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A large pharmacy chain in Sweden, Apotek Hjärtat, announced that it had imposed an age limit on the sale of certain beauty products to those under 15 to counter premature use of skin care products.
“As a major distributor of skin care products and as a pharmacy operator, we want to take responsibility“, CEO Monika Magnusson said in a message to AFP on Thursday.
“Today, young people use skin care products in unhealthy and unnecessary ways (…) and we want to be the voice that says stop“, she added.
More and more children, inspired by various influencers on social media, are turning to anti-aging products, some as young as ten years old.
“Apotek Hjärtat, one of the links in the skin care and distribution chain, is concerned about (this) trend“, it is indicated on the group’s website.
The products in question, most serums against skin aging, are listed on the pharmaceutical group’s website. The ban includes AHAs (citric acid, glycolic acid, etc.), BHAs (salicylic acid), vitamin A (retinol) and vitamin C.
To be able to purchase these products, the customer must be at least fifteen years old, or obtain permission from their parents or be able to present a medical certificate justifying their use.
Annika Svedberg, chief pharmacist at Apotek Hjärtat, emphasizes the importance of choosing skin products based on needs, not a beauty ideal.
“Skin care needs are very individual and depend on skin type and condition, not age“, she clarified. “Using products aimed at reducing wrinkles and evening out skin tone is not something a child needs.”.
The rollout of this age limit is underway, online and in Apotek Hjärtat’s approximately 390 pharmacies in Sweden.
“We hope that this limit will make more people stop and think, and that it will lead to important conversations between parents, in families and within society, about ideals and norms” in force, said the CEO, who affirms that the decision was very well received by customers and pharmacy employees.