Two year old child appears on screen for advertising! Is there a need for children's facial mask or is there an "IQ tax"? Children | facial mask | Advertising

"Exquisite girl, who is only two years old, already knows the importance of skin care and cries for applying facial mask after taking a bath every day..." Ms. Chen from Zhejiang is a mother baby blogger on an e-commerce platform. She claims that since last year, she has found that her young daughter has another hobby: applying facial mask. He released a video of his daughter applying facial mask while chasing a drama on his personal account, and received 80000 praise points in total.

With the prevalence of children's cosmetics and skin care products, many children's toiletries have the option of children's facial mask. Children's skincare brands such as Runben, Red Elephant, and Anyi have launched such products one after another. And ceramide, hyaluronic acid and other popular "star" cosmetics ingredients also appear in children's facial mask.

Pediatric experts suggest that children do not need to apply facial mask, and the vast majority of children's facial mask sold on the market are purely for the benefit of businesses. Children may use facial mask at risk, such as damaging the skin barrier, easily causing contact dermatitis or skin allergy.

Facial mask becomes an essential skin care product for children?

"Maintenance should start from the doll" "Piggy girl's delicate daily life has begun since childhood"... Recently, Ms. Chen, a parent from Guangdong, found that children's facial mask has become a product that many parents are keen to buy when shopping for children's skin care products.

On the social platform, from time to time, some parents show pictures or videos of children applying facial mask, and some parents have an article saying, "There is no natural beauty, but I apply facial mask every day.". The scenes confused Ms. Chen: "Children's skin is delicate. Is it necessary to apply facial mask?"

After browsing the e-commerce platform, the reporter found that Runben, Anyi, Papa Turtle, Red Elephant and other children's skin care brands have launched children's facial mask products. Among them, Runben Biotechnology Co., Ltd., the "first share of infant and child care", which had recently held an IPO and was about to land on the main board of the Shanghai Stock Exchange, has three types of children's facial mask products on sale in its official stores, namely, "children's moisturizing facial mask", "children's centella glacier mask" and "children's refreshing ice mask". The applicable age is 3 years old+, and the cumulative monthly sales volume is more than 3500 pieces.

In the propaganda of the above three children's facial mask, there are many expressions, such as "striving to be a 'mask' model, an exclusive facial mask for children", "the first facial mask for children", "sodium hyaluronate · deep moisturizing, creating a good skin base from childhood", etc. The customer service of the store said to the reporter that the three types of children's facial mask are suitable for children aged 3-12 years. The product has simple ingredients and focuses on moisturizing and hydrating effects, which can effectively relieve skin redness and discomfort.

The children's facial mask sold by "Anyi Overseas Flagship Store" also claims to be suitable for children aged 3-12 years old, and is accompanied by such slogans as "the exclusive facial mask of 'mask' for girls, 3 years old+babies", "moisturizing and soothing, applying healthy skin at the beginning", "large capacity essence liquid", etc. The customer service of the store introduced to the reporter that the product contains hyaluronic acid and ceramide, which have moisturizing, repairing, and anti allergic effects, and can make children's skin drink plenty of water.

After combing, the reporter found that even though some businesses claimed that the ingredients of children's facial mask products were simplified, they still contained a variety of chemical ingredients. For example, the "Runben" children's facial mask contains butanediol, sodium hyaluronate, panthenol, 1,2-hexanediol, p-hydroxyacetophenone, etc; The "Papa Turtle" children's facial mask contains butanediol, 1,2-hexanediol, p-hydroxyacetophenone, acrylamide dimethyl taurine/VP copolymer, etc.

It is understood that children's facial mask is a new category of children's skin care products launched in recent years, but at present, there are many parents who believe that this kind of products belong to "IQ tax". A staff member of a mother and baby store in Beijing told Future.com that there were many children's skin care products sold in the store, but children's facial mask were not included. "Children's skin is delicate, so it is unnecessary to apply facial mask. It is enough to apply some moisturizing face cream at ordinary times. And even if the merchants claim that children's facial mask is" 0 added ", they do not know what the actual ingredients are."

Expert: children do not need to apply facial mask

In addition to being questioned by the "IQ tax", some parents believe that the propaganda of some children's facial mask products is also selling anxiety. "Strive to be a 'mask' model student, create a unique facial mask with good skin base and 3-year-old+baby from childhood... Such propaganda may encourage parents' consumption psychology and worry too much about children's skin problems." Ms. Chen said.

Zhu Haiqiao, chief pediatrician of Zhejiang Provincial People's Hospital, said in an interview with Future.com that the vast majority of children's facial mask sold on the market not only waste money, but children also have no need to use them. They are purely businessmen who make decisions from children for profit. "In short, it has more drawbacks and less benefits, and there is a certain level of usage risk. It is not recommended for children to use it."

Zhu Haiqiao analyzed that the focus of children's skincare is to do the most basic skincare, which includes skin cleaning, daily moisturizing, breathability, and sun protection. For children's moisturization, it is usually recommended to use a single ingredient children's specific moisturizer or moisturizer. And not all children need regular use of moisturizing products, because healthy skin itself has the ability to self improve, maintain oil-water balance, and has a variety of natural moisturizing ingredients.

"Facial mask is not a necessity for all people, and children are no exception. Children may also have certain risks when using facial mask, for example, long-term external application may lead to excessive hydration of the skin and damage the skin barrier; some children's facial mask ingredients may also cause skin irritation, leading to contact dermatitis or skin allergy; facial mask liquid may also enter children's mouth and eyes, and curious children may taste or eat facial mask liquid; in addition, infants should not use facial mask, which may be applied to the mouth and nose, and if they are careless, it may lead to suffocation risk." Zhu Haiqiao said.

Li Pei, Deputy Chief Physician of Neurosurgery at the Third People's Hospital of Datong City, Shanxi Province, stated that ingredients such as ceramide in "star" cosmetics are also not suitable for children. "Children are too young and have poor skin barrier function, which makes it difficult for them to withstand various external stimuli. The use of ceramide may cause skin damage such as allergies."

Source | Future Network Intern Kong Xuehang Reporter Ling Meng