Cosmeticorexia: How girls are falling down a skincare rabbit hole

Key developments are emerging from the global stage. Cosmeticorexia: How girls are falling down a skincare rabbit hole8 minutes ago Share Save Add as preferred on GoogleRuth CleggSenior health reporterBBC "Get ready with me to go to my best, best friend's house," Ellie-May says enthusiastically at the camera. The then 10-year-old smiles and explains her multi-step skincare routine on TikTok. "I love, love, love, love, love this toner," she says, as she rubs the translucent liquid into her skin.

Next, it's a serum designed to make your skin glow, "Oh my god it's so glowy," she gushes. She makes a "smoothie" out of her fluffy yellow cream, rubbing blobs on the back of her hand and mixing it with a tinted moisturiser. As she talks, she carefully dabs concealer under her eyes and adds some pink blush and highlighter to her cheeks.

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Then she curls her lashes and applies mascara and lip gloss. She's ready, she says, well, shortly after she's blow dried and straightened her hair. She's been using skincare and advertising it since she was eight years old.

What began in lockdown as a bit of fun has become a main source of income for her family. They have social media accounts across Facebook, TikTok, YouTube and Snapchat. Ellie-May's own TikTok account has more than 330,000 followers.

Her mum Sophie, who has five other children, says they make over £50,000 a year from posting content on their various platforms. "Being content creators has transformed our lives," Sophie says as they sit on a video call with me outside their house in the south east of England. "So many other young kids just wanted to know about Ellie's skincare routine and, well, it just took off.

What Experts Say

"SophieEllie-May's TikTok account has more than 330,000 followersType in the words "children and skincare" into various social media search engines and you won't struggle to find videos of hundreds of other young girls - some as young as three or four - enthusing over skincare products and make-up, or doing "get ready with me" or "after school" skincare videos where they talk about their plans for the day while using cosmetics. Skincare products being marketed to girls is nothing new. While the scrubs and cleansers of past decades promised a spot-free complexion, girls today are using a wider variety of sophisticated products - many of which contain anti-ageing ingredients - in the hope of achieving flawless skin.

Some girl skincare influencers describe themselves as "brand ambassadors", showcasing products from the likes of Bubble, Drunk Elephant, and P. There are K-Pop Demon Hunters-themed skincare packs for a "glow-boosting routine" for "skin that looks luminous". While there are products clearly targeted at children, there are also brands that are popular with young people, which say they do not want to be associated with this part of the market.

A source close to Drunk Elephant, for example, says it is not a "youth-focused" brand, and that it is trying to educate its customers about how to use its products responsibly.

The development has drawn wide international attention, with diplomatic circles watching closely.