The Conversation (0)
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In a world of consumerism, advertising influences almost every purchasing decision we make.
71 per cent of us have bought something because we were influenced by seeing it on social media, word-of-mouth has us running to buy the same products as our friends, and billboards promising big results can have us on months-long waiting lists to snap something up because we just simply have to have it.
There are few industries that know this better than the beauty industry.
The beauty industry, a landscape that preys on insecurities and promises of a picture-perfect image, already rakes in $570 billion every year, and is forecasted to grow by 8.4 per cent each further year until 2028.
And while it's an exciting time to be a makeup, hair, or skincare guru, with all of the upcoming advancements in the space (hello AI), concern has been sparked among experts that the already-ceiling-high beauty standard for young women is about to be propelled to catastrophic new heights.
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It's no secret that makeup and skincare lovers are getting younger - in fact, 76 per cent of seven to 17-year-olds consider themselves to have a skincare routine and there's over 15.5 million 'Get ready with me' (Or GRWM) videos on TikTok.
One in two 10-17-year-olds are already concerned about what they'll look like when they age.
Once-medical-grade skincare is now available to all at a fraction of the cost (albeit, eyebrows are still being raised at 10-year-olds snapping up £60 moisturisers), and as popularity increases and they're opened up to whole new realms of ingredients promoting perfection, it would seem advertisers are getting even more sneaky with how they market their goods, right under our noses.
Unless you're in the advertising space, you'd probably be none-the-wiser to all of the rules and regulations brands have to follow when it comes to their choice of wording, particularly with skincare.
First up, they can't promise you unachievable results (which is why they often use survey stats), and secondly, they can't promise to "cure" a problem that's considered medical - that's why you'll never see words like 'acne' used on a billboard.
According to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA): "'Acne' is considered to be an adverse medical condition. The likely interpretation of references to 'spots' in an ad depends on the context in which they appear; in some instances it could be understood to be synonymous with ‘acne’. Conversely, references to 'spots' may be obviously presented as an occasional outbreak and therefore distinguishable from acne."
In fact, an advert by Proactiv+ was banned in 2017, for suggesting young girls with acne will get bullied at school. But brands still haven't learned their lesson.
What we do often see instead is terminology such as "blemishes" or "imperfections" to subconsciously convey the same message.
Another hack that industry giants sneakily use is imagery - to show you what they mean without saying it - and leading dermatologist, Dr Emma Craythorne is leading the charge in saying it's just not good enough when we're in the midst of a self-confidence epidemic.
As the host of The Bad Skin Clinic and a dermatologist at both OneWelbeck and St John's Institute of Dermatology, she explains to us that as young people have more sensitive skin, using harsh products they've been influenced to buy could actually be unlocking a whole host of medically-recognised problems that might not have otherwise surfaced.
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What's more, we're only spurring on the next even-more-insecure generation, with increasing numbers of young children coming to visit Dr Craythorne's clinic, concerned about what would otherwise be considered a minor imperfection, like a blemish - a problem likely propelled by a world of social media, filters, and the normalisation of a 10-step skincare routine.
Starting to see the link, yet?
"You'll see a before and after of someone with acne in somewhere like Sephora, and because it's against the law to recommend treatments for acne, they're showing you an image - and essentially that person's gaining information in the same way, it's encouraging them to buy a product", she tells The Independent, noting that she's seen a rise in the number of younger teenagers coming to her with conditions such as rosacea, which are thought to have been unmasked through using harsh products marketed to them as the solution to their skin woes.
Dr Emma Craythorne
"The people who benefit from this financially are the shops that sell it and the brands that produce it without due care and thought to who's buying it", she adds.
"We're all manipulated by these brands all day long. Adults are manipulated by them. They buy stuff because they're feeling a bit rubbish one day, and they think, 'Oh, I saw that cream advertised. I'm going to buy that cream and I'm going to glow up'.
"You then spend £150 on cream, and of course, that doesn't happen. If there's that level of influence over us as adults - children are a completely different kettle of fish."
The solution? Dr Craythorne, along with a number of other experts, is now calling for stricter regulations. "There needs to be rules around the claims on products themselves, and a harder look at what products and how people are allowed to sell these kinds of products", she says.
"We need to re-educate [young people] in finding the right and correct products. Your skin is unique. Just because your friend buys that product, that does not mean that's for you - just because that influencer is using that product, that does not mean it's for you. You've got to understand your skin properly."
Kiehl's
She's not the only one that thinks so either.
Dove launched their #FaceOf10 campaign at the start of 2024, in an attempt to protect young girls from anti-ageing content - after they found that 1 in 3 girls aged 10-17 want to change their appearance through cosmetic work later in life.
Last year, beauty brand Kiehl's launched a series of ads showing a group of children by the seaside, covered in mud from head to toe, with the message: "The only face mask kids should put on".
The brand is now attempting to reinforce the message that a 10-step skincare routine isn't always necessary, and other companies should be encouraging responsible consumption, instead of contributing to a potentially harmful new wave of marketing.
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