Parent Utterly Baffled After 5-Year-Old Requests Skincare For Birthday
What does the average five-year-old want for their birthday? One of those new Furbies, a Lego set, some skincare, perhaps?
One Redditor recently revealed their daughter had been invited to her best friend’s birthday party, and she’d apparently asked for moisturiser and cleanser as a gift.
User sadsacking wrote: “Last night, my daughter told me her friend wants skincare. I was baffled. She then said, ‘She wants moisturiser and cleanser… What’s cleanser?’
“My poor daughter then said, ‘I think she must know a lot more than I do’.”
“Who the hell is pushing skincare on 5-6 year olds?” the user added.
The parent later updated the post to say they’re not suggesting a skincare routine “is bad”, but it’s the first time they had heard “someone so young” ask for that as a birthday gift.
“Chalking it up to living in different times, different folks, different strokes,” they said, adding they’ll be giving the child a Polly Pocket Set and book which they’d already purchased.
While the post might have raised a few eyebrows, the request is nothing out of the ordinary.
There’s been a growing number of teens, tweens and even children expressing an interest in skincare, particularly premium products – a phenomenon which some have dubbed “Sephora kids”.
It’s thought a combination of influencer culture, advertising, and social media in general has boosted the trend.
“My friend is a manager in a large commercial chemist and she has kids coming in with their (seemingly very normal parents) looking for face creams,” user DontTakeMyAdviceHere replied to the Reddit post.
“Usually retinol based or TikTok brands like drunk elephant. She said it’s really frequent now. Most kids are about 10-12, but the youngest she saw was 6!! I don’t know why the parents even think this is okay!”
Is an interest in skincare actually so terrible for children?
It depends. When the focus is on anti-ageing and using retinol-filled products that could potentially damage their skin, experts warn it’s a problem.
As Lisa Kavanagh, founder of organic skincare company Sphagnum De-Lux, previously told HuffPost UK: “Young people using skincare products infused with anti-ageing elements are at high risk of damaging their skin.
“Worryingly, this could cause them serious harm and also a toxic relationship with skincare from a young age.”
Skincare has become “the latest status symbol” and a way for young people “to feel like they are fitting in”, psychologist Dr Eleanor Chatburn told the BBC.
Chasing the “perfect skin” – often promoted on social media, where filters and editing are commonplace – could put people “at risk of developing appearance anxiety and, when this becomes more extreme, body dysmorphic disorder”, the expert said.
But what if the focus is just on keeping the skin clean, moisturised (where needed) and protected from the sun with age-appropriate products? Some seem to think that’s totally fine.
Reddit user Wombatseal said: “Honestly I feel like the Mom probably has a skincare routine and she wants to be like mom.
“I do a lot of skincare and it’s not an ‘I want to look 20 forever’ thing it’s an ‘I don’t want my eczema to flare and all the skin around my eyes and eyelids to get flakey, itchy, red and swollen’ thing.”
They added: “Skin is an organ, it’s not a bad thing for kids to want to take care of it, it’s a bad thing to fear aging, but cleanser and moisturiser doesn’t indicate that. If she had asked for retinol that would be scary.”
“My six-year-old is very interested in self-care because she sees me and her older sister do it,” added user Fit_Measurement_2420.
“We’re into makeup, lotions and potions, we get our hair and nails done, get excited about what we’re wearing etc etc. and she’s right there with us.”
They did caveat however that there is “no way in hell” that their daughter would request moisturiser over “a toy or something age appropriate” for her birthday.