Why children don’t need anti-ageing skincare — and why better beauty means knowing when not to sell

Sometimes I wonder if this conversation is not really about skincare at all. I wonder if it is about our relationship with age.

We have become so uncomfortable with ageing that we have turned youth into something to preserve, protect and pursue for as long as possible. Yet there is something deeply contradictory about this.

We celebrate youthfulness when it comes to appearance, energy and possibility. But youth is not just smooth skin and vitality. It also brings uncertainty, awkwardness, self-doubt, the struggle to belong, the experience of not belonging, and the gradual process of discovering who we are.

Most importantly, it is a time for play.

If we truly value youth, we should value all of it. Instead, while adults chase the outward signs of being young, children are increasingly being encouraged to leave childhood behind. They are being exposed to adult concerns, adult expectations and adult insecurities at ever younger ages, often through algorithms that have become powerful, if unintended, teachers.

And in many ways, we seem to be stepping back from our own responsibility. Growing up has never really been shaped by what is around us as much as by who is around us: family, friends, mentors, neighbours and the wider community that helps us make sense of ourselves and our place in the world.

When algorithms begin to fill that role, we should at least pause and ask what lessons are being taught.

It is a strange contradiction. Adults are trying to hold on to youth while children are being encouraged to leave it behind. And somewhere in the middle, we seem to have lost the art of simply being the age we are.

Perhaps that is why I find the rise of anti-ageing skincare for children so unsettling.

Not because children are interested in beauty. Curiosity is normal. Play is normal. Borrowing your mum’s lipstick, brushing powder over your face, pretending to be grown up for a few minutes — that is all part of childhood.

But childhood itself seems to be shrinking.

Recent conversations around “cosmeticorexia” have put a spotlight on the growing obsession with skincare, flawless skin and adult-style beauty routines among children and young teenagers. The word may be new to many of us, but the feeling behind it is not. Many parents will already have noticed that beauty is no longer just something children discover in a bathroom cabinet or dressing table. It is in their feeds, in their algorithms, in their wish lists, in their hauls and in the language they are absorbing before they are old enough to understand it.

Fine lines. Pores. Texture. Retinol. Collagen. Glow. Glass skin. Anti-ageing.

Words that once belonged to adult skincare have quietly slipped into the world of children.

And this is where we need to pause. Because there is a big difference between a child playing with beauty and a child believing they need beauty products to be good enough. There is a difference between care and correction. There is a difference between curiosity and anxiety.

When did we stop celebrating being ten years old? When did we stop valuing scraped knees, muddy clothes, climbing trees, building dens and spending hours outdoors with no purpose other than having fun? When did we lose the art of play? And if we have lost it ourselves, are we now in danger of taking it away from our children too?

You will only ever be ten once. You will only ever be eleven once. Those years are not a waiting room for adulthood. They are a stage of life worth celebrating in their own right.

The goal should not be to prepare children for ageing. The goal should be to let them enjoy being young.

The irony is that many adults spend years trying to recreate what children already have: freedom from self-consciousness, curiosity, spontaneity and joy. Perhaps instead of teaching children to think more like adults, we should be asking ourselves what we have forgotten that they still know.

Because a bit of dirt probably will not harm you. But a constant stream of messages telling you that your skin is not good enough just might.

Young skin does not need adult concerns

This is not about saying young people should never use skincare. That would not be true, and it would not be helpful.

Some children may need simple care. Some teenagers may need support for dryness, oiliness, breakouts or sensitivity. But that is very different from selling young people adult skin concerns before they need them.

For children, skincare should be simple — almost boring — and that is the point. Gentle cleansing when needed. A simple moisturiser if skin is dry. Sun protection. No anti-ageing claims. No wrinkle routines. No ten-step rituals. Just care, not correction.

For teenagers, skin can become more complicated because of hormones, oiliness, breakouts or sensitivity. But even then, the answer is not usually more products. It is the right products, used in the right way, for the right reason. And if there is acne, irritation or a skin condition, the best advice may come from a pharmacist, GP or dermatologist.

Young skin does not need anti-ageing products. It does not need retinol routines. It does not need collagen claims. It does not need to chase glass skin.

What it needs is simple, age-appropriate care, confidence and honesty.

Better beauty means knowing when not to sell

At Beauty Kitchen, we often talk about creating better beauty. Most people assume that means better ingredients, better packaging or better sustainability.

It does.But increasingly, I think it means something else too. It means understanding the influence our industry has and using that influence responsibly.

Through my work with the B Corp Beauty Coalition, I spend time with brands discussing what responsible growth looks like in practice. For me, one of the most important questions facing our industry today is this: Are we helping young people care for their skin? Or are we teaching them there is something wrong with it?

That question matters because the beauty industry cannot pretend it has no role in shaping what young people believe about themselves. Brands, retailers, platforms, influencers and algorithms all play a part in shaping what young people see, want and believe they need. That gives our industry influence — and influence comes with responsibility.

And somewhere in that system, children can become consumers before they have the tools to question what they are being sold.

That should make every responsible beauty brand uncomfortable.

Because once a child believes they need anti-ageing skincare, we have to ask whether the system has educated them — or simply made them feel that normal skin is something to correct. Skin that changes, skin that has pores, skin that is not filtered, should not be turned into a problem to solve.

Then it sells the solution. That is not better beauty. That is better marketing. And we should not confuse the two.

Better beauty cannot just mean better ingredients or better packaging. It has to mean better responsibility. It has to mean being honest about what a product does, who it is for, and who does not need it.

Sometimes the most responsible thing a beauty brand can do is recommend a product. Sometimes the most responsible thing it can do is say: “You do not need this.” That is what better beauty looks like to me.

Drawing Better Lines

Maybe we cannot go back completely. The digital world is not going away. Children will continue to see beauty content. Trends will continue to move fast. Products will continue to travel from adult shelves into younger conversations.

But we can draw better lines. As parents, we can bring beauty back to care rather than correction. As brands, we can stop turning every insecurity into a product opportunity. As retailers, we can think more carefully about how adult skincare is displayed, described and sold. And as an industry, we can stop pretending that “suitable for all ages” is the same as “needed by all ages”.

Because the question isn’t whether children should ever use skincare. The question is whether we are helping young people understand their skin or teaching them to scrutinise it. Whether we are building confidence or creating dependence. Whether we are encouraging care or selling correction.

At Beauty Kitchen, we believe products should be designed with purpose. That means they should work, they should be made responsibly, and they should be used by the people who genuinely need them.

Better beauty isn’t about selling more products to more people.It’s about helping people make better choices. For their skin, for their confidence, for the planetand for the next generation.

Children do not need anti-ageing skincare. They do not need to chase younger-looking skin. They already have it. 

What they need is honesty. They need protection from false demand. And they need adults, brands and retailers willing to say something that can feel surprisingly radical in today’s beauty industry: “You don’t need this.”

That is what better beauty looks like to me.