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More than ever, young girls are being exposed to adult skincare content, and it’s creating societal pressure for them to adopt unnecessary anti-aging skincare regimens before they’ve even grown up. 

The anti-aging skincare trend can foster premature appearance anxiety in young girls, which can negatively impact their self-esteem – now and in the future. Nearly one in two young girls (10-17 years old) expect to worry more about their appearance as they age, and one in three young girls are expected to have cosmetic work or plastic surgery to alter their appearance as they age. 

Dove, together with powerful TikTok voices (academic experts, dermatologists, creators, body confidence advocates and more), including mother, actress and talk show host, Drew Barrymore, aim to draw awareness of the issue through creative content featuring decorated faces depicting #TheFaceofTen, and what it should be covered with – glitter, stickers, and face paint – not retinol and other anti-aging skincare ingredients and products. 

“As a mom to two young girls, it makes me think differently about skin care for younger girls” says Drew Barrymore. “I’ve spent almost my whole life in a make-up chair, and as a little girl, I loved to play and express myself with things like glitter and stickers – and I would wear make up for expressing myself. However, now there is a huge skin care movement directed at all ages, and some of the products on trend happen to be anti-aging. Not only can that be damaging to young skin, I feel like the message should always be pro age, and age appropriate. I’m so proud to be partnering with Dove to help boost girls’ awareness and self-esteem!”

Young girls are excited by the anti-aging skincare trends and lengthy routines they see in their feeds – but without guidance on what is age-appropriate for young skin, they could continue to misuse anti-aging products before they’ve even grown up. Dove believes a 10-year old’s face should be a canvas for care-free fun, not anti-aging products. 

“If young girls feel pressure to use skincare products containing highly active anti-aging ingredients, it could be damaging to their body confidence and self-esteem in the long term, not to mention their skin health. Today, girls are exposed to adult skincare content online and pressures to look a certain way at a very young age, to the extent that they’re adding products designed for adults to their wish lists and skincare regimens, without understanding the possible consequences for their physical and mental health. All of this contributes to a toxic culture of unrealistic beauty standards and pressures.” explains professor Phillippa Diedrichs, leading body image expert.

To further help support and encourage parents to have these important conversations with their kids, Dove, alongside Dr. Phillippa Diedrichs and body image expert certified dermatologist Dr. Marisa Garshick have created: ‘The Gen A Anti-Aging Talk’ a free resource on the Dove TikTok page with guidance on how to talk to young people about anti-aging pressures and beauty anxiety. 

“When did 10-year-olds start worrying about wrinkles and getting older? It is time to speak up to highlight the absurdity and protect their self-esteem,” says Firdaous El Honsali, Global Vice President, Dove. “At Dove, we believe beauty should be a source of happiness, not anxiety.  For two decades, we have taken action to build confidence and self-esteem for millions of girls. Today, our girls are anti-aging before they’ve even started to grow up and need us more than ever.” 

‘The Gen A Anti-Aging Talk’ is pinned to Dove’s TikTok channel for all parents and caregivers.