12-year-old girls with sculpted nails and false eyelashes.
Teenagers applying hyaluronic acid injections.
Or even the most “innocent” spa celebration for a 10th birthday.
Cosmeticorexia
is a disorder linked to the obsession with caring for a flawless appearance and the excessive use of cosmetic products and is already worrying educational authorities.
The warning came from the
Association of Private Education Institutes of Buenos Aires (AIEPBA)
, which in a statement stated that the trend “exploded” among girls and adolescents.
“The interest of adolescents in participating in social networks with increasing speed, seeking perfectionist aesthetic effects, image models to follow and - in many cases - with limited controls, has established a problem among private teachers in the classrooms that It is already being noticed as
a new addiction
: cosmeticorexia,” AIEPBA warns.
The executive secretary of the entity, Martín Zurita, said that there are more and more cases and that in schools "it is a new reality that worries us and alerts us to take care of ourselves in the classrooms."
Specialists admit that the phenomenon is enhanced by social networks, Instagram reels and TikTok videos, which bombard boys and girls with content on the subject.
“Aspirational creates need,” experts say.
This translates into the desire of teenagers to have the perfect complexion or shiny hair of their favorite influencer.
But the trend also appears in early childhood, "reaching absurd celebrations in a spa for 4 or 5-year-old girls, which include treatments with creams, which, although recreational, begin to sow
excessive concern for aesthetics
."
From the association of private schools they point out that in the classrooms they see how day after day this initial game "takes addictive edges" and points out that the students consume beauty products unrestrainedly that "not only make a dent in their self-esteem but can also damage your dermatological health.”
These products range from skincare routines, false nails, makeup, hair treatments and even hyaluronic acid and collagen injections, reaching cosmetic surgeries.
Many girls use products that are prescribed for adults, which can lead to irritation, allergies, stains and even burns on the applied area.
Dermatologists warn that deeper damage can leave irreversible consequences.
According to teachers in the first years of secondary school, for example, there are girls who go to school with eyelash curlers to use before going out to recess or with false nails.
In boys, care lies especially in the hair, with an obsession with cuts and dyes that were not previously seen with such intensity at school.
ACE