The Skincare Craze: A Tutorial
By ANGELA HE ‘27, GRACE YANG ‘27, JADE YOO ‘27, and MEGHAN TATE ZEE ‘27
Right now, skincare tutorials seem to be everywhere. Many influencers post their elaborate 10-step skincare routines on their social media platforms, which leads to their fans rushing to purchase the products they use. We can see 8-year-olds doing “Get Ready With Me,” where they apply tons of skincare products on their face, trying to emulate the aesthetic of their favorite influencers. Some think it’s a cute trend and willingly buy their eight-year-olds these expensive skincare products. However, others think it’s excessive and does more harm for the eight-year-olds since those products aren’t specialized for their young skin, and is a very pricey product for such young kids to be using. Throughout this article, we will be examining and deep diving into what the skincare craze is and what it really does to kids.
Some examples of famous skincare brands are Drunk Elephant, Fresh, and Dr. Jart. These are international companies that have their products selling in a lot of different places, like Sephora. These companies have been making a lot more money than they previously had because of the boom in the usage of their products inspired by social media. For example, there are three companies that have been the center of attention in a lot of Tik Toks, reels, and more: Drunk Elephant has made $845 million, Dr. Jart made a whopping $500 million, and Fresh makes $75 million a year. This is a huge amount of money that’s been going into the skincare industry. That number will just keep getting higher as the skincare craze continues.
Many of these high-priced skincare products targeted towards tweens can be found on the shelves of major beauty retailers like Sephora and Ulta. With their brightly lit stores filled with glossy displays of the latest cosmetic launches, these retailers have increasingly catered their marketing towards younger girls. On Sephora’s website, young girls can browse through extensive skincare sections claiming to treat wrinkles, dark spots, and other signs of aging that they typically do not experience. Drugstore brands have also cashed in, bringing extensive skincare routines that treat problems that young girls don’t have, yet they still strangely rave about.
Social media has become a major driving force behind tweens’ extensive skincare habits. Platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube expose these girls to a constant stream of influencers reviewing the latest products.
These influential social media trends feature expensive skincare brands that tweens are developing a growing curiosity over. These young girls, who are now highly image-conscious, see influencers flawlessly applying these skincare products and feel the need to do the same. The tweens may not necessarily be extremely conscious of premature aging, rather they buy these products simply to hop on popular trends and imitate their favorite influencers. Peers also show off their own skincare hauls online, creating social pressure to keep up. As these young girls spend more time immersed in these curated social media images, it is no wonder they feel the need to join the mainstream trends of skincare.
A couple of months ago, 13-year-old Evelyn Unruh went viral on TikTok with her Get Ready With Me videos. Unlike other Get Ready With Me videos, her content contains controversial yet amusing comments on ‘Things that I Hate.’
“Time. Who decided there were 24 hours in a day?”
“People who cry on social media are attention seekers…”
“Slow Walkers.”
“Money can and will buy happiness”
Sarcastic, judgmental, and cynical are appropriate adjectives belonging to Evelyn. The TikTok algorithm is finely tuned to give high visibility to content that elicits strong reactions, especially from a young girl with a 12-step skin and makeup routine. Brands like Drunk Elephant, Glow Recipe, Supergoop, and Saie frequently appear in her videos. She also reasoned that becoming an influencer benefited her. She “evolved” to using skin care in the morning, which became a “built-in healthy habit” even when she’s not filming a video. Her content also contains vast hate speech towards her friends or students at her school, causing an explosion online. Is this a new way of cyberbullying?
Influencers such as Spencewuah (who has over 15 million followers on TikTok) and Jake Shane posted reactions voicing they were “scared” of teenage girls like Evelyn and would be “terrified” if they were in her grade at school. Many other TikTok users commented on their hatred towards Evelyn, criticizing her voice, content, personality, outfit, and makeup routine. The exact amount of hatred spread in Evelyn’s comments is equivalent to Evelyn’s content. Doesn’t this indicate we’re all “Evelyn”?
Evelyn claims that her parents are aware of her account and that her mom, Alex Unrah, monitors comments. Alex Unruh is concerned about Evelyn’s “mental well-being” due to all the hate messages she receives.
The new trend of 10-step skincare routines for 8-year-olds has triggered controversy in not only the cosmetic world but also in society as a whole. It has caused parents to question to what extent they should allow their children to spend $69 on a polypeptide cream. It has started a new form of cyberbullying. People are questioning if children are being taken advantage of by commercial cosmetic companies and retailers. Most of all, little girls are maturing faster than ever. Should we sit by and watch it all happen? Should we shut it down? Is this a bigger deal than people are making it out to be, and when will my little sister stop asking me for an $80 water cream?
