A Schoolgirl’s Makeup Bag and What Is Normal at 10, 13 and 16

Names and identifying details of every student here are changed, as they are everywhere on the blog.

Olga came in with a screenshot. Her daughter is 10 and has asked for a retinol serum for her birthday, with a link, because the girls in the videos have one. Olga’s question was whether this is now normal, and whether saying no makes her the strict mother of the class. Nails are my work, not skin, so the parts that matter here come from what dermatologists publish rather than from me. But the shape of the answer is simple, and it is not the same answer at 10, at 13 and at 16. H2: Where this trend came from Products meant for adult skin ended up in the hands of children, and the ingredients that make them work on a 40-year-old are the ones that irritate a 10-year-old. California tried to handle it with a law. A bill would have required age checks for selling anti-aging products with vitamin A derivatives or acids to minors, and it stalled in committee and died this January, after an earlier version aimed at children under 13 failed in 2024. So there is no rule at the register. The rule is still the one the family makes at home, which is why Olga was in my chair with a screenshot. H2: All three ages, side by side H2: Ten is about skin, not makeup The honest answer to that video, at that age, is that nothing in it is needed. Dermatologists keep repeating the same short list for young skin, a mild cleanser, a moisturizer if the skin is dry, and sunscreen, SPF 30 or higher, daily. Play makeup for a birthday party is a different thing from a routine, and the only rule there is that it comes off the same evening. Olga’s daughter has a drawer of that already, and nobody is taking it away.

Nothing in an anti-aging product is designed for a 10-year-old. The point of those ingredients is to act on skin that has aged, and young skin reacts to them as irritation.

H2: Thirteen is when acne shows up Here the bag changes for a real reason, not a trend. Published guidance is unglamorous and specific. Look for the word non-comedogenic on a label, which only means the formula is not supposed to block pores. One acne product at a time, and six to eight weeks before judging it, with full clearing closer to three or four months. No scrubbing either. Irritated skin breaks out more, not less. And the social one that matters at this age. Nobody shares makeup, brushes or applicators, because what travels between faces is not just color. If nothing improves after a couple of months, or if the skin burns and stings with everything, that is a dermatologist visit and not a shopping problem. A pediatrician can refer. H2: Sixteen is a full bag and the same rules By then makeup goes on in the morning and comes off at night, and the rules that matter are boring. Non-comedogenic everything, sunscreen underneath, removal every single night, her own brushes washed sometimes, and throwing out what has changed smell or color. That last one surprises people. Mascara and liquid products do not live forever, and old product on a teenage face shows up as exactly what a teenager does not want. H2: Three things I tell mothers None of it is about being strict, and all of it is practical. First, ask what the daughter is actually trying to fix. Sometimes it is a video, sometimes it is a breakout she has not mentioned, and those are different conversations. Second, buy the boring things together, cleanser and sunscreen, because a girl who has her own sunscreen uses it. Third, keep the no about the acids, and give a reason that is not about age, which is that those ingredients are for a problem she does not have. H2: My own first lipstick I was 15, and it was the wrong color, a brown-red that my mother said made me look tired, which was true. Her rule was that it came off before dinner, and the fight about that rule lasted about two weeks and then stopped mattering. She never said I was too young to want it. She said the color was wrong, which was a conversation I could have. H2: How it ended for Olga No serum. A sunscreen the girl picked herself, a lip balm, and a cleanser that smells like nothing, which was the part she resisted hardest. Her birthday present became a makeup bag, empty, which the daughter has been filling with the boring things ever since, and Olga says she checks what goes in about once a month, without ceremony. Videos that start these conversations are in English, and so is most of what a 10-year-old watches, which is how the Russian at home gets thinner without anybody noticing. Palme School teaches children from four years old, online, in small groups, 40 minutes a lesson, and every family starts with two free sessions, a conversation with a methodologist and then a trial lesson in a group. A child who follows Russian and answers back in English belongs in Russian for bilingual children. When the speech is fine and the page is where everything stops, that is the reading school.

Frequently asked questions

Does a 10-year-old need a skin care routine?

Dermatology guidance for young skin is short, a gentle cleanser, a moisturizer if the skin is dry, and daily sunscreen of SPF 30 or higher. Anti-aging products with retinol or acids are made for adult skin and commonly irritate young skin.

Is it true that California banned anti-aging products for minors?

No. A bill would have required stores to verify age before selling anti-aging products containing vitamin A derivatives or alpha hydroxy acids to minors, but it stalled in committee and died in January 2026, after an earlier version aimed at children under 13 failed in 2024. There is no such law, so the decision stays with families.

What should a teenager with acne use?

Published guidance suggests products labeled non-comedogenic, adding one acne product at a time and giving it several weeks, gentle washing rather than scrubbing, and moisturizer even on oily skin. If there is no improvement, a dermatologist is the next step.

Why is sharing makeup a problem?

Sharing makeup, brushes or applicators transfers bacteria, oil and dead skin cells between faces, which can cause breakouts even when the products themselves are non-comedogenic.

Does makeup have to come off every night?

Yes. Even non-comedogenic makeup can cause breakouts if it is slept in, and a cleanser or a non-comedogenic wipe followed by moisturizer is the usual advice.

Palme School: Russian for bilingual children · Reading school · Free materials for families

Monica Perez is from Rosario, Argentina. These days she does nails in Los Angeles, and her regulars are mostly Russian-speaking, which is how these stories reach her before they reach anybody else.