Mantle restricts sale of anti-ageing skincare to children

Swedish skincare brand Mantle has launched an age restriction on its website to address the growing use of inappropriate anti-ageing products by children and teens. 

It marks one of the first skincare brands to restrict individuals under the age of 18 from buying products through its website.

As an additional measure, the brand has also recommended that its retail partners, such as Selfridges, enforce the restriction.

Josefin Landgård, Founder and CEO of Mantle, said: "The number of young people searching and buying anti-aging products has greatly increased and so it feels very important to me to take a stand since watching this phenomenon grow.

"I feel brands and retailers should take greater responsibility, and an age restriction is a clear and effective directive."

Currently, all the customer needs to do is simply click that they are over 18 when on the website. The brand hopes to eventually introduce a more controlled barrier for better regulation.

Landgård added: "We do this to signify that Mantle has a responsibility to try to curb the trend of a younger audience using active products and strong ingredients on their skin. We believe it clearly signals our values. It becomes a way to guide our customers, and we hope more will follow our example.

"Hopefully, it will be possible to introduce a more controlled barrier that is harder to get past, but we have to start somewhere."

More than ever, children are being exposed to adult skincare content on social media, creating pressure for them to adopt unnecessary anti-ageing skincare regimens before they’ve even grown up.

Another beauty brand addressing this issue is Dove, which last month launched a free resource with guidance on how to talk to young people about anti-ageing and beauty anxiety.

Created in partnership with research psychologist Dr Phillippa Diedrichs and dermatologist Dr.Marisa Garshick, the 'Gen A Anti-Ageing Talk' supports the idea that a 10-year old’s face should be a canvas for carefree fun, not anti-ageing products.

To support the campaign, Dove has been working with a number of creators and body confidence advocates on TikTok.

Through creative content featuring impactful, decorated faces representing #TheFaceofTen, the campaign shows that children's faces should be covered with more glitter, stickers and face paint, rather than retinol and inappropriate anti-ageing skincare products.

Read The Interview: Josefin Landgård on co-founding CBD skincare and wellness brand Mantle.