Wellness trends appear to come and go at a rapid rate. The latest of these trends targets the very youngest of us. Baby skincare is the new craze encouraging parents to perfect their baby’s skin using products. Is this beneficial for these children or can this new trend cause damage to fragile young skin? By Gina Landtwing
The wellness industry seems to churn out new trends at a relentless speed. Fully aware of this, I readied myself to be swept away by a new diet or workout regimen to try when I opened up a recently acquired lifestyle magazine. Skimming through it, my anticipation quickly faded - for it seemed that one of the newest wellness trends was targeted at those not even capable of reading the recommendations - toddlers.
It seems that being concerned with our own appearance is not enough - parents are now expected to pamper their new-borns with the same rigour as content creators on TikTok (no pun intended). It got me thinking; is such an approach truly necessary for a child's delicate skin or could it pose risks to their vulnerable, developing complexion? In this article, we will explore this from a scientific point of view, separating fact from fiction.
“But if your self-care is driven by fear of becoming ugly, because you show visible signs of aging — is that self-care?” (Schofield, 2023)
If we want to understand the issues arising with baby skincare, we need to take a closer look, down to the microscopic level. The skin, like many other body systems, comprises an extensive network of microbes; the so-called skin microbiome. These microbes reside in the stratum corneum, the uppermost layer of the epidermis. They exist in symbiosis with the human skin, performing all kinds of benefits that commercialised skin-care products claim to deliver (Hamblin, 2020).
Whenever we use such products, we alter the skin’s microbiome, even if only temporarily. Harmful consequences can include the removal or change in available resources for microbes to survive, resulting in the loss of entire colonies. As a result, their protective function of them is wiped out, as the pharmacologist Dr. Elsa Jungman notes (Ibid).
Aside from the utility of baby skincare, another consideration that should be raised is its implications. It is reasonable to assume that such early life attention towards a child’s outer complexity could establish a heightened awareness about beauty ideals, motivating an unhealthy obsession with one's appearance. There exists considerable critique that the beauty industry has led to a general fear of aging. As a consequence, parents may push their own fears of wrinkles, pores and blemishes on their children in an attempt to control what they feel like they have lost; the perfection of youthful skin.
Jessica Defino argues that the current baby skincare mania led to the “Serum Mom” trend (Defino, 2024), which refers to parents who extend strict and often extreme beauty routines or standards to their children during upbringing (Nast, 2023). While the intent is often driven by protective motivations - baby skincare regimens may perpetuate rigid beauty standards to the detriment of society.
Author PE Moskovitz reflects that modern skincare products also carry “the burden of what we as a society consider pretty, what we consider clean, what we consider worthy of admiration” (Defino, 2023). So, rather than exemplifying genuine self-care, investing in baby skincare fails to set up healthy ways to engage with oneself. It fails to challenge the societal fear of the aging female body, maintaining unattainable beauty standards which can trigger mental health problems.
In essence, why does the case about baby skincare matter? Why should you be interested in the trend if you do not have children yourself? The issue boils down to the wider implications of skincare in our society. The heightened attention paid to our appearance may uphold disciplinary beauty standards and exacerbate the societal fear of getting older. As such, skincare does not reflect the intent pretty luxury brands may promise on your social media feed. The products do not foster care-taking if they fuel fear mongering about a biological process. It's likely that neither you or your child need a $300 cleansing foam for a luxurious complexion. What we truly need is for society to step back and stop trying to erase the natural physiological process of aging.
References
Cover Image: Pexels - https://www.pexels.com/search/skincare/
Defino, J. (2020). How to Care for Your Microbiome and Keep Your Skin Healthy. [online] Coveteur: inside Closets, Fashion, Beauty, Health, and Travel. Available at: https://coveteur.com/2020/10/21/microbiome-health-skin-care/# [Accessed 6 Mar. 2025].
DeFino, J. (2023). Living in Dirt. [online] Substack.com. Available at: https://jessicadefino.substack.com/p/living-in-dirt [Accessed 7 Mar. 2025].
Defino, J. (2024). Ask Ugly: I’m Getting Ads for Beauty Products for My baby. Infants Don’t Need Skincare – Do they? The Guardian. [online] 11 Jan. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2024/jan/11/do-babies-need-skincare.
Hamblin, J. (2020). Clean. Penguin.
Nast, C. (2023). Shedding Your ‘Almond Mom’s’ Diet Culture Ideals Isn’t Easy, but It’s Doable. [online] Teen Vogue. Available at: https://www.teenvogue.com/story/almond-mom-viral-on-tiktok-diet-culture [Accessed 6 Mar. 2025].
Schofield, D. (2023). ‘They Always Say the Younger You Start, the Better’. [online] The Cut. Available at: https://www.thecut.com/article/teens-anti-aging-skincare.html [Accessed 7 Mar. 2025].
