It seems like, as the years go by, younger and younger women are getting botox, using gouache or facial exercise routines, following extensive skincare regimens, and going to great lengths to hold back emotion in order to prevent wrinkles. Are these steps taken to reduce aging necessary, or are they just the result of marketing ploys and social media trends profiting off of young girls’ insecurities?

In 2019 the Global Cosmetic Industry conducted a study showing 55% of their 18-24 year old audience would like to add an anti-aging product to their routine. Additionally, In 2021, they conducted a similar study that stated that 44% of their consumers (ages 18-54+) cited their aging skin as a major concern, rather than just something they would like to buy products for. This made it the magazine’s number two skin concern of 2021.

During the pandemic, there was a new spike in skincare. Some people looking for a new hobby, others looking to better themselves while stuck at home. This paved the path for a new type of online presence, a skincare influencer. Accounts by the names of skinbydrazi, isabelle.lux, and drvanitaratton started to blow up all over TikTok. Normal people, or even dermatologists, sharing their do’s and don’ts of skincare. Their videos, and many others follow a similar formula; the users rate products, react to other people’s routines, and tell the audience what to spend money on. 

With the popularization of skincare on social media, young girls have fallen prey to its influence. It’s not uncommon to see girls ages 8-11 getting ready for the day, utilizing serums, cleansers, and lotions. “I went to Sephora to buy a facial cleanser, and the whole store was full of people younger than me,” Sophomore Emily Nguyen says “10 year olds don’t need makeup or skincare,” she adds. These girls have been taught they need to prevent wrinkles before they even have any.

The internet seems to romanticize the idea of “aging gracefully”, but what does that really mean? So much pressure is put on women to be perceived as youthful, lest their beauty be diminished. It’s as though their worth decreases every year after they hit 20.

We can see the effect of this stress on forum-based websites like Reddit. Titles of posts on the site are alarming, “Wrinkles at 19” “I’m 16 and thinking about botox because of my forehead wrinkles,” “Premature aging… What are my options?”

Many companies are capitalizing on this anxiety in teens. In Stanford Professor Robert Pogue Harrison’s book Juvenescence, he states that “The youth are a very lucrative market for consumerism, because the young, especially very young, are dominated by their desires.” Companies know this, and advertising wrinkle-defying products to teens is done deliberately. This issue created by social media has become a market for companies to profit off of. 

But what is the answer? While it’s good to care for your skin, doing it for the wrong reasons can harm you more than you’d think. Instead of cleaning your face because you’re terrified of wrinkles, do so because it’s hygienic. Moisturize because it’s good for you; apply sunscreen because it prevents skin cancer.

Your worth as a human being and as a woman is not diminished by the amount of lines on your face, and it never will be. When you are older, truly older, you will look at those smile lines and remember all the laughs you have shared. You will see those crow’s feet and remember all the things you’ve had to squint at to see. You’ll see those creases on your forehead and think, “I’ve earned these wrinkles, and I am beautiful.”