"Disasters" in teenagers because of influencers' skin creams

 Recommendations and advertising found on networks like TikTok encourage young people to mix products and use cosmetics that spoil their skin

 A teenager of only 15 years, asked his mother for ten products to treat his acne . I had found them on TikTok , where a guy had put a before and after photo and a whole list of recommended products for good skincare, a term that means skin care in English and which is has become popular in recent years. On the list were, for example, exfoliating acids that can cause the skin to flake and become more sensitive to solar radiation and therefore spots or burns. Her mother refused to buy her these products and she began to research and become more and more interested in the world of cosmetics.

The interest reached the point that, a year later, she created her own brand of healthy and ecological cosmetics, Mimoil . "Putting the focus on health and not on aesthetics is a message that reaches a mature audience very well, but unfortunately not to teenagers, who are very influenced by the canons of beauty they see on social networks", explains Laura Pinar , which recalls that the average age of the first aesthetic treatments has gone from 35 to 20 years in just ten years . The creator of Mimoil assures that social networks have made young people "slaves of a beauty that has nothing natural". 

"Influencers act as prescribers in cosmetics, but what works well for one person does not necessarily work for another. They recommend aggressive products that are sold without any medical criteria ," he warns. In addition, he adds that the products they recommend contain chemical formulas that, when mixed, can lose effectiveness or even be harmful. In fact, there are skincare routines recommended by influencers that have up to ten steps and products. "Even a non-comedogenic product, meaning it doesn't clog pores, can become one if it's mixed with something else. Mixtures, for example, of exfoliating acids and retinol, can cause real damage ," he warns. 

Cosmetic acne, a problem derived from irresponsible skincare

Dermatologist Cristina Paradelo agrees that the mixture of products and an application in age groups for which they are not recommended can be disastrous for the skin . "Very often, what they recommend does not correspond at all to the needs of teenagers. It is already questionable that influencers recommend creams to adults, imagine if they recommend them to children", he exclaims. Paradelo remembers that "a child is not a miniature adult" and there are products that their skin will not be able to remove. "Our skin is alive and its way of functioning must be respected, which is different when you are an adult than when you are a child", he adds.

Paradelo, in fact, is surprised because the goal of skincare for adults is usually, precisely, to recover the skin of when we were children. "If children, who already have such well-kept skin, apply products for adults, the skin flora is altered and bacteria overgrow, for example those that cause acne . That's why we're talking about cosmetic acne, created by ourselves", explains the expert. 

Turn skin care into a business

The dermatologist believes that the whole problem stems from the fact that influencers create complexes for young people because they use Instagram filters that make their skin look perfect. "Teenagers see that they don't look like the Instagram filter, which modifies the texture of the skin, and this confuses them and leads them to buy products to improve their skin", he explains.

This is when influencers promote products to have skin like theirs and teenage girls rush to buy them to look like them. "They shut themselves in the toilet for three hours and apply all these products, when the only thing they have to do at this age is wash their face with non-aggressive soaps and apply moisturizing cream if they have dry skin," he reasons. . 

"Cosmetic acne occurs because the skin is clogged instead of applying products and this causes inflammatory lesions . There are more and more," explains the expert, who assures that in her consultation she has received mothers who did not know how to say no to their children when they were asked for these cosmetics. A good routine, explains the expert, must be established in a personalized way and away from "the marquetinian idea" of the influencers , who promote creams "with very few ingredients and full of preservatives and stabilizers".

The influencers, the most noted

The director of the master's degree in pharmaceutical dermocosmetics at the UB, Teresa Alcalde , agrees with her colleagues that the recommendations of influencers have caused this problem which is getting bigger and bigger. "It's very common to use products because they're trending on TikTok or advertised by influencers without knowing if it's suitable for your skin type or your specific needs," explains Alcalde. 

"Influencers must stop making recommendations on subjects they do not know. There are excellent cosmetics divulgers on the networks , who have knowledge and give good advice, but there are many influencers who give advice by advertising products without knowledge because the brand pays them", reports the expert. He believes that it is very different to recommend a lipstick or a perfume than a cosmetic intended for the skin. "But it's clear, many teenagers only pay attention to what the influencer says", he criticizes. 

To avoid this misuse, the expert insists that the products and use routines must be supervised and recommended by a professional , for example pharmacists who are experts in dermopharmacy, dermatologists or beauticians in order not to overload the skin or combine them incorrectly . "I recommend to parents that if their child asks for a product, they consult one of these experts instead of buying any product advertised on the networks." 

Many products have a dark side that we don't know about

" The cosmetic industry has a dark side ", says Laura Pinar, who experienced it on her own skin. "I could never use conventional creams and cleansers because they caused eye irritation, redness and a feeling of suffocation . That's why I became interested in ingredients and preservatives and discovered that most products have toxic ingredients", he explains. These toxic ingredients are even considered to be potentially carcinogenic and endocrine disruptors that can cause very serious illnesses. 

"Traditional products also harm nature because they contain petroleum derivatives and microplastics," he warns. He assures that the essential thing is for consumers to accept themselves as they are: " Healthy skin will always be beautiful skin ." We all want to look young and healthy, but what is sold on the networks is not natural and compromises our physical and mental health."