Companies like Drunk Elephant, The Ordinary and Bubble have marketed expensive skincare to teens in the U.S. In recent years, there has been a noticeable impact of skincare among youth. Teens have been buying and using these products, wanting to follow what they often see on social media.
Many teens use a multi-step routine, which has an average cost of $168. Compared to a simple face wash or moisturizer you could get at a drugstore, these products are disappointing.
Ellie Lieu is a Liberty High School freshman who has used similar products.
“[Drunk Elephant] was around $60 for some moisturizer,” Lieu said. “It didn’t feel that special to me, so it was pretty overpriced for what it actually was.”
Many of these brands market themselves to be beneficial and the best for your skin, but often the cheaper version of moisturizer is better. Moisturizer is supposed to be simple to hydrate your skin, so buying these expensive products is unnecessary.
“I do think my skin felt a lot better and more lightweight when I switched to CeraVe moisturizer,” Lieu said. “It wasn’t as thick and heavy on my skin.”
Most of these products were marketed to younger audiences due to the uprise in the “preppy” aesthetic. While these products looked cute and fit the aesthetic, many did more harm than good.
Lauren Doughty-McDonald is a dermatologist at the Dermatology Clinic of Iowa, who treats many people, including young teens.
“For the most part, [these products] aren’t necessary. They often contain products that can be drying or irritating to the skin, possibly impairing your skin barrier and making acne and eczema worse,” Doughty-McDonald said.
Teens are finding and using these products, often damaging their skin more than they are actually helping it. By seeing videos on social media, they see multiple-step routines and assume they need one too to keep their skin healthy, when in most cases, it’s the opposite.
“[These product lines] market the idea that teenage skin requires intensive care regimens, and for the most part, it doesn’t,” Doughty-McDonald said.
Most of the teens who use these products are young and don’t struggle with things like acne or other skin problems yet. They use these products without needing any other products besides a gentle face wash and moisturizer. The right time to use skin care products depends entirely on you, but that doesn’t mean that you need to use them at a younger age.
“[When you use skin care] depends on you. If your skin is acne-prone, whenever you start having problems, you should start using medication, some of which are prescription or over-the-counter treatments to help with your acne,” Doughty-McDonald said. “Otherwise, a gentle wash and moisturizer are really all you need.”
When you deem it necessary to use skin care, there are specific products that are great for acne, which is the most common skin condition for teens to struggle with. These products work much better than products from many of the expensive brands like Drunk Elephant or The Ordinary, because they are specialized for what you need.
“If your skin is acne-prone, you want to make sure that all of your products have the words non-comedogenic or non-acnegenic on them,” said Doughty-McDonald. “That means that the products will not clog your pores and worsen your acne.”
When these products aren’t used, it shows. Several products are harmful to your skin, and a lot of brands that focus on their marketing more than the quality of their products tend to have harmful characteristics.
“There are a number of products, specifically toners and astringents, that are marketed to teenagers with acne, and they contain things like propylene glycol that can really dry out your skin and actually cause rashes from being so dry,” said Doughty-McDonald.
Young teenagers shouldn’t use these products. They have been proven to be more harmful than helpful, and it’s important to know what to use on your skin and when.
