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This article is part of\u00a0<\/i>Upstream,<\/i><\/a>\u00a0The Daily Wire\u2019s new home for culture and lifestyle. Real human insight and human stories \u2014 from our featured writers to you.<\/i><\/p>\n ***<\/i><\/p>\n Ever look into your precious child\u2019s eyes and wonder if they could possibly be <\/span>more <\/span><\/i>perfect? Like, literally. Maybe glowier skin? Softer cheeks? Plumper, skooshier lips? Think outside the Cheerios box and smother your kid \u2014 who might not be able to <\/span>read<\/span><\/a> yet \u2014 in sugar scrub from <\/span>Squishmallows x TONYMOLY<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Like a new car driving off the lot, your baby begins aging the second she\u2019s born. Now, even younger members of Generation Alpha brush off old-school \u201cbeauty routines\u201d like the nail stickers and <\/span>Lip Smacker<\/span><\/a> of their millennial parents, opting instead to hard-launch chamomile, yam, and aloe-infused <\/span>hydrogel face masks<\/span><\/a>. Of course, that\u2019s just entry-level stuff.<\/span><\/p>\n Turns out \u201cToddlers & Tiaras\u201d wasn\u2019t as over-the-top as it seemed. \u201cSome people think the collagen spray is kind of crazy,\u201d <\/span>pageant coach<\/span><\/a> Cambrie Littlefield<\/span><\/a> admitted, spritzing flinching contestants in the face. \u201cBut I wish when I was three years old, somebody gave me a collagen spray so I wouldn\u2019t have to worry about getting wrinkles from \u2018happy eyes\u2019 all day.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Showing off a tube of cult-favorite Drunk Elephant sunscreen on <\/span>TikTok<\/span><\/a>, a seven-year-old \u201cSephora kid\u201d assures her older sister, Gianna Gravalese, \u201cI\u2019m gonna need it for Turks and Caicos.\u201d It goes with the rest of her Drunk Elephant collection, which also includes <\/span>Virgin Marula Luxury Facial Oil<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>Beste No. 9 Jelly Cleanser<\/span><\/a>, and <\/span>Lala Retro Whipped Cream moisturizer<\/span><\/a> with five African oils.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n That plus her <\/span>Glow Recipe Watermelon Mist<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>Bubble Level Up Balancing Moisturizer<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>Sol De Janeiro Brazilian Bum Bum Cream<\/span><\/a>, and multiple <\/span>Dior lip glosses<\/span><\/a> all clock in around $500. \u201cWhy do you think you need skincare when your skin is literally flawless,\u201d Gianna asks. \u201cIt\u2019s \u2018slay,\u2019\u201d her little sister says.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n If you\u2019re wondering what the heck is going on, the pint-sized beauty market is exploding. With kids younger than 15 years old somehow having <\/span>$3,500<\/span><\/a> a year to spend on \u201cbeauty,\u201d major retailers swoop in to bank <\/span>millions in sales<\/span><\/a>. But these tweens aren\u2019t just obsessed with skincare. Forecasted to pump <\/span>$5.5 trillion<\/span><\/a> into the market by 2029, they\u2019re revolutionizing the industry.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a phenomenon where a group of kids \u2026 who normally would be indulging in arts [and] athletics \u2026 are engaging in what I call consumer aesthetics,\u201d says dermatologist <\/span>Dr. Rene\u00e9 A. Beach<\/span><\/a>. Advising against kids using products made with harsh ingredients like retinol, she adds, \u201cA child is really risking skin irritation, eczema, chemical burn, and none of these things are the outcome that we would want from purchasing a $50 product.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Spas, retailers, beauty brands, and celebrities want to saturate the <\/span>itty-bitty skin cells<\/span><\/a> of your child\u2019s face with their products \u2014 as long as they can sneak it into the hands of eight-year-old <\/span>kidfluencers<\/span><\/a> clicking their fake nails against a can of Poppi before smearing <\/span>tri-ceramide serum<\/span> all over their already perfect faces.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m feeling Vanilla Beige today,\u201d a <\/span>young girl says<\/span><\/a> in her Get Ready With Me, smooshing all over her mouth <\/span>Summer Fridays<\/span><\/a> $25 Vanilla Beige lip butter, a product that\u2019s marketed to adults. Notably, she also spritzes the Glow Recipe watermelon face mist seen in many other kids\u2019 beauty routines, calling it, \u201cMy favorite thing at Sephora.\u201d Not pictured: the mini <\/span>skincare fridge<\/span><\/a> topping every little girl\u2019s wishlist right now.<\/span><\/p>\n But \u201cPretty Little Liars\u201d actor and entrepreneur, Shay Mitchell, faced backlash when she launched <\/span>Rini<\/span><\/a> Beauty, offering four-year-olds a face mask infused with <\/span>white tremella mushrooms<\/span><\/a>, glycerin, vitamin E, and beta-glucan. She explained on <\/span>Instagram<\/span><\/a> that the project was \u201cinspired by my girls, their curiosity \u2026 From birthday parties and face paint to wanting to do \u2018what mommy does\u2019 with her face masks.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Instead of relating to the mommy-and-me self-care vibe, <\/span>Instagram<\/span><\/a> commenters clapped back with, \u201cI struggle to find the right words to articulate how disappointing and dystopian this is,\u201d and, \u201cHow is this even legal?\u201d with broken heart emojis. Another posted, \u201cYeah cause that\u2019s just what young girls needed: to be hyper-focused on their appearance even earlier.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Beyond using a gentle soap, lotion, daily <\/span>sunscreen, and getting a good night\u2019s sleep<\/span><\/a>, a viral multi-step skincare routine can actually do real damage to children\u2019s delicate skin. While formulas from the <\/span>Bubble<\/span><\/a> brand at Target feature mild ingredients, some kids are dabbling in the clinical-grade stuff.<\/span><\/p>\n A Northwestern University <\/span>study<\/span><\/a> of teen skincare routines posted to social media revealed that only 26% of girls used sunscreen, the one thing they <\/span>should<\/span><\/i> be applying<\/span><\/a>. And some used up to a dozen products at once. Pointing out the consumerist slant, university adjunct lecturer <\/span>Dr. Tara Lagu<\/span><\/a> noted, \u201cA real desire to have more products and more expensive products in a way that, for seven to 14-year-olds, feels really problematic.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cMany of the ingredients \u2026 also carry a high risk of skin allergy,\u201d says <\/span>Dr. Molly Hales<\/span><\/a>, explaining that applying multiple products with harsh active ingredients \u2014 or the same active ingredient \u2014 is deeply irritating. \u201cOnce you develop a skin allergy to a particular ingredient, [it] can actually endure for the rest of your life and limit the kinds of products that you can apply.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n In one <\/span>TikTok video<\/span><\/a> from the study, the teen creator slathered on 10 products in six minutes and developed a painful rash on camera. \u201cI don\u2019t know what\u2019s happening. But if anybody knows how to get it to stop burning, that would be greatly appreciated, because it actually hurts a lot,\u201d <\/span>she said<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n This intense focus on beauty can also prematurely age kids into the anxious self-consciousness of adolescence. Associate professor of psychology at Barnard College of Columbia University, <\/span>Tara Well, PhD,<\/span><\/a> says, \u201cSkincare routines, often marketed as confidence-boosting, can have the opposite effect when teens don\u2019t see immediate results or experience breakouts. The pressure to achieve \u2018perfect\u2019 skin can worsen insecurities.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Luckily, the solution is simpler than nailing the right order for applying mists, serums, and lotions. But it might not get as many likes or subscribers as that watermelon spritz.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Yale Medicine dermatologist <\/span>Kathleen Suozzi, MD,<\/span><\/a> advises kids and teens to \u201cCelebrate the skin they\u2019re in \u2026 For most kids, it\u2019s the best skin they\u2019ll ever have. They don\u2019t need to fix it \u2014 they just need to care for it gently and appreciate it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n