They call them tweens, they are girls between 9 and 12 years old obsessed with creams and make-up. They use them, buy them and then post them on social media – which they wouldn’t even have the right to access, at least in Italy.
Technically, they are the Alpha generation (born in 2010) that the beauty business is observing with increasing interest. But is it good to start taking care of your skin so early?
«If we talk about adequate cleansing and hydration, the earlier you start the better, well-groomed skin certainly ages more slowly. The problem, however, is that very young girls often use products that are not suitable for their age, causing skin problems and entering into a sort of unhealthy addiction to cosmetics”, claims Adele Sparavigna, a dermatologist in Milan who is an acne expert. «Just think of the pajama parties so loved by tweens, during which the highlight is putting on a mask together. The point is that for their age there are very few of them. Most of the formulas, to guarantee a visible effect in 10/15 minutes of application, contain aggressive ingredients, totally unsuitable for the skin of young girls or even little girls.”
«The fact that young people do not want to grow old is intrinsic to the adolescent state, a moment in which we do not aspire to grow because it involves taking on new awareness. In fact, these scare new teenagers who, unlike previous generations, do not have obedience to adults and adherence to rules as a paradigm. Today, however, we tell our children that there are no rules and that their only goal is to realize themselves. And here they are confused, displaced, certainly more in crisis than those who were young before them”, claims Loredana Cirillo, psychotherapist at the Minotauro Institute in Milan. The paradox is that if tweens don’t want to grow up, adults don’t want to grow old. This explains the phenomenon of baby influencers, i.e. girl bloggers who, mimicking the childish behavior of many social stars, have created profiles with millions of followers with a studied morphing of identities: partly little girls, partly women, partly ‘tiktoker, a bit of a celebrity.
This is the case of Haven Garza, seven years old and 4 million followers on TikTok, who together with her twin Koti and the compliant (and smug) eye of her mother, shares her beauty routine by distorting, like all girls of her age, words and brand names. Taylen Biggs, on the other hand, is 10 years old, already sitting in the front row of the latest fashion shows as a fashion and beauty influencer. The “oldest” is Pixie Curtis, 11 years old, whose assets, thanks to sponsored posts, seem to be around 7 million euros. And in Italy? The mother/daughter account @annaeolga has more than 60 thousand followers and when the little girl suggests get ready with me to go to school it gets a boom in views.
«When Gen Alpha is complete (i.e. by 2025) it will constitute a population of almost 2 billion people and at that point it will be the largest. For now, she is undoubtedly the most attentive to cosmetics, demonstrating an interest – and consequent expertise – from an early age”, says Eleonora Mazzilli, trend localization & business development director North America at BeautyStreams, one of the main agencies in the sector. «Alphas have such a proactive attitude that they have attracted the attention of many brands aware of how influential, autonomous this generation is and with great decision-making power within the family». In the United States they call them Sephora kids and the need to disseminate correct information that discourages baby consumers from using products that are potentially harmful to them is becoming increasingly urgent. «They are a crucial market: the brands that manage to engage them now are more likely to retain them in the future», continues Mazzilli.
The advance of puberty has given a further boost to the phenomenon «which will continue to expand and dedicated spas will soon arrive», predicts BeautyStreams. Which cosmetics are most fashionable among tweens? «The organic, natural and sustainable trend works a lot, also due to the apprehensions that parents have conveyed to them during the pandemic. But kids absolutely love the unexpected formulas, fun colors and easy-to-use textures. Makeup is, obviously, a tool for playing, expressing yourself, experimenting. And the demand for alcohol-free perfumes, vegan fragrances or those supported by neuroscience, therefore with relaxing properties, is growing.” In this scenario of rampant cosmetic precocity, there is some good news: «Having grown up in the midst of a climate emergency, tweens have an unprecedented propensity towards ethical choices. Alphas demand transparency and a responsible vision of beauty.” Beautyaholic yes, but eco-sensitive.
#Beauty #teen #cosmetics #consumers #risks #run
– 2024-03-30 18:53:42
