Is ‘skincare-Tok’ beneficial or skin deep?

TikTok - some love it, some hate it, some governments may shut it down forever. The popular app has weaved its way into the fabric of our everyday lives — shaping our very habits, from the recipes we try to the products we buy.

“Let's be honest, TikTok is one of the things that we consider before we purchase something,” skincare influencer Ruzz Melendez said.

Nearly 50% of TikTok users said they purchased something from a brand because they saw it advertised, reviewed, or promoted on the platform, according to a survey by Adweek-Morning Consult.

And skincare products form a large part of that purchase pie. A 2022 report by StyleSeat found that 89% of TikTok users bought a beauty product after seeing it on the app. That same report found that 58% would purchase something an influencer recommended because “they can see it in action and tell how well it works.”

One example of this — skincare routine videos, where influencers and dermatologists and everyone in between share their own product preferences and how they fit into their day-to-day.

But who’s sitting in the proverbial TikTok audience? Of the app’s 1.1 billion users, 32.5% are between the ages of 10 and 19, making them the largest group of app users, according to Wallaroo.

Within that age group, you can find “Sephora Kids.”

“Sephora Kids”, according to CBC, refers to children and tweens who shop at Sephora and then post videos of the products they buy on social media. It’s also a trend that took TikTok by storm, where employees of the retailer shared stories and videos of tweens and kids raiding the store, messing up testing products, and sometimes throwing tantrums about Drunk Elephant products.

TikTok user, _leaveitblankk, a Sephora employee, shared her experience dealing with “Sephora Kids.”

“These kids…buying stuff that is damaging to their skin [and] also rude to the workers. They don’t clean up after themselves,” she said.

She also called on parents to say “no” to their kids and to “bring back discipline.”

“Please teach your children some respect and please monitor what they're buying,” she said.

Now, this chaotic behavior paints an unflattering picture.
But what about the good? Is there an upside to the emergence of “Sephora Kids?”

Dr. Gabriella Newman, a cosmetic dermatologist at Newman Dermatology in Beverly Hills, said social media has helped the younger generation become more knowledgeable about skincare.

“I think there's definitely a lot of really great things that social media has brought for dermatology…and [for] sun protection and [for] anti-aging,” she said.” [It] has made the younger generation very knowledgeable about something that usually they probably wouldn't care about until their twenties.”

Her sister, Dr. Daniella Newman, is a physician at Newman Dermatology. She said social media can help people see treatments designed for their skin type.

“People can see before and afters they can see people with their own skin type being treated,” she said. “It's a lot more of a record of your previous work rather than having to come into a doctor's office and look at their before and after patient testimonials.”

Still, Dr. Daniella, who runs the dermatology practice’s Instagram, said when it comes to social media, you get what you put out.

“So if you put out this vibe that you're doing, you know, unnatural looking things that's gonna be who tends to come through your door,” she said. “I feel that we tend to err on the more natural side, even all the fillers and the Botox. It looks very natural and we turn a lot of people down when they say they want like lip filler or cheek filler, I'm like, you're 20 years old. Your cheeks are good, you don't need it. And you know, maybe we lose business, but we also get the business that we like and then our patients leave with a certain aesthetic which is their own aesthetic. They're not leaving looking like somebody else.”

INFLUENCING 

Ruzz Melendez, a skincare influencer based in the Phillippines, has 531.9k followers on TikTok. He said he’s motivated by his past struggles with acne and a desire to help his followers deal with it.

“I always [tell] to my followers that your acne doesn't define your worth and capabilities,” he said. “And if you go on my TikTok, people will say, ‘Oh because of your videos  I was able to improve my skin and because of your videos, I have a clear skin right now.’ So also those are the things that kept me going.  The people that got inspired by my content and people who improved their skin because of my content.”

Melendez’s demographic ranges from 18 to 24 years old and he said he tailors his content to fit this demographic.

“They're looking for affordable skincare [and] for people who are on the go like that. So, I think also that's the reason why my career flourished because I tried to listen to what the needs of the demographics that I have and they are loving it,” he said.

But he also knows what it is like to be influenced by an influencer.

“During the time I was tackling my acne, if an influencer would say, ‘Oh, this [product] is really great for my acne’...if they say, ’Oh, this one is great for acne people,’ because you're desperate to get better, you will buy it.  You will save money for it only to find out that there's no ingredient [in that product] that can actually help with acne.”

When it comes to educating followers on a product, Melendez said it’s an obligation all influencers have.

“It's a bare minimum because I always say this to my followers - me, I will receive products for free, but you are the one who's gonna buy it,” he said. “So it's a bare minimum for us influencers to be honest because if we're really concerned about you, we're gonna be doing that.”

It’s a conversation he said he’s had with other influencers.
For Melendez, it’s all about credibility.

“There are some brands who can't handle honesty and criticism so we end up not getting any work from them,” he said. “ And that's ok because honestly, I would save my reputation and my credibility because I, in so many ways, can earn money but the trust of people is so hard to get.”

Still, he said he encourages his viewers to make their own decisions.

“It's up to you to decide if you're gonna buy it, and I would always say to my audience that you should buy things because you're informed about the ingredients, about the pros and cons and you need it in your skincare routine - not because I mentioned it to you that you should get it,” he said. “So I'm trying my best for my audience to be a smart consumer because if they are smart consumers, most likely brands will not use their insecurities to gain profit out of it.”

Influencers are not the only ones grabbing attention on TikTok.

THE [DRUNK] ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM

Skincare TikTok has helped brands like The Ordinary and CeraVe grow quite a following.

Then there’s Drunk Elephant, another brand caught in the middle of the “Sephora Kids” hysteria. So what is it about this brand and its bright-colored tops that causes tweens to sprint to Sephora to get it?

Ruzz Melendez pointed to the brand’s packaging and store display.

“It's very minimalist but colorful, which is so nice. If you're going to check the booth, it's so creative as well. It's very Gen Z,” he said.

Dr. Gabriella Newman, however, said the credit goes to those behind the scenes.

“It's amazing marketing and I'm sure some of their products are good and you have repeat customers because of that,” she said. “But there are so many products out there that every brand has their like one top seller.
So I think that it is just marketing, marketing, marketing and they're doing a great job.”

It doesn’t hurt that the brand has influencers helping them out in exchange for PR boxes. Melendez noted while he’s not on the PR list for Drunk Elephant, he’s seen just how the brand treats its influencers.

“When it comes to product seeding to influencers, they spoil their influencers because I saw how their PR [box is] and it was really like a lot of products inside of it,” Melendez said. “Because I think also Drunk Elephant established already their name…whenever they're gonna send a product to the influencer, [the influencer thinks] ‘Shucks, I need to create a video about this brand because it's, it's popular and I want to hop into that trend.’”

NOTE: The author of this article reached out to Drunk Elephant, but did not receive a response.

THE RETINOL RAVE 

There’s another darling in the skincare-Tok community: retinol. But what exactly is retinol and what does it do? 

According to the Cleveland Clinic, retinol is a form of vitamin A that can be used to treat acne and has anti-aging effects. There are different types of retinol, including tretinoin and adapalene.

Dr. Gabriella and Dr. Daniella said they’ve had patients come into their offices to ask about retinol specifically.

“I think it's a great product. I think different people react to it differently,” Dr. Gabrielle said. “Do we think that all teens need to be on retinol or a stronger version of it? Probably not, but can it provide benefits to a lot of people? Yes.“

Dr. Gabriella encourages people to talk to their dermatologists about retinol rather than getting their information from TikTok.

“There's a lot of things that people should really know about and you're not getting that information usually on Tik Tok, they're really just talking about all of the powerful benefits of this as if it happens overnight. But they're not really focusing on some of the, you know, the possible side effects.

While Ruzz agrees that there are a lot of benefits to retinol, there are other ingredients people can look at.

“You don't have to say that retinol is your life because there are ingredients like mandelic acid [and] vitamin C that can get the same result on your skin,” he said.

PROTECTION STRONGER THAN SPF 

Meanwhile, a California assembly member is working to protect children’s skin from retinol and other skincare ingredients.

In February, California Assembly member Alex Lee proposed a bill that would prevent those under 13 from buying anti-aging skin care products that include ingredients such as retinol, alpha hydroxy acid (AHAs), and glycolic acid.

“The fact that this is a multibillion-dollar beauty industry that's profiting off of the practice of children buying anti-aging products is quite reprehensible and just to point out that because there [are] no real warning labels or information about the use of retinol and these chemicals,” Lee told KNX News. “Even if you are trying to be a responsible parent for your child as an adult, you wouldn't even know these things unless you're like a dermatologist or you study up on these skin care things or new stories are talking about how retinol is harmful to children. That's just the reality.”

Lee compared the bill to how other businesses regulate with age limits.

“If I was 11 years old, I couldn't walk into a movie theater on my own and buy an R-rated movie ticket,” he said. “I also couldn't buy the latest M-rated game on GameStop. The industry has these self-regulating measures and also Sephora itself does not offer waxing services to children who are under 13.* So the industry likes to say that enforcement seems to be impossible, but we all know from common sense that it is pretty possible.”

He added that the bill also suggests stores, both physical and online, have a notice on the product saying it’s not suitable for children.

*Per Sephora’s website, “Clients under 12 years old cannot receive waxing services. There are no age limits for receiving Makeup and Skincare services.”

THE IDEAL SKINCARE ROUTINE

So what is the ideal skincare routine? What products should a tween or a teenager have when building their routine?

There is one product our dermatologists and our influencer agree on - sunscreen.

“I would say no matter what you need sunscreen…and you need to avoid the sun and stay out of the sun,” Dr. Gabriella said.

Melendez echoed the statement, adding you can’t underestimate the power of SPF.

“Your skin care will be useless if you're not applying your SPF because you know the sun can actually make your skin age faster,” he said.

Dr. Daniella said prevention is everything for those trying to avoid wrinkles as much as possible.

“So if you don't want wrinkles, you should wear a wide-brimmed hat, stay in the shade, wear lots of sunscreen,” she said. “That's gonna be better than any retinol, any prescription strength tretinoin that you can find on the market.”

Still, tweens and teens are urged to talk to a dermatologist rather than relying on TikTok.

“I think everyone that cares about this should meet with a doctor-dermatologist because everyone has unique skin and they need to understand the risk factors,” Dr. Gabriella said. “If you have a type one or type two Fitzpatrick skin versus a type five or six, you have very different things that you need to be concerned about. So maybe a family history, there's so many things.”

When in doubt, leave it to the pros, you know, the ones with medical degrees. And wear sunscreen, that’s never going out of style.

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