Health. Facial care for teenagers: beware of the harmful effects of TikTok videos!

The numbers from the first scientific study on the impact of TikTok beauty videos on young audiences are eye-opening. Conducted by researchers at Northwestern University and published in the journal Pediatrics , this work reveals that young girls (between 7 and 18 years old) who are fans of skincare routines visible on social networks use an average of six different products on their faces each day, some applying more than ten.

The cost of these routines averages $168 (around 155 euros) for a month of use, and can even exceed $500 in some cases.

To conduct this research, the scientists created a fake TikTok account posing as 13-year-olds, then analyzed 100 videos of popular beauty routines on the platform.

Lifelong risk of allergies

The main problem identified by the researchers lies in the accumulation of active ingredients that can be irritants. The most-watched videos contained an average of 11 substances that could cause skin reactions.

For example, in one video included in the study, the content creator applied 10 products to her face over the course of six minutes. As she applied the products, " she began to experience discomfort and burning, and in the final minutes, she developed a visible skin reaction ," the authors warn. They point out that this overexposure can lead to the development of an allergy called contact dermatitis, which can limit the use of soaps, shampoos, and cosmetics for life.

" This high risk of irritation came from both the simultaneous use of multiple active ingredients, such as alpha hydroxy acids, but also from unknowingly applying the same active ingredient repeatedly when that ingredient was present in three, four, five different products ," says Dr. Molly Hales, a board-certified dermatologist at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine (Chicago, Illinois).

" It's problematic to show young girls that they need to devote so much time and attention to their skin ," the authors conclude. "These videos offer little, if any, benefit to the targeted pediatric populations ." But they do pose very real risks.