Despite platforms age-gating access, girls as young as 10 are being exposed to and influenced by anti-ageing content online. This can damage not just their skin, but also their self-esteem. We asked a simple question - ‘When did 10 stop looking like 10?’ - juxtaposed real girls from the past to today’s 10-year-olds, who are affected by this trend. Print layouts delivered our message at a national scale, connecting parents and caregivers to expert-backed resources on navigating skincare conversations with their children. Our campaign brought an online conversation into the real world, prompting discussion and action worldwide.

Since the start of 2024, young girls have been making headlines around the world for ransacking Sephora stores in search of the latest adult skincare.

Despite the age gate to TikTok, girls as young as ten years old were accessing the platform and being exposed to anti-aging skincare content, normalizing its use and creating the absurd trend toward using mature skincare.

Exposure to anti-aging content and products is a gateway into increased anxiety and interventions around appearance in young girls.

Dove’s proprietary research during this time found that nearly 1 in 2 young girls (10-17 years-old) expect to worry more about their appearance as they age, and 1 in 3 expect to take on cosmetic work or plastic surgery to alter their appearance.

Additionally, the ingredients in anti-aging products are unhealthy and damaging to young skin. The Self-Esteem Project is Dove’s long-standing dedication to creating a world where beauty, and social media is a source of confidence – not anxiety. As such, we felt compelled to address the absurd and harmful trend of young girls consuming anti-aging content and products.

This year, an alarming story hit social media and global press. Girls as young as 10 were being influenced by social media to use adult anti-ageing skincare. Young girls ransacked Sephora and other stores to get their hands on harsh retinol-based skin products. They began doing elaborate 10-step skincare routines before school. Worrying about wrinkles before they’ve even grown up.

These toxic anti-ageing products not only damage girls’ skin in the here and now, it’s a dangerous gateway to even more unsafe beauty practices as they get older.

Dove has been protecting the self-esteem of girls for 20 years. This was a moment to speak up and defend the very youngest generation, by raising awareness of this harmful trend.

Our goal was to reach out to parents and caregivers of Gen A girls and provide them with a conversation guide that helps their children navigate anti-ageing beauty anxiety.

Dove’s 10 vs 10 campaign sparked a global discussion around what anti-aging skincare content is doing to the health and wellbeing of young girls. The campaign saw a 209% increase in online conversation amongst parents about the issue – a big success in our short flight period.

Women and young women have taken to TikTok, X, and even LinkedIn to post about the campaign and the issue, while others have organically started sharing photos of their 10-year-old selves on Instagram along with comments about the problem, highlighting its relevance. The campaign generated over 1.5 million organic views online purely from real people's posts in its first week alone.

Most importantly, parents and caregivers around the world have accessed free online resources developed with leading dermatologists and body care experts. Our Anti-Aging Skincare Talk has been played on TikTok 48,200 times with 99% positive sentiment in response.

Dove has always championed the idea that beauty should be a source of confidence and not anxiety, and has helped pave the way to make social media a more positive place.

This is the twenty year anniversary of Dove’s Self-Esteem Project, an educational program for parents, mentors, teachers and youth leaders to better understand how to improve self-esteem of young people.

When this new trend emerged, which was causing an increase in anxiety and interventions around appearance, the brand was compelled to step in and address it.

In addition to a brand film and outdoor campaign, Dove partnered with its internal experts in body care and dermatology to develop a TikTok resource for parents and caregivers about how to have the Anti-Aging Skincare Talk with their youth girls, reinforcing our commitment to fostering positive self-esteem in our youth.