Skin Care for Toddlers: The Controversial New Trend Dividing Parents

As of November 2025, a growing number of skin care brands are targeting children as young as 3 years old, a trend that has divided parents and sparked criticism. One such brand, Rini, co-founded by actress Shay Mitchell, has faced backlash for its marketing of skin care products to very young children.

Brittany Ouyang, a 36-year-old tech worker living near San Francisco, was baffled when her sister sent her an Instagram post about Rini's new skin care line for children ages 3 and up. Ouyang joined a chorus of critics, posting on TikTok that the brand's marketing represented a "capitalist hellscape."

The skin care industry's push into the preteen market is not new, however. Data from NielsenIQ shows that households with children ages 7 to 12 spent close to $2.5 billion on skin care products in 2024, up from $1.8 billion the previous year. Brands like Bubble Skin Care and Evereden have been selling skin care to tweens since 2020 and 2018, respectively.

Newer arrivals, like the 15-year-old influencer who launched her own skin care line in September 2025, are thriving in a social media landscape where preteens demonstrate elaborate skin care routines. Some companies, such as the recently launched Pipa, are targeting an even younger demographic, ages 7 to 12, and sending their products to influencers in periwinkle boxes that say "start young" on the lids.

While the brands argue that young people need safer alternatives to adult products, critics see a more pernicious motive: hooking children on unnecessary products and fueling anxieties about their appearance from an early age. Dermatologists warn that even carefully formulated skin care sets for kids send the message that appearance is paramount, even before puberty.