Sali Hughes on beauty: will social media bans for teens mean the return of grownup skincare? | Social media

This summer’s announcement that under-16s will soon be banned from some social media platforms and, more recently, that 16- and 17-year-olds will face a digital curfew, strikes me as a good and sensible decision. It also has unignorable benefits for beauty consumers who are old enough to vote, as opposed to those receiving pocket money – with whom brands are inexplicably obsessed.

A social media ban makes it harder – though not impossible – for the beauty industry to market aggressively and cynically at children, which might mean gimmicky, ineffectual kiddie makeup and skincare will stop occupying a disproportionate share of marketing spend and retail space. Will it be the end for “lip oils” in 36 shades of pink?

Top of my own extinction wish list is pH colour-adjusting anything: the raft of makeup designed to adapt to the wearer’s own body chemistry to create a “personalised” shade of Pepto-Bismol pink that looks horrible in comparison to any lipstick, gloss or blusher that declares its true colour from the off.

Speaking of blushers, those transparent jelly sticks of rouge made to look like Haribo are the worst. They lose slip, and dry before you can blend harsh lines, and the colours are inherently lurid – and not in a good way.

After three years when there have been few major fragrance launches that could be classed as sugar-free, perhaps perfumers will once again be permitted to create without marketing briefs that could double as the dessert menu (I could go the rest of my life without another “cotton candy” note). I’ve also had my fill of sweet, cloying, buttercream-icing body sprays, but they are at least harmless – and fun to some.

Any anti-ageing skincare (all pointless with the exception of sunscreen, which social media has dangerously told kids is bad for them) packaged like fruit smoothies will now largely be hidden from vulnerable teens and their insecurities. And whitening toothpastes, bought in huge numbers on TikTok, are as pernicious, with the added disadvantage of affecting no change whatsoever.

Spot patches – hygienic, picking-preventative discs of helpful ingredients – should stay. They make a cute and celebrated feature of a normal teenage flaw, while so many brands are marketing full coverage makeup for the same issue.

Aside from them, none of these deserve our money or our children’s attention. Beauty may soon have little choice but to grow up.