GRWM, or ‘get ready with me,’ videos are some of the most popular on TikTok.
They often involve a creator telling us a dramatic story or sharing the day’s plans while selecting clothing and applying makeup, but can also focus on the beauty routine itself.
The creator is often a teenager or young adult, but is often alarmingly younger. For example, today I saw a “toddler edition” GRWM and clicked play, expecting the same kinds of pretend makeup my siblings and I had as kids. Imagine my surprise when this little girl, who couldn’t have been but 3 or 4 years old, began to apply and “blend” at least five products!
It turns out that by age 7, this toddler and her peers are likely to be carrying out beauty routines involving as many as a dozen products daily, and it’s damaging their skin.
Little Kids Love Makeup
Little kids love makeup, lotions, nail polish, and Mommy’s high heels, and if you surveyed parents, you’d get a wide range of opinions on exactly what should be allowed at what ages. This isn’t new — kids have been fascinated with makeup for as long as mommies have been wearing it.
What has changed, though, is that mothers are no longer the only influence telling kids which products they should use.
Before, kids might sneak in and help themselves to a small stash of products their mother had used for years and trusted. Now, they’re being encouraged to buy masses of products and pile them all on.
It’s Not Just Makeup, Either
Even kids younger than seven are using astringent face washes, face masks, peels, jade rollers, anti-aging serums, and every other product they can get their hands on.
The Connecticut Attorney General has called on major beauty corporations to stop marketing these products to children, warning:
“Products with retinol and other “anti-aging” or “brightening” ingredients are not recommended for young, sensitive skin. Use of these products can cause skin irritation, burns, breakouts, and even long-term damage, according to the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center.”
Even when parents are aware that too much makeup can be harmful, they may overlook that the wrong cleansers and other skin products can be downright dangerous.
How Many Products Does Your Child Use?
A new study published in the American Association for the Advancement of Science finds that girls between the ages of 7 and 18 use an average of 6 products daily, and some admit to using as many as a dozen!
Most of these products do not include any sunblock. Many of them increase the sensitivity of kids’ already delicate skin, leaving them more vulnerable to skin irritation, sun sensitivity, and contact dermatitis.
What would dermatologists prefer to see their youngest patients using?
Just a gentle cleanser and a good sunscreen, with a moisturizer as an optional add-on.
For kids dealing with acne, it’s best to ask your pediatrician what products they recommend — but most importantly, do not combine multiple products without medical advice to do so!
Not only is it potentially harmful, but it also means that if there is an allergic reaction or if one is particularly effective, it’s harder to determine which product caused it.
Effects On Self-Esteem From GRWM And Social Media
Aside from the physical damage that excessive product use can do to your child’s skin, these videos can also communicate that your child isn’t pretty until she layers on the makeup.
Overall, social media can be an excellent tool for users to connect with others who share their interests and perspectives. However, it also has an inherent tendency to drive users to compare their lives to those of others — or, more accurately, to compare their full lives to the shiniest and most shareable parts of others’.
For teens and younger kids, this can be even more damaging. ChildMind reports that there’s ample evidence that social media is negatively affecting kids’ self-esteem for several reasons, including the drive to compare themselves to others.
When our kids are pressured to do everything possible to ‘fix’ their already beautiful faces, this only adds to the harm.
The TikTok Problem That’s Fueling The GRWM Trend
Algorithms make it difficult to monitor and filter what your child accesses on the internet, especially on platforms that are ad-driven (and that’s most of them).
Once the algorithm determines that a viewer might also be a potential customer base for a given type of product, it will feed the viewer a steady diet of content that suggests life will not be complete until they purchase those items.
Parents can monitor their kids’ social media use, but these content types are insidious. Unless you’re completely keeping your kid off the platforms (granted TikTok’s user agreement says one must be 13 to join) or constantly watching over their shoulder, it’s virtually impossible to prevent your kids from engaging with this content.
So, What Can Parents Do About GRWM?
As parents, we have to make a conscious decision to know what our kids are putting on their faces.
If your child is asking you to buy beauty products, examine the product and determine for yourself if it’s safe and age-appropriate. If you’re not sure, look the product up or ask your pediatrician first.
If your child is getting beauty products as gifts from other family members or purchasing with their funds, vet the product before allowing your child to use it.
Consider whether your household social media policy is working for you and your child, or whether it’s time to adjust any boundaries. Always talk to your child about the kinds of content they’re consuming, whether that means Disney movies or YouTube shorts, and what messages they’re receiving.
Finally, your child might receive their most pervasive messages about beauty, self-esteem, and personal values from their peers and the media. Still, they get their first messages from you, so make sure you’re talking to your kid about advertising propaganda and about why certain messages are so prevalent in the media.
Most of all, talk to them about their value as a person, and the fact that it does not come from their appearance, but from the way they treat themselves and others. If you are open and honest with your gets, the GRWM TikTok trend may not even show a blip on their radar.