As a person who’s spent a crap load of money on face products over the years—I was a TV sportscaster, so my reasoning was I wanted to keep my job—I should probably not be one to complain. Still, a commercial I watched recently has me riled.

A 50-something, stunning movie star was hawking face cream. Her skin looked flawless and was no doubt the result of good genes and perfect lighting, and, okay, maybe some moisturizer and sunscreen. What really irked me was when the next shot showed a child, a young actor chosen to appear as we might have expected said star to look when she was say 12.

The point, of course, was to let the viewer know that the younger one begins a skin regimen the more likely they are to look beautiful. I thought perhaps I was over reacting until I watched a story on NBC. The piece pointed out that face products are a $90 billion industry annually, and that the makers of said products are now marketing their brands to Generation Alpha, those born from 2010 and beyond.

While I’m not great at math, even I can surmise that those kids are currently 13 and younger, so it appears the makers of face products are doing their best to cash in on children. And boy are they smart. These companies are using internet influencers—called skinfluencers—to convince young girls that they must use expensive face products if they want to be beautiful. And it’s working. According to the TV story, parents all over the country admit that their daughters are not asking for the usual toys and electronics this holiday season. Nope, they have cleansers, toners, moisturizers, and face masks on their Christmas wish lists.

The reporter in the story gathered a half-dozen 11-year-olds, friends of her daughter. Without exception they insisted that of course they wanted these fancy face products. Now I’m not saying children shouldn’t take care of their skin, but a gentle cleanser, moisturizer, and sunscreen should be sufficient and should not break the bank.

The problem is our culture is constantly beating the drum about beauty being the only thing of importance and the pressure this puts on children. Consider the use of online filters. Eighty-seven percent of those between 13 and 21 admit to altering their looks on line, and 20% use filters on every post, all in an effort to look more beautiful. Sadly, this obsession with looks makes the majority of kids feel worse about their actual appearance.

Now I’m not blaming the face product folks for all of this, still their attempt to draw very young children into the beauty fray is disappointing. I can’t help but imagine how nice it would be if we could give children a little more time to just be kids, ones that don’t have to constantly compare their looks to others.

Anne Montgomery’s novels can be found wherever books are sold.

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