Tween skincare craze: One family's experience and a dermatologist's advice

Thirteen-year-old Nora Bogacki is all about the glow-up before she winds down for bed.

“My nighttime routine is, first, I cleanse my face. Then I do toner and face spray, and then I do lotion,” she said.

Her 11-year-old sister, Colleen, loves all things skincare too.

“I use a gua sha. It depuffs your face or, like, shapes it. You’re supposed to put it in the fridge or freezer to make it cool at night, so it feels refreshing,” she said.

The sisters from McLean, Virginia, are part of the beauty industry’s newest and youngest consumer group: Generation Alpha, which is made up of children born in 2010 and later. Gen Alpha is putting a priority on their skin and spending big bucks in the process.

“It’s the craze amongst all their friends right now,” the girls’ mother, Kristen Bogacki, said.

She said her daughters are often influenced by their friends and by social media, and that their routines are more elaborate and expensive than hers. But she said she sees benefits.

“It’s cool now to wear moisturizer with SPF. Instead of tanning, they’re wearing tanning drops,” she said.

Dr. Cheri Frey, a board-certified dermatologist and professor at Howard University’s School of Medicine, said she sees benefits of the tween skincare trend too.

“I want to take the positive from it. There was a time where I had to really aggressively try to get tweens to even wash their face once or twice a day,” she said.

A dermatologist shares skincare recommendations for tweens

Creating healthy skincare habits is important for young people, Frey said.

But be sure to read labels. Some products contain chemicals that can irritate a child’s skin and cause long-term damage, Frey said.

“If it's before puberty, we have to be careful to avoid a lot of harsh ingredients – things that are going to disrupt the skin barrier. So, I ask them to stay away from anything that’s exfoliating. We don’t want to use retinols,” she said.

“Get them into the habit of washing their face twice a day, applying a moisturizer and maybe a sunscreen as well,” Frey added.

She suggested sticking to simple skincare ingredients that are hydrating, and only using one or two products at a time.

‘It feels nice’

For the Bogacki sisters, they say it’s fun to experiment with different lotions and potions.

“I just like putting stuff on my face. It feels nice,” 13-year-old Nora said.

They’re learning along the way, her mom said.

“The education piece is huge,” she said. “We have to be really wise about what we’re purchasing and looking at it ahead of time and not just purchasing to buy.”

Stay with NBC Washington for stories all this week on the tween skincare craze, from a look at marketing to the potential mental health effects.