Adelle Hayes, 15, of Peters Township, likes how she feels after her skin care routine. She enjoys caring for her skin and watching TikTok influencer Katie Fang’s “Get Ready With Me” multi-step skincare routines. “Her skin is incredibly clear, and I haven’t seen a pimple yet,” Hayes said.
Skin care is all the rage with the Gen Z crowd — those between the ages of 12 and 27. Young tween girls — known as #sephorakids — experiment with beauty products, skin care remedies and anti-aging serums. According to an article in The Wall Street Journal , Bubble Skincare, a company that sells hydrating moisturizers and eye-brightening cream, works with about 2,000 youth ambassadors aged 13 through 14 years old.
But it isn’t all foaming cleansers and pink shiny bottles — dermatologists and skin care experts are concerned Gen Z girls are influenced by unattainable beauty standards and using skin care products that may damage their skin in the long-run. Sophia Choukas-Bradley is an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Pittsburgh, and the Clinical Psychology Lead for the new Center for Digital Thriving at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Her research focuses on social media’s effects on the mental health and well-being of adolescents and emerging adults, and she is sounding the alarm when it comes to skincare influencers on social media causing a rise in aging anxiety.
“Evolutionary psychologists would say it’s natural,” Choukas-Bradley s.
