
Editor’s note: This article is brought to you in collaboration with Scottsdale Professionals Collective.
Author: Brenda LaTowsky, M.D. is the founder of Clear Dermatology and is Board Certified by the American Board of Dermatology. Her professional memberships include the American Academy of Dermatology, American Society for Dermatologic Surgery, American Society of Laser and Medicine, and Women’s Dermatologic Society. Dr. LaTowsky focuses on both medical and cosmetic dermatology. Her passion for medical dermatology includes preventive skin cancer screenings, surgical procedures to treat skin cancers, mole and skin tag removal, psoriasis, rosacea, and eczema. Additionally, she finds the treatment of acne and acne scarring very rewarding.
