Geelong’s weird and worrying Gen Z and Alpha TikTok skincare trends

Pre-teens with anti ageing skincare routines? Twelve-year-olds are using beauty products designed for people four times their age as they turn to TikTok and AI for advice.

Dermaluxe beauty therapists Hannah Millard and Arlie Jeffreys work with children as young as nine. Picture: Alison Wynd

More Geelong teens and pre-teens are following three-step skincare routines designed for 50-year-olds, inspired by TikTok trends and AI.

Eyebrow slits, hair rollers, black eyeliner, and headbands – they’re beauty trends you likely haven’t seen since the 90s.

Unless you have a teenage daughter.

A whole new generation of beauty trends is on the rise in Geelong, and Gen Alpha aren’t looking up to what they saw their older sisters do – instead they’re turning to TikTok and AI for advice.

At just 18, Geelong woman Antonella Trogrlic said she was concerned about how her two pre-teen sisters were inspired by makeup and skincare trends they saw on TikTok.

“I never wore as much make up as they are wearing now,” she said.

“I first wore makeup in year 10, now children as young as 12 are at MECCA buying make up for a full face caked on.”

She said these trends included smokey blush, swelling their lips with make up to mimic the look of lip-fillers, and cutting artistic lines out of their eyebrows.

“It’s a bit odd,” she said.

“But that’s not so damaging permanently, it’s artistic expression.”

But, Ms Trogrlic said she was a lot more concerned about the long-term impact of their skincare routines.

“TikTok is having a big influence, and AI fuels the trends,” she said.

“The most detrimental trend is that they’re using highly concentrated skincare that shouldn’t be used on such young people.”

“It’s worrisome.

Geelong West’s Dermaluxe Beauty owner and founder Hayley Marshall said she recently launched skincare workshops for teens and pre-teens, after being approached by multiple concerned their daughters were using inappropriate skincare.

“Parents approached me and asked for the workshops, because they were sick of going to MECCA and spending all this money on skincare,” she said.

“And we’ve had nine-year-olds at our workshops.

“It blows my mind.”

Ms Marshall’s daughter Arlie Jeffreys, 22, said she helped her mum with the workshops because she had fallen victim to online skins trends.

“Everyone you see online has perfect skin, so as a young teenager that's all you want.”

Ms Jeffrey said she suffered from years of acne after trusting social media skincare trends.

She said in her teens she had bought cheap skin masks, like charcoal peel masks, just because she saw them being used online.

“It just caused irritation,” she said

Ms Jeffreys said now, fast forward five years and she uses less skincare than before.

“Rather than following what you see online, be aware that simple is better,” she said.

“Don’t get sucked in to trends, speak with a professional.”

Dr Libby Bucholz from RiverEnd Aesthetics in Newtown said too many children were being influenced by TikTok trends that are damaging and pricey.

Dr Bucholz said for such young skin, the harsh ingredients often found in “trending” brands could cause acne, as well as having the potential to damage skin in the long run.

“Young kids are being sold aesthetic packages, three step skin routines, but who ever said there needs to be three steps?” she said.

“Someone stands to make money out of it, and it doesn’t actually help your skin.

“Vitamin A’s are too hard on the skin and make acne worse, it dries out the skin and often means kids are picking their skin and that leads to long term scarring.

GP Elise Davey said teens and pre-teens were particularly susceptible to online trends as they were beginning to be self-conscious.

“I would say from 12, people are really starting to have an interest in their skincare,” she said.

“And I absolutely agree, young people should not be putting up with acne, acne causes permanent scarring, but I also think we have much better solutions for managing your skin than spending $200 at MECCA.”

She warned that these “harsh” chemicals on the skin often encouraged online, were often the cause of “deep painful cystic pimples”, not the solution.

“Having severe acne, those scares can last a lifetime,” she said.

A MECCA spokeswoman said the stores were seeing “all ages” at the stores, and the “highly educated” beauty store teams were being sent “regular education reminders”.

“Taking them through the questions they can ask younger shoppers and their parents to help them find the most suitable products for their skin,” she said.  

A TikTok spokesman said users had to be over 13 years old to have an account.

“Parents can also use our Family Pairing tools to block content they don’t want their teenager to see,” he said.

Originally published as Geelong’s weird and worrying Gen Z and Alpha TikTok skincare trends