If Your Kid Asks For Skin Care Products, Here Are The Ingredients To Avoid

Gone are the days of simple green mud masks and cucumber slices on the eyes. The tween spa nights that used to be a sleepover activity have now morphed into 10-step skin care routines your kid wants to emulate morning and night. Young kids asking for luxury skin care products (often Drunk Elephant, according to parents online) means not only weighing the literal cost of the products, but determining what kid-safe skin care looks like. Because chances are, you weren’t even thinking about retinol until much later in life.

“This phenomenon is driven by social media, influencers, and marketing to kids using unrealistic standards of beauty and eye-catching packaging,” says Dr. Brooke Jeffy, M.D., FAAD, a dermatologist based in Scottsdale, Arizona, and creator of BTWN, a skin care line formulated for kids. “These products are now status symbols. Kids tell me they want products that look cute on their vanity or sink but tend to have no idea what the products are actually intended for and that products can affect our skin negatively.”

The way influencers layer on product after product is driving kids to do the same, it seems, to the detriment of their skin. “Even if they’re good products, you have multiple ingredients and the combination can strip the skin barrier or actually inactivate it,” says Dr. Latanya Benjamin, M.D., associate professor of pediatric dermatology and founder of YoungSkin, a dermatology practice for women and children. “A lot of times these products are not tested together, so you don’t know the effects that they have, but they compound together, which can potentially lead to problems with your skin barrier.”

This is not just a theoretical, online problem — dermatologists are seeing the effects of it in their exam rooms IRL. “Parents are bringing their kids to see me with dry skin, breakouts, and rashes to try to talk sense into their kids,” Jeffy says. “They suspect their child is using too many products or a product that is too harsh for their skin, but it’s us versus social media and the beauty industry. Even if they’re having a problem, it can be very hard for us to convince them the products are the problem.”

What skin care products are not safe for kids?

If you’re standing in a Sephora right now, trying to determine which products in your kid’s basket are safe for them, compare the ingredients on the packaging to this list. These are the actives and products that Jeffy and Benjamin say your kids should not be using on their faces:

• Retinoids, retinols, retinals, and all their other forms. These can be irritating even to adult skin but especially tween skin, both derms agree. Using them can result in dryness, rashes, infections, breakouts, and even burns. If your child wants to use retinol to treat acne, Benjamin suggests working with a dermatologist who can find the right strength of the ingredient for your kid’s skin, and show them how often to apply it (and in what amounts) for maximum effectiveness, minimal irritation.
• Vitamin C, which is used to help maintain collagen and improve hyperpigmentation, neither of which tweens or teens need. Certain forms can be irritating to the skin.
• Exfoliating acids, like AHA and BHA, and exfoliating peels. Because kids’ skin doesn’t need to be exfoliated, they’re likely to just cause skin irritation.
• Fragranced products, especially those containing essential oils and extracts. These compounds increase the likelihood of allergic contact dermatitis in younger skin.
• Physical scrubs, which can harm the skin barrier.
• Anti-aging products geared toward hormones. Their active ingredients can mess with a still-developing child’s endocrine system.

The percentage of the active ingredient matters too. In her practice, when a teen comes in for help with acne, Benjamin might start them on a 0.05% salicylic acid cleanser. Salicylic acid is safe over-the-counter in most concentrations, she adds, but be sure you’re choosing a product with a 2% concentration (or less). The same goes for products with high concentrations of glycolic acid. The formula of the product determines how irritating this active might be to young skin. If your child is going to use it, just look for the lowest percentage possible.

And while they’re not unsafe, Jeffy and Benjamin say that kids and teens simply won’t benefit from serums, toners, or anything anti-aging. “Does your child really need to be plumped? It’s not necessary to plump the skin,” Benjamin says.

What is a good skin care routine for tweens?

It might be tempting to shut down your kid’s interest in skin care after hearing how harsh so many products can be for their skin. But their interest in taking care of their skin really is a good thing. “The positive side to all of this is the role of preventive care of the skin. If we take the time as adults to continue to educate them that that is a correct thought process, but not to be fearful of aging and have more of a positive spin on the benefits of prevention, then that is worth a million dollars right there,” Benjamin says.

If you’re wondering what a healthy skin care routine for a tween or teen looks like, Jeffy recommends a cleanser, a moisturizer, and an SPF. “Ideally the products are fragrance-free and formulated for sensitive skin. If your child is pressing you for a serum, choose a hyaluronic acid product. Consider product lines that focus on simplicity and consistency. This is all that is needed to maintain healthy skin.”

The cleanser you choose for your child should be gentle, Benjamin notes. “‘Gentle’ meaning water-based as opposed to alcohol-based — alcohols are very irritating to young skin. I would also make sure, especially because there are a lot of children with eczema or sensitive skin out there, that it’s fragrance-free. Oftentimes they’re offering very pretty packaging and they smell good. So I would make sure that the face washes have minimal color and fragrances [to] prevent irritation.”

The actual most important thing kids can do for their skin’s health is protect it from sun exposure, according to both Benjamin and Jeffy. So, if your tween wants a fancy SPF from Sephora and you know they’ll actually use it every day, that’s the perfect place to meet them in the middle if you’ve had to say no to other high-end lotions and potions. You could even let them get one with a tint so it looks like a BB cream or foundation, Benjamin suggests, if that’ll be even more thrilling to your kid.

Experts:

Dr. Brooke Jeffy, M.D., FAAD, board-certified dermatologist based in Scottsdale, Arizona, and creator of BTWN, a skin care line formulated for kids

Dr. Latanya Benjamin, M.D., associate professor of pediatric dermatology at Florida Atlantic University and founder of YoungSkin, a private medical practice in South Florida dedicated to skin health for women and children