Over Winter Vacation, my ten-year-old sister described to me what her friends were asking for for Christmas. Their lists included various makeup products, clothes from brands I shop at, and many types of fancy perfumes. I laughed at this story as, lately, my TikTok feed has been flooded by young, elementary, or maybe middle school, girls filming themselves applying skincare products and explaining their elaborate makeup routines. On the other hand, I also see countless videos of women complaining about these young tweens for raiding Sephoras, Targets, and other stores for trending products. It’s ironic, however, as the women expressing their opinions on these girls are making the exact same “Get Ready With Me” content. And while they appear harmless and a fun way to share online presence, “Get Ready With Me” videos are damaging to girls’ self images. Today’s youth are not merely experimenting with eyeshadow and lipstick as a creative outlet; many feel that wearing concealer and foundation is a necessity. It appears that the media is to blame.
I don’t doubt that some tweens are going crazy in these stores. As numerous videos described, products set out as testers are getting destroyed by spilled creams and powders, and shelves are disarranged into a chaotic mess due to tweens searching for the commodity they “need.”
However, by “need,” I mean the products that they were influenced to buy because of social media pages, such as TikTok. Oftentimes, I spend time with my sister and her friends. From those experiences, I can affirm that these young girls attempt to copy exactly what they see online, especially those of them who have access to phones, social media, and the freedom to purchase what they want. Since making and watching “Get Ready with Me” videos has been trending, tweens’ interest in makeup and skincare has spiked. These videos are not necessarily catered towards elementary-aged children, though when a young tween comes across an older, high school, or college-aged influencer, they are easily drawn in. The popularity of these videos leads us to wonder, are kids, specifically girls, abandoning the concept of being a tween? It appears that social media platforms lay out our answer.
So, what’s the harm? I mean, experimenting with makeup and skincare is merely a testimony to self discovery, and tweens have always been interested in the beauty industry. However, this trend extends beyond the maturing of tweens. When younger children have access to social media, obviously, they will want to look and act like the people on their screens. Though 20-year-old influencers do not intentionally create content for younger girls, they cannot choose who views their videos. Personally, I understand the feeling of wanting to act older, especially in the vulnerable state of entering puberty. During a time where everyone is attempting to figure out who they are, it is easy to fall into the cycle of following suit of everyone else, as that is what it feels like I should be doing.
Unfortunately, in my experience and that of my younger sister, the girls who act older are considered more popular, as other girls are intrigued by their pop-culture-influenced personality, style, and daily decisions. In the case of our current consumer culture, these “model” girls cause the rapid-fire trend of wanting skincare and makeup to not only look older but also as an outlet for younger girls to find a sense of maturity, even if it is merely superficial. So, when entire friend groups of nine through twelve-year-olds attempt to act like sixteen-year-olds, the conceptual bridge between childhood and young adulthood goes extinct.
Keeping up with these trends is not only costly but also hinders the process of understanding where they fit in the world. When girls want to look like the people on their feeds, they not only buy products that are too mature for their skin such as retinol and exfoliants, but for some, their perception of how they feel they should look is warped, inevitably leading to insecurities often regarding body image. The effects of these videos are not only damaging the skin barrier of young girls, but they also take a toll on girls’ mental health, even if they do not realize it at first. It does not take long for social media platforms to lead girls into the habit of constantly hyper-fixating on their appearance, as makeup and beauty trends wear on. When we are taught that we must look a certain way from a young age, it is even easier to fall into a cycle of always seeking the validation of others on meeting unreasonable beauty standards, inevitably leading to constant insecurity.
The solution to this dilemma is still unclear. It’s nearly impossible to completely sever young girls’ connection to social media. We also cannot stop them from using harsh skincare and makeup products on their already youthful skin, especially when influencers are constantly advertising said products. However, on these same platforms, we can show why these products are harmful to tweens and create a space for them to foster creativity and originality in a different way.
Looking at this case with my sister and her friends makes me realize how much social media influences my life, especially through the consumerism of makeup and skincare. In a broader scope, I encourage you to think about what choices we make to solely meet a beauty standard or because of a trend and how we can best eliminate these choices from our lifestyles.
