Social Media Influencers Impacting Beauty Industry Trends: Concerns Regarding Children’s Purchases

• Julius Moorman

  economics editor

Social media is increasingly influencing the purchase of make-up, perfume and personal care products, says the Netherlands Cosmetics Association (NCV). For example, young consumers are now willing to buy fragrances created by influencers recommended, without smelling them first. Even more surprising: children sometimes buy expensive real estate.

The Dutch spent more than 3 billion euros on personal care products in 2023, about 167 euros per person. Turnover in the cosmetics sector increased by 9.5 percent compared to a year earlier – partly due to price increases.

According to the trade association, consumers are less likely to stick with trusted brands. Instead, people are increasingly looking at reviews of beauty products on platforms such as TikTok. Cosmetic companies are making clever use of this by labeling their products as “seen on TikTok”.

Someone who can talk about this trend is beauty influencer The Knook. Ten years ago she started making makeup videos on YouTube and Instagram and now she has millions of followers. “When I used to work at Douglas, a lot of people always bought the familiar scent, but now you see more and more that people are willing to try something new if it gets good reviews on social media,” says Knook.

Her target group is mainly women between 20 and 50 years of age, but she also sees that very young people are more influenced by what happens on social media . “My niece is 12 and she really wants everything she sees on TikTok, especially skin products are very popular among that target group.”

This worries Knook: “In addition to the fact that children do not need such products, there are products that make your skin thinner. But she does not know that and just puts everything on her face.”

Monica van Ee is the chair of the NCV and she sees the same thing happening: “Sometimes it concerns children from 10 to 12 years old, who then pay for a landlord more than 100 euros. Their young skin doesn’t need that at all. Where are their parents? So, I wonder.” According to Van Ee, this is not the target group that the cosmetics world is aiming for.

Social media expert Leonie Hulstein from the group TikTok Prappers says she is “not really surprised” that platforms like TikTok are playing an increasingly important role in the purchasing decisions of young people. “The cosmetics industry has the strongest presence on social media of all industries, so it is logical to reach a young target group. “

According to her, the cosmetics industry spends a lot of money to promote itself through social media so they should be more responsible: “It’s too easy to just point the finger at parents,” she says. that the industry itself must ensure that products are safe and that young consumers understand the risks involved in using them.

Dermatologists see a strong increase in young people with skin problems caused by certain perfumes and ingredients in cosmetics, which are often promoted on social media.

“As a trade association, it’s hard for us to get a grip on this. We can’t tell our members specifically what they should pay attention to with their advertising,” said Van Ee. According to her, it is ultimately up to the brands to determine how they advertise.

Hulstein says that there could be a solution that cosmetics influencers should no longer be used for (also) young target groups. This can be done by asking influencers to provide statistics about the age distribution of their followers.

Beauty influencer Knook also thinks this is a great idea. “Of course, parents are also responsible, but it could be a good option to introduce a warning or an age limit on some products. “