Dove campaign tackles ‘absurdity’ of young girls adopting anti-ageing skincare regimes

Young girls are increasingly being exposed to adult skincare content, and it’s creating societal pressure for them to adopt unnecessary anti-ageing skincare regimens before they’ve even grown up.

That’s the finding from Dove, so the skincare brand, alongside expert partners, is giving parents and caregivers tips on how to protect #TheFaceof10.  

The Unilever-owned brand has bought together host of powerful TikTok voices (academic experts, dermatologists, creators, body confidence advocates and more), aiming to highlight the “absurdity” of the issue and raise awareness of it through “thumb-stopping” creative content.

Dove believes a 10-year old’s face “should be a canvas for care-free fun, not anti-ageing products”. This includes “impactful, decorated faces” representing #TheFaceofTen, and what it should be covered with, namely “more glitter, stickers, and face paint – not retinol and inappropriate anti-aging skincare ingredients and products”. 

Dove said the trend toward adult targeted anti-ageing skincare “breeds premature appearance anxiety in young girls”, which can negatively impact their self-esteem – now and in the future.

Its survey* found that nearly half of young girls (aged 10-17) expect to worry more about their appearance as they age, and a third are expected to have cosmetic work or plastic surgery to alter their appearance as they age.

“When did 10-year-olds start worrying about wrinkles and getting older? It is time to speak up to highlight the absurdity and protect their self-esteem,” said Firdaous El Honsali, Global Vice-President, Dove.

“We believe beauty should be a source of happiness, not anxiety. For two decades, we have taken action to build confidence and self-esteem for millions of girls. Today, our girls are anti-ageing before they’ve even started to grow up and need us more than ever.”

So Dove, alongside Dr Phillippa Diedrichs, Research Psychologist at the Centre of Appearance Research at the University of West England and body image expert certified dermatologist Dr Marisa Garshick have created ‘The Gen A Anti-Ageing Talk’, a free resource on how to talk to young people about anti-ageing and beauty anxiety.

The resource will be pinned to Dove’s TikTok channel for all parents and caregivers. 

*The  was completed in 20 countries including the UK with researchers speaking with more than 33,000 respondents, 19,306 aged between 18-64 years and 14,292 aged 10-17 (9,475 girls, 4,753 boys).