Children as young as two are appearing in TikTok videos demonstrating their skincare routines, a Guardian investigation has found, raising concerns about the beauty industry’s reach and the lack of safeguards for child influencers.

The research found that 400 TikTok videos out of the 7,600 skincare-related posts analysed featured routines or advice presented by children believed to be under 13. At least 90 of these posts featured under-fives, including babies and toddlers.

More than 1,000 videos featured someone believed to be under 18, equivalent to almost one in seven of the videos in the sample.

The posts did not always make it clear what the relationship between the child and the brand was, but many closely resembled advertising.

Dermatologists have said that children do not need multi-step skincare routines and the trend is fuelling anxiety about appearance at ever younger ages. One dermatologist said she was increasingly “reassuring children that what parents see as blemishes are simply normal skin”.

One of the posts analysed shows a child of primary-school age doing a skincare routine before school. She shows products to the camera, explaining that she is trying to achieve glass skin, a term for an intensely hydrated and smooth complexion.

In a separate video, a mother holds her two-year-old up to the camera and prompts her to say “welcome to my skincare” before applying what appears to be moisturiser to her daughter’s face, using the hashtag “toddlersoftiktok”.

The Guardian analysis comes after the Italian competition authority announced in March that it had carried out inspections at the offices of Sephora and Benefit Cosmetics, which are owned by the French luxury group LVMH, as part of an investigation into how the brands sell skincare products to children.

In some instances, girls who are still at primary school may have been targeted with face masks, serums and anti-ageing creams largely meant for adults, the watchdog said.

LVMH said that it, Sephora and Benefit would “fully cooperate with the authorities” but declined to comment further. “All the companies reaffirm their strict compliance with applicable Italian regulations,” it added.

The Guardian found evidence that in many cases the young people featured in TikTok videos had received free products in exchange for posting about the brand online in programmes open to young influencers.

While child performers in film, television and modelling are protected by labour laws regulating working hours, pay and safeguarding, no comparable laws exist to protect children on social media.

Victoria Collins, an MP and the Liberal Democrats’ spokesperson for science, innovation and technology, said the Guardian’s findings were “deeply disturbing” in “what has become a dark and exploitative corner of the internet”.

Collins said it was a “dangerous double standard”, with child influencer content often “generating thousands of views and sales on social media”. The Lib Dems are calling for the regulatory gap to be closed as it leaves young people vulnerable to exploitation.

Although some parents may be sharing content for fun or documenting family life, experts say the absence of clear safeguards still poses risks, particularly when children are featured in content that generates attention or engagement.

Dermatologists also warned that skincare for children was largely unnecessary and, in some cases, could damage skin. Amy Perkins, a dermatologist, said: “Most children do not need skincare beyond gentle soap, simple moisturising if their skin is dry, and sunscreen when outdoors. The current trend for multi-step ‘glow’ or ‘anti-ageing’ routines in children is being driven by social media and marketing, not dermatology.”

Another dermatologist, Emma Wedgeworth, said very young children should not be on social media or sharing “skincare routines”. She added: “Young children do not have the necessary knowledge, skills or judgment to assess products for their skin.”

In another clip analysed by the Guardian, a mother introduces her 10-year-old daughter, saying she has long wanted to get into skincare. She explains that she was sent a product by Benefit Cosmetics to try, shows it applied to her daughter’s face, and later claims the child’s skin is “glowing”. There is no evidence that Benefit sent the product for the child to use.

Benefit Cosmetics did not respond to attempts to contact them for a comment.

There has been a growth in skincare brands developed specifically for children and young teenagers, such as Rini, which launched in November and was described by dermatologists as “dystopian” for creating face masks for four-year-olds. Other examples include Pipa skincare, a brand for tweens aged eight to 12, which launched in 2024.

Pipa skincare, which features in a video shared here by the Guardian, said: “It is important to clearly distinguish between age groups. Content featuring very young children, especially toddlers, raises different concerns. We do not support or participate in that type of content or marketing.” They said they did not work with affiliates under 18, and any content featuring minors required parental involvement.

Glow Hub, which also features in a video above, said its core audience is those born between 1997 and 2012. “Glow Hub takes its responsibility within the category seriously and has proactively implemented measures to support safe, informed skincare use.”

Danielle Granderson, the co-founder of skincare brand Yes Day, which also features in a video shared here, said it created “dermatologist-tested, age-appropriate skincare specifically for tweens and early teens, with all formulas clinically tested on ages 10–16 to ensure safety and efficacy”.

A spokesperson for Bubble said the content referenced above was not affiliated with Bubble “in any official capacity”. “More broadly, we do not support or encourage very young children appearing in skincare content, particularly in ways that suggest routines or product use that are not age appropriate.”

A spokesperson said the brand’s founder and CEO was a mother of two young children and they recognised that “younger children do not need a skincare routine beyond daily sunscreen”. “Bubble is not a children’s skincare brand,” they said. “It is a dermatologist-developed, clinically proven system designed for a wide range of skin needs.”

Evereden and Byoma were approached for comment but did not respond.

The Guardian monitored TikTok using three newly created accounts between 28 October and 17 November last year, tracking skincare-related hashtags and content. While the sample does not represent all skincare content on the platform, it offers a snapshot of the scale and visibility of children in this space.

Analysis of the videos suggest that those featuring young children have a higher engagement rate, with 55,400 likes, shares and comments per video compared with the sample-wide average of 36,000 interactions. However, videos featuring adults without children got more views.

According to a TikTok spokesperson skincare and wellness content has been well established across social media for over a decade. They said the examples shared by the Guardian featured active parental supervision. They flagged a broad community of experts using TikTok to share skincare information.

Separate data obtained from TikTok’s ad library shows that Boots targeted users aged between 13 and 17 with retinoids that are not advised for young skin as it is a strong anti-ageing product.

Boots said they “use strict age-based controls on social media channels to ensure our adverts are only targeted to adults aged 18 and over. We’re recognise that there was a human error on this occasion in 2024, but we are confident it was an isolated case”.

Chi Onwurah, the chair of the Commons’ science, innovation and technology committee, said they had recently heard evidence about the huge and worrying rise in the promotion of beauty products to children on social media, often unregulated, “despite the fact these may contain potentially harmful ingredients like retinols and acids”.

“We need a stronger and more responsive online safety regime to keep people, and particularly children, safe.”

A government spokesperson said every child deserved to grow up in a safe online world so they could have the best start in life.

“The UK has one of the most robust online safety regimes in the world, but we know there is more to do. This is why, recently we have also launched a consultation, which will look at everything - from age limits and safer design features on AI chatbots and games, to a social media ban.”

Additional reporting by Frederick O’Brien, Simon Byford, Chloe Kirton, Emily Bourke, Nicola Alexandrou