There's no substitute for experience when it comes to make-up tips. Photo: Getty
There have been lots of articles in the media of late discussing the beauty habits of the pre-teen market, that is, young girls (and some boys) between the ages of 8 to 12 years.
These mini beauty bloggers are having a fine old time on TikTok sharing their latest skincare and makeup finds ranging from shiny lip gloss to Drunk Elephant moisturisers.
A friend shared her recent experience, when her eight-year-old daughter was gifted a Westfield voucher and headed straight to Mecca and bought a retinol cream.
Her mum promptly, and quite rightly, confiscated it and returned it to the store as retinol is a far too active ingredient for a child’s skin.
My first impulse was to think, ‘My goodness! What are they doing to their young, perfect complexions? This is silly.’ But then I cast my mind back to my 10-year-old self and there I was in my mum’s ensuite, giving myself lavish Lancôme facials and a strong red lip.
Of course young consumers shouldn’t be using acids on their skin, but I don’t think that brush-on, peel-off apricot face mask back in the 1970s – which smelt like paint thinners – was doing my skin much good either.
As I disappeared down a rabbit hole of watching nine-year-olds explain their beauty routine on YouTube, I wondered if readers might like to know what’s in my beauty bag. Given I’ve got a good 50 years’ head start.
I want to state upfront that I like expensive skin creams. Yes, I do know that a cheaper one would do the same thing, but I don’t care. So, currently I am using:
I hope the eight-year-olds don’t discover it.