What Is Cosmeticorexia? The Tween Skincare Obsession Reshaping the Beauty Industry
- Bindu Sharma
- 4 days ago
- 7 min read
Cosmeticorexia is the term dermatologists now use for an unhealthy obsession with achieving flawless skin from a young age, leading to compulsive use of cosmetic products. The children driving it are as young as eight.
They have 10-step routines, favourite serums, and strong opinions on toner.
The beauty industry has quietly acquired its youngest customer segment ever. The question is whether it should have.
Why Cosmeticorexia Matters for the Beauty Industry Now
In 2023, Gen Alpha consumers spent nearly $4.7 billion on beauty products in the US, outspending every other demographic on skincare and makeup. Mintel projects this generation's spending power will reach $5.5 trillion by 2029. Prestige beauty spending grew 6% in households without children and spiked 16% in households with them, according to Circana. Consumers under 14 drove nearly half of drug store skin sales in a single year.
The numbers describe a commercial success story. The medical literature describes something else. Italian dermatologist Giovanni Damiani and psychologist Alberto Stefana, who coined the term cosmeticorexia, define it as the excessive, age-inappropriate, or compulsive use of cosmetic products and procedures. Damiani interviewed 55 of his patients aged 8 to 14. Those displaying signs of the condition used up to 10 different skincare products daily and would not socialise, even with family, without makeup.
Regulators have noticed. The Italian Competition Authority has opened two investigations into LVMH, examining whether Sephora and Benefit failed to make clear their products are not intended for children, and whether they encouraged purchases through covert marketing involving young micro-influencers. In the US, California's AB 2491, which sought to ban the sale of anti-ageing products to under-13s, failed in 2024; its successor, AB 728, was introduced in February 2025. The UK's Advertising Standards Authority says it is monitoring the Italian investigations closely.
When a customer segment grows this fast and attracts this much regulatory attention simultaneously, it stops being a trend story. It becomes a strategy problem.
How the Beauty Industry Found Its Youngest Customer
Three shifts converged to create this market.
The discovery engine got younger
Beauty advice once travelled through magazines, mothers, and the pharmacy aisle. Today it travels through TikTok. "Get Ready With Me" videos turned hygiene into performance, and performance into commerce. One 13-year-old UK creator, Ellie-May, has more than 330,000 followers; her family earns over £50,000 a year from her content. She has been using and advertising skincare since she was eight. One study of 100 TikToks made by under-18s found the average cost of the skincare routines posted was £125, replenished every three to four months.
The product followed the audience
Brands moved to meet the demand. Evereden, which launched in 2018 as a baby-care brand, pivoted to tween skincare and crossed $100 million in sales in 2024; it entered Sephora US in October 2025, a month after the Sephora debut of Sincerely Yours, a tween-focused brand from 15-year-old creator Salish Matter. At the extreme end, the start-up Rini, launched by actor Shay Mitchell in late 2025, markets face masks to children as young as four. Critics call the category's pastel bottles and novelty packaging "infantilised", arguing it makes potent actives look like toys and creates parental complacency.
The chemistry was never designed for children
This is where the commercial logic collides with the dermatology. Adult-strength actives such as retinol and hydroxy acids are designed to accelerate cell turnover in ageing skin. A child's skin is already doing that. Dermatologist Dr. Brooke Jeffy warns that when kids use anti-ageing skincare they can cause premature ageing, destroy the skin barrier, and create permanent scarring. The case of 10-year-old Scarlett Goddard Strahan, whose influencer-inspired routine left her with chemical burns and lasting sun sensitivity, has become the cautionary tale of the category. NHS consultant dermatologist Dr. Jean Ayer puts the irony plainly: children already have the flawless skin they are chasing. The products are stripping it away.
There is also a market signal worth noting. Drunk Elephant, the brand most associated with the "Sephora Kids" phenomenon, repositioned toward older consumers in early 2025 after a 65% sales decline in Q1. Being the face of an under-age trend, it turns out, carries commercial risk in both directions.
The India Angle: A Younger Market Meeting the Same Forces
India's teenage skincare market was valued at approximately ₹4,902 crore in 2024 and is projected to grow at 6.8% CAGR through 2034, with South India growing fastest at 7.5% (Expert Market Research). That market now sits inside the larger D2C beauty and personal care boom, estimated at $4.09 billion in 2025 and growing at over 36% CAGR. This is a generational shift in who spends on beauty, and as we argued in our analysis of how generational spending is reshaping global retail, brands that misread which generation is actually driving a category pay for it.
The same forces playing out at Sephora are visible on Nykaa. Delhi-based dermatologist Dr. Kiran Sethi reports children as young as seven arriving with intense interest in beauty and skincare, a phenomenon she describes as very recent. Indian tweens have skipped the Boroline-and-Ponds inheritance of previous generations entirely, moving straight to whatever is viral. K-beauty brands are arriving to meet them: Frudia entered India in April 2025 via kindlife with hydration-led lines clearly aimed at younger consumers.
Indian brands are responding along two distinct paths.
The first is purpose-built: Tikitoro and Snazz have positioned themselves as clean, age-appropriate formulations for teens, selling safety to parents as much as efficacy to kids. Mamaearth's "Youth Glow" range rolled out through pharmacies and retail stores before going online, a distribution choice that signals parental reassurance.
The second path is incidental: ingredient-led D2C brands like Minimalist and Dot & Key, now at an annualised GMV run rate above ₹1,500 crore, were built for adults but are increasingly discovered by much younger users through the same social channels.
India has no equivalent of California's AB 728 and no active regulatory inquiry like Italy's. The market is growing faster than the guardrails. For brands operating here, the discipline will have to be self-imposed, and the brands that impose it early will own the trust positioning when scrutiny arrives. Because it will arrive.
What This Means for Beauty Brands and Retailers
The age question is now a positioning question. Every skincare brand selling in this environment is making a choice about its youngest acceptable customer, whether it makes that choice deliberately or not. Drunk Elephant's 65% decline shows the cost of letting the market decide for you. Brands need an explicit point of view on age, stated in their marketing, packaging, and retail guidance. Silence reads as complicity. This is a brand strategy decision, not a compliance footnote.
Parental trust is the most undervalued asset in the category. The CTPA found that 40% of parents admit to knowing less about skincare than their child. The brand that educates parents, rather than bypassing them, converts the actual purchaser. We have written before about why skeptical audiences don't convert, and skincare-literate children with skincare-illiterate parents are exactly that audience. Tikitoro and Snazz are early evidence that "safe for your child" is a position with commercial weight in India. Expect it to become a category of its own.
Regulation will reshape the shelf, and the prepared will benefit. Italy is investigating LVMH. California is on its second attempt at age-restriction legislation. The UK banned Botox and fillers for minors in 2021 after the Save Face campaign, proving the precedent exists. Brands and retailers that build age-appropriate ranges, marketing standards, and omnichannel launch practices now will be positioned when regulation forces the laggards to retrofit.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is cosmeticorexia?
Cosmeticorexia is a term coined by dermatologist Giovanni Damiani and psychologist Alberto Stefana describing an unhealthy obsession with achieving flawless skin from a young age, leading to excessive, age-inappropriate, or compulsive use of cosmetic products. It is not yet a formal diagnosis but is being studied for clinical classification.
Why are children using anti-ageing skincare products?
Social media, particularly "Get Ready With Me" content on TikTok, has made multi-step skincare routines a marker of belonging among tweens. Children emulate influencers using adult products, often unaware that actives like retinol are designed for ageing skin and can damage theirs.
Are skincare products harmful for children?
Adult-strength actives such as retinol and hydroxy acids can damage a child's skin barrier, causing burns, contact dermatitis, and long-term sensitivity. Dermatologists report rising cases of these conditions in children. Gentle, age-appropriate formulations carry far less risk.
How big is the Gen Alpha beauty market?
Gen Alpha spent nearly $4.7 billion on beauty products in the US in 2023, and Mintel projects their spending power will reach $5.5 trillion by 2029. In India, the teenage skincare market was valued at approximately ₹4,902 crore in 2024.
Is the tween skincare market regulated?
Lightly, and unevenly. Italy's competition authority is investigating LVMH over marketing to minors. California has introduced legislation to restrict anti-ageing product sales to under-13s. India currently has no age-specific skincare regulation, leaving standards to brands themselves.
Which brands make age-appropriate skincare for teens in India?
Indian brands including Tikitoro and Snazz formulate specifically for young skin, avoiding harsh actives, sulfates, and parabens. Mamaearth's Youth Glow range also targets this segment. Dermatologists broadly recommend simple routines for children: cleanser, moisturiser, and sunscreen.
Why Acquiring Customers This Young Is a Liability for Beauty Brands
Psychologist Alberto Stefana describes the industry's behaviour plainly: brands are trying to create customers from a very young age, because they will be the buyers of tomorrow. That is customer acquisition logic, and by that logic it is working. But acquisition that damages the customer, invites the regulator, and erodes parental trust is not a growth strategy. It is a liability with a lag.
World One Consulting works with retail and consumer brands at the intersection of strategy and execution — helping brands enter new markets, build for scale, and find the commercial clarity needed to compete. Learn more at worldoneconsulting.com.
About the Author
Bindu Sharma is the Founder and CEO of World One Consulting, a retail brand strategy and execution firm based in New Delhi. She works with consumer and retail brands on strategy, market entry, and brand positioning — helping Indian brands scale globally and global brands build credibly in India.
Sources:
Cosmeticorexia: How girls are falling down a skincare rabbit hole | BBC News
Cosmeticorexia: What It Is, Where It Comes from, and Why It Matters | Dermatology and Therapy (PubMed)
In 2025, Gen Alpha arrived as beauty consumers | Glossy
Gen Alpha's Skincare Obsession in India | The Established
Decoding Generation Alpha and Beauty | Global Cosmetic Industry
India Teenage Skincare Market Analysis | Expert Market Research
Published by World One Consulting | worldoneconsulting.com
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