JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
It seems like every week, there's a main character, someone or something that the internet just becomes obsessed with. ALL THINGS CONSIDERED producer Mia Venkat explains what that was this week. Hey.
MIA VENKAT, BYLINE: Hi, Juana.
SUMMERS: All right, Mia, what is it?
VENKAT: So the main character this week is the children's face mask from the brand Rini.
SUMMERS: OK, you got to catch me up 'cause I have never heard of this brand.
VENKAT: All right, so Rini is a skin care brand whose products are marketed to kids as young as four. Actress Shay Mitchell - you might know her from the show "Pretty Little Liars"...
SUMMERS: Yep.
VENKAT: ...Co-founded the brand, and it launched two weeks ago with a sheet mask line. So Juana, I'm going to show you a picture, and I want you to tell me what you see and how it makes you feel.
(SOUNDBITE OF PAPER CRINKLING)
SUMMERS: I do not like this. OK, this is a picture of a child - probably under the age of five, if I had to guess - with a see-through sheet mask. They do not look happy to be wearing this. I would not be, here.
VENKAT: Right. It's a very stoic look. So that is Shay Mitchell's daughter, Atlas, and she's 6 years old. And so, just like your reaction, there has been a ton of backlash to this launch and the marketing. And the backlash is in two parts. One part is, is it really safe for kids? Do kids even need this? But the other part is more psychological. Most of the comments that I saw were about how this feels really dystopian. Something about seeing a kid...
SUMMERS: Yeah.
VENKAT: ...Wearing a skin care sheet mask feels icky. TikTok creator sanabanaanaa made a video about it, and here's part of her take.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
SANABANAANAA: I really thought that children were off limits in terms of the marketing and greed of the beauty industry, but apparently not. Nothing is off limits, and that's how you know we've entered late-stage capitalist hell.
VENKAT: So the other thing that this creator and others have mentioned is the potential risk to young girls exposing them to the beauty industry like this so early. And to be fair to Rini, the sheet masks aren't exclusively marketed to girls. There are some boys on their website. But the larger discourse from folks touches on how there's already a lot of pressure on girls specifically to meet unrealistic beauty standards. And, like, we don't need to jump-start this at age 4.
SUMMERS: Absolutely not. Also why does a 4-year-old need a sheet mask? Like, I get it. I am old. I am tired. I didn't sleep last night. I know why I need one. This is confusing to me.
VENKAT: So Rini's website says these products are about playing. And in response to the criticism, co-founder Shay Mitchell told "The Today Show" this week that she was surprised by the backlash but understands when people get skeptical when anything has to do with kids. But she explained where this idea started.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE TODAY SHOW")
SHAY MITCHELL: This came from my experience from being a mom, having two girls myself and seeing that there wasn't anything out there I felt safe enough putting on their skin when they wanted to share in on this moment that I do.
VENKAT: And a lot of people online have agreed with Mitchell's point. Like, kids do want to do grown-up stuff and join in on whatever Mom's doing, and this is a safe way for them to play and join in. Personally, Juana, there's probably a hundred pictures of me wearing my mom's heels with lipstick streaked across my face.
SUMMERS: Yeah, I think there's probably some of those out there of me, too. And if my mom is listening to this, I hope that she keeps those locked away and off the internet. Setting that aside for a second, there are concerns about marketing to kids, specifically, of course, and you mentioned safety. What do we know about the safety of this product?
VENKAT: So the company says the product is dermatologist tested and extremely safe for kids. But critics are saying just because it's safe for kids doesn't mean kids should be using it. Dr. Fatima Fahs is a dermatologist, and she made a video about this on Instagram.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
FATIMA FAHS: The only thing your kids' skin needs is the following - gentle cleanser, a gentle moisturizer and a broad-spectrum sunscreen with an SPF of 30 or above. They should not be applying masks. They should not be building a skin care routine, especially at these young ages. They should be playing.
SUMMERS: I mean, they're 4- and 5-year-olds. Of course they should be playing.
VENKAT: Yeah. And the fact that the reaction is the main character of this week, it seems like a lot of the internet agrees.
SUMMERS: NPR's Mia Venkat, thank you.
VENKAT: Thank you, Juana. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
