SMART SELF-CARE: THIS FREE FACIAL COULD CHANGE YOUR LIFE

Do you have a tween who is crazy about skincare? Who can guess the Sol De Janiero fragrance by number as it wafts by on the breeze? Who thinks they need to get their little mitts on whatever the latest brand obsession it is that their friends are currently talking about?

Just a few of our favourites featuring: Avene, Byoma, Jurlique, ByTerry, Vanessa Megan, Laneige, Bubble, Glow Recipe, Aestura...

 .

One minute it’s Glow Recipe, the next it’s Summer Fridays, Byoma, Bubble, Laneige, Aestura, Naturium.... the list goes on. Just don’t get me started on the Drunk Elephant. No one with that much natural collagen needs that many active ingredients.

Kids these days are sophisticated and smart. Actually, too sophisticated, too smart, and definitely too sassy given they are a generation growing up at a time when it is no longer societally acceptable to smash your small child with a wooden spoon. I feel like parents in 2026 are less scary. Or maybe I’m just too soft.

Porridge, not punishment.

Anyway, I am speaking from direct experience when I say I believe I have discovered the secret to not only educating your tween about skincare, but also creating a bonding moment that encompasses the sort of selfcare you wholeheartedly deserve. It's smart and selfish. And the secret is this:

Teach your child to be your personal, in-house facialist.  

I’m not joking. Allowing them to play with skincare, and apply it to your face like a professional skin therapist is a win-win in every sense. Talk to them about the products that work for you and why the ingredients that work for a 40-something face aren’t necessarily appropriate for a tween with that much natural collagen. Find out what they’re loving, and what’s trending in the playground. It’s a lovely way to connect.

It goes like this:

1. Find a time when you’re just relaxing; after school, post dinner, on a lazy weekend.
   

2. Float the idea of them opening an in-house salon.
   

3. Negotiate. They’d rather watch their iPad than indulge the person who gave them life? Chuck ‘em five dollars. It’s a deal. (But enthusiasm is key, because customer service is important, and they do NOT want a bad Google review from you. Business is tough). My daughter likes to negotiate treatment for Instagram videos (usually funny dogs / unboxing reels) which we watch and enjoy together. She tells me each step my facial is going to include (cleansing pad, mist, eye cream serum, oil, gua sha, moisturiser, rose quartz roller, mist again… ) and for each step she calculates a price. The prices are insane now apparently “due to inflation.” Last time, the fee was over 20 million reels for a somewhat lacklustre treatment (but I rounded it down to… around 15 minutes watching time. Close enough. Heh).
   

   

   Actual price of my last treatment. Very expensive. Note the generous 10% discount.

   
   

4. Pick a few products you like that have sensory textures. I find a nice face oil usually does the trick, nothing too active for little fingers. Grab as many items as your face can handle. The more steps, the more time it takes. These might include: - A toweling headband to keep your hair out of the way - A warm bowl of water and a washcloth (a good facial starts with a good cleanse) - An eye cream, milky toner, serums, oils, moisturisers, mists, lipbalm, etc - A face roller or gua sha tool - An eyebrow spoolie. Might as well keep your brows tamed while they’re at it.
   

5. If you really want to level up the spa vibes, light a candle or oil diffuser, and put on a relaxation soundtrack (the Insight Timer app has thousands, or find one on Youtube).
   

6. Lie down somewhere comfortable, on the couch or bed.

And then? Let them do their thing! It’s adorable. My daughter likes to explain the steps as she goes. She has an active interest in and a very good grasp of skincare. At 4 she was already well versed in the dermal layers. Is there anything as cute as hearing a tiny child say the words ‘Epidermis….. Dermis…..Subcutaneous fatty tissue'?  

Premium treatment action shot

You can reciprocate after your treatment, if they’re open to it. Try not to be overcome by emotion as you smooth a gentle product over the face of your still relatively small, but growing up too fast almost-teen who will forever be your little baby. Take a moment to look at their sweet, tiny face and marvel at the perfection you have created. Conjure all the love you can muster and try to recall it the next time they make you want to scream into a pillow.

Kids are savvy, but they’re not as smart as they think they are.They truly believe they know everything (and definitely more than you) but what they actually know is how to be sucked in by brands and marketing. As if they wouldn’t want a $56 serum with cute little watermelons on it!!! As if they wouldn’t want every number of Sol De Janeiro with their delightful rainbow of aesthetically enticing bottles. Walk into Mecca or Sephora or W Cosmetics and have a look around. There are so many products with packaging that is cute AS HECK. It looks edible. Where do all the kids flooding beauty destinations get all their money from? None of these tiny grifters have jobs.

Anyway. Your tween doesn’t need a $56 serum. They don’t even need a serum. They just want it because their friends have it, and they think it’s cool, and being cool is everything right now.

But here is what’s actually cool: not having a compromised skin barrier because you smashed the actives at 12 years old. Embracing natural skin. Understanding that skin has texture and real people are not Instagram filters.

So, yes to: Ingredients such as ceramides, hyaluronic acid, glycerin, squalane, gentle plant oils and butters. Think barrier-supporting, hydrating, nothing that tries to “change” the skin.

Keep it simple: All they really need is a gentle cleanser, a basic moisturiser and non-negotiable SPF.

No to: Vitamin C, strong niacinamide formulas, peptides, alpha and beta hydroxy acids, exfoliating acids of any kind, harsh scrubs, sulphates and anything marketed as “anti-ageing.”

And ABSOLUTELY no to: retinoids (vitamin A). Not now, not for years.

And if they REALLLLLY must have Drunk Elephant? Buy it for yourself. Use it to the end, then fill the empty jar with something gentle like Cera Ve.* Job done. (I’m not a liar so I would tell her the Drunk Elephant was actually Cera Ve. The packaging is the status.)

Stay tuned for my round up of brands that I think are great for tweens and teens including: Bubble, Indu, Byoma, Cera Ve, QV, La Roche Posay… and anyone else I think of in the meantime.  Endorsed by my 10-year-old, approved by me.