Girls as young as 4 risk long-term damage from beauty treatments, experts say

Experts are sounding the alarm over a boom in the number of young children using products from face serums to anti-ageing creams . It takes a concerted effort for the tiny tot to reach the nail polish dryer with one little hand while she balances her other on a cushion for the beautician to paint her remaining nails – but she focuses like a pro. As coats of colour, glitter and topcoat are applied, her patience is admirable.

She’s only 4. She grins widely with fuchsia-pink lips that complement her eyeshadow , her brown hair half-up in tight French plaits sprinkled with glitter. She’s fresh from a makeover and clearly feeling worth it, although rejects the offer of coconut hand cream with shea butter with a decisive “no”.



The stereo’s blaring bubblegum pop, polish fumes rise, and we’re in the thick of a very excitable Mini Moony Pamper Party in a specialist beauty salon for children in Havant, near Portsmouth. Six girls, the oldest aged 7, the youngest 4, are rotating between makeup and hair stations and the nail bar after sipping Gummy Bear Extravaganza, Candy Floss Surprise, and Glitter Bomb Sparkle “mocktails” from plastic Martini glasses on gold-legged bar stools..