When she was in fifth grade, Scarlett Goddard Strahan started to worry about getting wrinkles.
By the time she turned 10, Scarlett and her friends were spending hours on TikTok and YouTube watching influencers tout products for achieving today’s beauty aesthetic: a dewy, “glowy,” flawless complexion. Scarlett developed an elaborate skin care routine with facial cleansers, mists, hydrating masks and moisturizers.
One night, Scarlett’s skin began to burn intensely and erupted in blisters. Heavy use of adult-strength products had wreaked havoc on her skin. Months later, patches of tiny bumps remain on Scarlett’s face, and her cheeks turn red in the sun.
“I didn’t want to get wrinkles and look old,” says Scarlett, who recently turned 11. “If I had known my life would be so affected by this, I never would have put these things on my face.”
The skin care obsession offers a window into the role social media plays in the lives of today’s youth and how it shapes the ideals and insecurities of girls in particular. Girls are experiencing high levels of sadness and hopelessness. Whether social media exposure causes or simply correlates with mental health problems is up for debate. But to older teens and young adults, it’s clear: Extended time on social media has been bad for them, period.
Patch testing likely wouldn’t have made a difference, this is about extended use that probably broke down her skin’s barrier over time.
When I had a baby and then got COVID, I started washing my hands more often, and really too often. Using the same gentle non scented antibacterial soap I had been for years, I turned my hands into a dry cracked and bleeding mess, and when I used the same gentle non scented oatmeal moisturizer I have used for years, I ended up with insane burning on the backs of my hands, and a bright red burn/rash. This was all in about a week.
I stopped using hot water to wash, and only used soap on my palms/fingers. I waited for my skin to repair itself. Now I continue to use that same soap and lotion with no problem. It was never the products that were the problem, it was over use.