Adelle Hayes, 15, of Peters Township, likes how she feels after her skin care routine. She enjoys caring for her skin and watching TikTok influencer Katie Fang’s “Get Ready With Me” multi-step skincare routines.

“Her skin is incredibly clear, and I haven’t seen a pimple yet,” Hayes said.

Skin care is all the rage with the Gen Z crowd — those between the ages of 12 and 27. Young tween girls — known as #sephorakids — experiment with beauty products, skin care remedies and anti-aging serums. According to an article in The Wall Street Journal, Bubble Skincare, a company that sells hydrating moisturizers and eye-brightening cream, works with about 2,000 youth ambassadors aged 13 through 14 years old.

But it isn’t all foaming cleansers and pink shiny bottles — dermatologists and skin care experts are concerned Gen Z girls are influenced by unattainable beauty standards and using skin care products that may damage their skin in the long-run.

Sophia Choukas-Bradley is an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Pittsburgh, and the Clinical Psychology Lead for the new Center for Digital Thriving at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Her research focuses on social media’s effects on the mental health and well-being of adolescents and emerging adults, and she is sounding the alarm when it comes to skincare influencers on social media causing a rise in aging anxiety.

“Evolutionary psychologists would say it’s natural,” Choukas-Bradley said. “We fear aging because it leads us closer to death, but the societal obsession that translates into using anti-aging products starting in adolescence is a new phenomenon driven by social media.”

Choukas-Bradley disagrees with the messaging promoted by social media when it comes to beauty, mainly that if one can change their physical appearance and align with societal views of beauty, they’ll be happy.

“Researchers find that the more people try to change their bodies in the pursuit of feeling satisfied and happy, the more they find they are not happy or satisfied,” Choukas-Bradley said.

Dr. Kristen Whitney, a dermatologist within Allegheny Health Network, worries about body dysmorphic disorder in Gen Z leading to over-spending and improper use of skin care products.

“I think it’s getting blown out of proportion with the amount kids are exposed to, spending their allowance on things they don’t need, on things that can cause more harm than good,” Whitney said.

Whitney worries about younger people using products with active ingredients that haven’t been tested on young skin.

“We don’t know what these anti-aging products do to kids,” Whitney said. “These active agents haven’t been studied. If kids are using these things unchecked by parents for a long period of time, what could happen?”

These types of conversations occur in Whitney’s house as she tells her daughters, who are no exception to the Gen Z trend, that they don’t need to spend $50 on moisturizer. According to Whitney, the secret to an effective skin care routine is an affordable, realistic and simple routine crafted with the input of a dermatologist or skin care professional. Whitney is wary of buying products online without consulting skin care professionals.

“It’s good for parents to check their kids’ bathrooms and see what they’re using,” Whitney said.

Stephanie Appelt, 44, of Jefferson Hills, is navigating the dynamics of skin care with her 14-year-old daughter. She believes the concern with looks is the same now as it was during her childhood, but the difference is today’s young people have unlimited access to influencers who fuel that concern.

“Middle school was the hardest age ever,” Appelt said. “You combine that age of insecurity with social media and people whose job is to influence your kid with products … it’s a recipe for an obsession with skin care. It’s kind of not surprising.”

Melinda Bosquet, chief operating officer of fillir, a med spa in Lawrenceville, worries about the 12-and 13-year-old girls buying products, such as Drunk Elephant, not realizing their skin isn’t mature enough for such intense ingredients. She recommends patients talk to a skin expert who can evaluate individual client needs, as opposed to self-medicating based on TikTok recommendations.

She’s seen many patients use skin care regiments from TikTok that exacerbate their acne conditions. She warns that just because a regimen works for one influencer, doesn’t mean it will work all their followers.

“Everyone is different,” Bosquet said. “There’s a lot that goes into creating a skin care regimen.”

She believes the younger generation’s fascination with flawless skin is a product of perfect skin via filters.

“People want filtered skin,” Bosquet said. “But, having pores is normal, having skin imperfection is completely normal. No matter how many treatments we give you, you won’t have pore-less skin — it’s just not realistic.”

fillir performs many non-invasive treatments such as Botox, lip-filler and chemical peels, and they’ve recently seen a rise in clients as young as 18-years-old.

“I think that the younger patients are seeing on TikTok certain treatments, and they’re interested in it, and they think that they are potential candidates, but to be an ethical provider or business, it’s saying no (when) you need to,” Bosquet said.

Skin care is a balance, and in some ways Generation Z is outperforming their predecessors and impressing the skin care community.

Bosquet often tells her employees the youngest generation of patients coming through fillir is the most educated. She thinks aging anxiety can be a positive thing, because it makes Gen Z more aware of the importance of prevention rather than correction later in life.

“The negative is hyper aging anxiety, but the positive is that young people care more about their skin health,” Bosquet said.

Whitney is grateful skin care influencers remind young people to be mindful about sunscreen use.

“Maybe 20-30 years down the line, melanoma and skin care rates will go down,” Whitney said. “I think, hopefully, that will be a positive thing.”