It starts small. A moisturiser. A lip balm. Maybe a gentle cleanser. Then suddenly, your 12-year-old is talking about “skin barriers” and “slugging” (which, in case you don’t know, involves smothering your face in Vaseline overnight like a well-marinated Christmas turkey).
Then comes The List.
- “Mum, I NEED this peptide-infused, snail mucin serum.”
- “Dad, EVERYONE has a mini fridge for their face creams.”
- “Can we go to Space NK? My cleanser has parabens, and I might die.”
And so it begins: the latest teenage obsession—an all-consuming 12-step skincare routine, designed to cure them of the horrors of perfectly normal teenage skin. This isn’t just about hygiene. This is a ritual. A belief system. A whole gospel of transformation. And TikTok is the high priest.
Teenage Fads: A Tale as Old as Time
Let’s not kid ourselves—teenagers have always had fads. Some of them were mostly harmless:
- The Loom Band Apocalypse (2014): Every surface in your home covered in tiny rubber bands—until, overnight, they vanished.
- The Fidget Spinner Epidemic (2017): “It helps me concentrate, Mum.” (It did not.)
- The Slime Boom (2018): Kids raiding your bathroom for shaving foam, leaving sticky trails of regret across your dining table.
But here’s the thing—this one is different. Because unlike loom bands and slime, this isn’t just fun. This is a multi-billion-dollar marketing machine at work.
The Beauty Industry Doesn’t Sell Skincare—It Sells Insecurity
This is not just a passing trend. This is the work of a global beauty industry that has mastered the art of creating insecurity and then selling the solution.
- Step 1: Convince your daughter she has “damaged” skin (even if she doesn’t).
- Step 2: Tell her that only a 12-step Korean glass-skin routine can fix it.
- Step 3: Make sure her favourite influencers (paid by beauty brands) tell her she needs it urgently.
- Step 4: Profit.
This is the power of advertising. It doesn’t just sell a product—it sells a problem you didn’t even know you had.
Ever noticed how every generation has been convinced their skin is doomed?
- The 90s: “You need to strip your skin of all oils! Here, use this St. Ives apricot scrub that feels like sandpaper!”
- The 00s: “Your skin must be matte at all times! Powder your face until you look like a Victorian ghost!”
- The 10s: “You need a 10-step routine from Korea! More hydration! More glow!“
- The 20s: “Your skin barrier is compromised! Buy this £80 slug serum immediately!”
Same playbook, different decade. And yet the goal is always the same: keep people buying forever.
A False Gospel of Beauty
What TikTok and Instagram promote is more than just self-care. They preach a false gospel of transformation—one that says:
“You are not enough as you are. But with the right products, you can become enough.”
This message subtly teaches that beauty is something to be achieved, not received. That our worth is found in the mirror’s reflection, not in being made in the image of God. That with enough money, discipline, and effort, we can reinvent ourselves into someone worthy of love, attention, and admiration.
But Scripture paints a different picture. The Bible affirms the goodness of beauty but never as the source of a person’s worth. In fact, it warns against placing ultimate value on external appearance:
“Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.” (Proverbs 31:30)
The world tells our daughters that they must strive for beauty to be accepted. God tells them they are already fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14). The world tells them that identity is fragile, built on trends and external validation. Christ tells them that their identity is secure in Him.
So What Should Christian Parents Do?
Many Christian parents want to raise their children with a strong foundation in Christ, but when it comes to beauty, worth, and identity, it’s easy to let the world take the lead. We may not be the ones preaching the gospel of skincare, but we may fund it without question.
How do we correct this?
1. Don’t Just Ban It. Don’t Just Buy It.
Some parents hear their daughter’s plea for £500 worth of skincare and an industrial mini fridge and say: “Absolutely not.” (Reasonable.)
Others sigh, pull out their wallet, and think, “At least it’s not drugs.”
But both of these responses fail to disciple our children.
Instead of just banning or blindly buying, we need to engage. Ask questions. Make them think.
- “Why do you think you need this?”
- “Who told you your skin was bad?”
- “Do you think these influencers actually care about you?”
Instead of just shutting them down, help them see the industry at work. Show them the pattern. Train them to ask deeper questions.
Because if we don’t help them think critically now, they’ll fall for every marketing scam the world throws at them—whether it’s beauty, diet culture, or the next overpriced self-improvement trend.
2. Teach a Biblical Vision of Beauty
The world offers two responses to beauty: obsession (chasing the ‘perfect’ look) or rejection (‘who cares what I look like?’). But Scripture presents a third way—gratitude and stewardship.
Teach your daughters that beauty is a gift from God but not a god to be worshipped. Yes, we care for our bodies, but not as a means of self-worth. True beauty is not in flawless skin but in a life shaped by Christ.
3. Model Financial and Emotional Wisdom
If we thoughtlessly hand over money for every new beauty trend, we send a message:
“If the world tells you something is important, we will fund it.”
This is not to say we never buy skincare products! But do we fund discipleship in the same way?
What if, alongside a £30 moisturiser, we invested in books that shaped their worldview? What if, instead of letting social media define beauty, we opened Scripture together to see what God says?
4. Connect Beauty to Eternity
Our bodies will age and change, but in Christ, we are being transformed into something eternal:
“And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.” (2 Corinthians 3:18)
True beauty is not skin deep—it is Christ deep.
Will This Trend Fade?
Yes and no. The products will change. Next year, they’ll be selling eye creams made from fermented mushroom dust and SPF 400 that you need to reapply every five minutes.
But the underlying issue—the craving for worth, beauty, and identity—will not fade.
So let’s not just roll our eyes and let the beauty industry disciple our daughters.
Because if we don’t, someone else will.
