Once I heard that one California legislator is searching for to bar the state’s minors from shopping for “anti-aging” skincare merchandise, my first response was to scoff. Like, actually? That’s what you’re involved about proper now? Aren’t there far more instantly threatening issues to fret about, like, oh, say, gun violence and immigration sweeps in colleges? Or the astoundingly high rates of vaping amongst teenagers? Rising rates of depression amongst teenagers? Our youth literacy crisis?
However the extra I give it some thought, the extra I understand I’m all for banning what the invoice calls “anti-aging skincare” for minors —on the very least, for the assertion it could make.
Ought to it cross into legislation, the invoice—launched on February 18 by Alex Lee, a democratic assemblyman from San José—would make it unlawful for the state’s retailers to promote skincare merchandise containing lively substances akin to vitamin A (you realize it as retinol), vitamin C, and alpha hydroxy acids (AHAs) to consumers beneath 18.
That is the second time Lee has tried to cross one of these laws, by the way in which. The primary invoice he proposed on this matter, which might have banned gross sales of the identical skincare merchandise to folks beneath 13, failed final Might. Although it appears unlikely that elevating the age restriction to 18 will assist his invoice cross this time round, I’ve to applaud the message he’s attempting to ship by placing it on the market.
Don’t get me incorrect, that is removed from an ideal piece of laws. For one, it’s essential to acknowledge that some substances focused by this invoice aren’t solely used for stopping wrinkles. AHAs and vitamin C, for instance, aren’t usually mandatory however might be helpful for younger folks, notably for a teen going by it with zits. “Typically we’d like these substances to assist deal with whiteheads, blackheads, or exfoliation,” Mona Gohara, MD, a board-certified dermatologist in Connecticut, previously told Allure in response to this invoice. As for the opposite substances, the potential unfavourable results they might have on younger pores and skin—breakouts, irritation, sensitivity to the solar—are laborious for me to get too labored up about. Possibly I’m being cavalier, however we’re not speaking about cigarettes right here, proper? (Effectively, I suppose Lee is: He compared the bill to legal guidelines that prohibit the sale of tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana to minors.)
This legislation can be near-impossible to implement anyway. Whereas we prefer to collectively roll our eyes imagining hordes of tweens swarming Sephoras, most 11-year-olds aren’t displaying as much as magnificence retailers unsupervised and paying for their very own Drunk Elephant. After which there’s e-commerce, which is projected to account for more than 26 percent of magnificence gross sales inside the subsequent two years and doesn’t presently require clients to add a legitimate type of identification earlier than they head to the digital checkout.
