Jenna Bush Hager Is Concerned About Her 10-Year-Old Joining the Ranks of TikTok's Skincare-Obsessed Tweens & She Isn't Alone

Sephora hauls, get ready with me (GRWM) videos, and other social media content covering all things beauty and skincare is nothing new — but what we aren’t accustomed to is tweens sharing their obsession with luxury products, curated 12-step routines, and knowledge of key ingredients in many formulas.

The recent craze among kids is largely attributed to TikTok and other social platforms, and the reach is so wide that even Jenna Bush Hager‘s daughter — who does not have a smartphone or her own social accounts — is hooked on the concerning phenomenon.

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Bush Hager’s Experience

During Monday’s episode of Today with Hoda & Jenna, Bush Hager got candid with her co-host about her 10-year-old’s involvement in the pre-teen skincare trend. Hoda Kotb broached the subject, saying “All these kids who are 12 and younger are apparently obsessed with skincare? USA Today did a story.”

After watching a short segment of TikToks shared by tweens, Bush Hager candidly said, “Let me just go ahead and state this: I have children who are into skincare. They do not have cell phones. They don’t even have iPads. So it is happening, it’s spreading down …”

Kotb asked her co-host if she thinks the trend is gaining traction in school, and while it’s certainly a hot topic at the lunch table and on the playground (because we’re literally talking about third, fourth, and fifth graders here), Bush Hager opined, “Well, I think it’s spreading from TikTok — but it’s spreading into the pores of our culture.” A totally valid assessment packaged in a skin-related metaphor — bonus points to the former First Daughter for that pun.

The mom of three continued, “My daughter Mila told me that she went to Target yesterday with a friend. And she goes, ‘Look what I bought. This mini Aquaphor, how cute is this?'” Bush Hager described her reeling reaction, sharing, “I just thought, ‘Where have we come?'”

She continued to explain Mila’s disgruntled attitude toward her lukewarm reception. “She goes, ‘Why don’t you ever care about that? Why don’t you ever care when I tell you the scrub I purchased?’ I’m like, ‘Mila, because you don’t need it. Look at your beautiful skin. You don’t need it.'”

The Problem

While pre-teens can experience acne and other skin concerns due to early puberty, that isn’t where the current craze stems from. These kids are playing with luxury products that look beautiful and seem cool because social media has convinced them that using elite brands and popular potions — and most importantly, telling others about the products — is what will grant them status among their peers.

Additionally, the phenomenon is rooted in social media’s equally troubling implication that you have to look conventionally beautiful to be worthy. Kids are seeing people on the internet who’ve garnered status because of their looks, and they’re making note of how influencers have attained their beauty — by using fancy products and services that they’re all too eager to tell their followers about. Thus, pre-teens believe they too need to be using top-shelf skincare.

Meanwhile, the products these kids are experimenting with feature intense ingredients like retinol, AHAs, and vitamin C —ingredients that are intended for adult use only because children don’t have concerns like fine lines or hyperpigmentation. Kotb expressed her concern for kids who are dabbling in products that are too mature for them, and how certain strong ingredients can actually damage young skin.

Brooke Jeffy, MD, a board-certified dermatologist and founder of youth skincare brand BTWN, confirmed that Bush Hager, Kotb, and other parents should be concerned about their kids’ mounting obsession with skincare. “Use of inappropriate products that are too harsh for younger skin damages the skin’s ability to do its jobs of keeping moisture in, infections out, and protecting us from environmental damage like ultraviolet light exposure,” Jeffy explained to SheKnows via email.

Bush Hager added that her kids aren’t racking up three-figure transactions at Sephora like many other tweens, but they are hitting drugstores like CVS and Target to bring home more affordable hauls. Kotb exasperatedly responded, “But it’s also, where are the Barbies? Where is the Nintendo? It’s so bizarre to me that their playground is a drugstore where, when we were little, we wanted to go to like, Toys ‘R’ Us and such,” she said.

Bush Hager again pointed the finger at social media. “My kids do not have TikTok and they’re still into it,” she shared. “Their friends get TikTok, which then becomes the fabric of our culture.”

On a Positive Note

Though Generation Alpha’s obsession with skincare is problematic for several reasons, it is encouraging kids to be mindful about taking care of the body’s largest organ. The conversation needs to be herded in a healthier, less extreme direction, but there are some positive takeaways parents can use to pivot the discussion.

Get your skincare-obsessed kiddos to focus on establishing a basic skincare routine before puberty is in full swing, emphasizing the use of a gentle cleanser, moisturizer, and SPF. From there, use the topic as grounds for bonding. Have weekly self-care sessions and share your own knowledge of products and ingredients to foster a better understanding of skincare. Do this to ensure when they are ready to graduate to more mature products, they’ll be informed buyers who aren’t splurging $62 on a moisturizer because it comes in ~aesthetic~ packaging and has a logo that will look, like, really good on their social feeds.

Before you go, check out these celebrities who have shared their technology rules for their kids.

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