The beauty brand has partnered with Drew Barrymore, along with creators, dermatologists and self-esteem experts to help parents and caregivers navigate anti-aging conversations with young girls
ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, N.J., March 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — More than ever, young girls are being exposed to adult skincare content, and it’s creating societal pressure for them to adopt unnecessary anti-aging skincare regimens before they’ve even grown up.
The anti-aging skincare trend can foster premature appearance anxiety in young girls, which can negatively impact their self-esteem – now and in the future. Nearly 1 in 2 young girls (10-17 years-old) expect to worry more about their appearance as they age, and 1 in 3 young girls are expected to have cosmetic work or plastic surgery to alter their appearance as they age.
Dove, together with powerful TikTok voices (academic experts, dermatologists, creators, body confidence advocates and more), including mother, actress and talk show host, Drew Barrymore, aim to draw awareness of the issue through creative content featuring decorated faces depicting #TheFaceofTen, and what it should be covered with – glitter, stickers, and face paint – not retinol and other anti-aging skincare ingredients and products.
“As a mom to two young girls, it makes me think differently about skin care for younger girls,” says Barrymore. “I’ve spent almost my whole life in a make-up chair, and as a little girl, I loved to play and express myself with things like glitter and stickers – and I would wear make up for expressing myself. However, now there is a huge skin care movement directed at all ages, and some of the products on trend happen to be anti-aging. Not only can that be damaging to young skin, I feel like the message should always be pro age, and age appropriate. I’m so proud to be partnering with Dove to help boost girls’ awareness and self-esteem!”
Young girls are excited by the anti-aging skincare trends and lengthy routines they see in their feeds – but without guidance on what is age-appropriate for young skin, they could continue to misuse anti-aging products before they’ve even grown up. Dove believes a 10-year old’s face should be a canvas for care-free fun, not anti-aging products.
“If young girls feel pressure to use skincare products containing highly active anti-aging ingredients, it could be damaging to their body confidence and self-esteem in the long term, not to mention their skin health. Today, girls are exposed to adult skincare content online and pressures to look a certain way at a very young age, to the extent that they’re adding products designed for adults to their wish lists and skincare regimens, without understanding the possible consequences for their physical and mental health. All of this contributes to a toxic culture of unrealistic beauty standards and pressures,” explains Professor Phillippa Diedrichs, leading body image expert.
To further help support and encourage parents to have these important conversations with their kids, Dove, alongside Dr. Phillippa Diedrichs and body image expert certified dermatologist Dr. Marisa Garshick have created: ‘The Gen A Anti-Aging Talk’ a free resource on the Dove TikTok page with guidance on how to talk to young people about anti-aging pressures and beauty anxiety.
“When did 10-year-olds start worrying about wrinkles and getting older? It is time to speak up to highlight the absurdity and protect their self-esteem,” says Firdaous El Honsali, Global Vice President, Dove. “At Dove, we believe beauty should be a source of happiness, not anxiety. For two decades, we have taken action to build confidence and self-esteem for millions of girls. Today, our girls are anti-aging before they’ve even started to grow up and need us more than ever.”
‘The Gen A Anti-Aging Talk’ is pinned to Dove’s TikTok channel for all parents and caregivers. Check it out here.
Together, let’s celebrate kids at 10 and allow them to enjoy life without the pressure of adult beauty concerns. Only together can we protect young girls’ self-esteem from adult beauty anxiety. Let’s change beauty.
Contact Samantha Colton
[email protected]
Dove ResearchOnline survey conducted by Edelman DXI (Data x Intelligence), a global, multidisciplinary research, analytics, and data consultancy, in November / December 2023. This 25-minute survey was completed in 20 countries: Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, KSA, Mexico, the Netherlands, the Philippines, South Africa, Sweden, Türkiye, the USA, and the UK.
Researchers spoke with more than 33,000 respondents: 19,306 respondents aged between 18 to 64 years old (14,673 women, 3,776 men*) and 14,292 respondents aged 10 to 17 years old (9,475 girls, 4,753 boys*).
15 experts ranging from academic experts to consultants on body image and activists in the field were consulted on the research questions and outputs, and we ensured the survey was representative of various subgroups e.g. people with larger bodies, disabilities, mental health conditions, LGBTQ+ people and people of colour.
All interviews were conducted in local languages and dialects, with only appropriate questions asked in each market and the methodology was consistent with the level of national online penetration required to avoid sampling bias.
*Note: Other gender identities and non-binary respondents were surveyed but are not reported due to the limited sample sizes.
About Dove Dove started its life in 1957 in the US, with the launch of the Beauty Bar, with its patented blend of mild cleansers and ¼ moisturizing cream. Dove’s heritage is based on moisturization, and it is proof not promises that enabled Dove to grow from a Beauty Bar into one of the world’s most beloved beauty brands. Women have always been our inspiration and since the beginning, we have been wholly committed to providing superior care to all women and to championing real beauty in our advertising. Dove believes that beauty is for everyone. That beauty should be a source of happiness and not anxiety. Dove’s mission is to inspire women everywhere to develop a positive relationship with the way they look and realize their personal potential for beauty.
For more than 65 years, Dove has been committed to broadening the narrow definition of beauty in the work they do. With the ‘Dove Real Beauty Pledge,’ Dove vows to:
Portray women with honesty, diversity and respect. We feature women of different ages, sizes, ethnicities, hair color, type, and style.
Portray women as they are in real life, with zero digital distortion and all images approved by the women they feature.
Help young people build body confidence and self-esteem through the Dove Self-Esteem Project, the biggest provider of self-esteem education in the world.
About Dove Self Esteem ProjectAs the world’s leading provider of self-esteem education for girls, Dove continues to support girls wherever their self-esteem is at stake and ensure the next generation grows up enjoying a positive relationship with how they look. Since 2004, Dove has reached over 100 million young people globally, in over 150 countries through the Dove Self Esteem Project, with a goal of reaching 250M young lives by 2030.
About Unilever in North America Unilever is one of the world’s leading suppliers of Beauty & Wellbeing, Personal Care, Home Care, Nutrition and Ice Cream products, with sales in over 190 countries and products used by 3.4 billion people every day. We have 127,000 employees and generated sales of €59.6 billion in 2023.
Our leading brands in North America include Dove, Hellmann’s, Vaseline, Degree, Axe, TRESemmé, Knorr, Magnum, Ben & Jerry’s, Nutrafol, Liquid I.V., Paula’s Choice, and Dermalogica.
For more information on Unilever U.S. and its brands visit: www.unileverusa.com
For more information on Unilever Canada and its brands visit: www.unilever.ca
SOURCE Dove