Children are using skincare products that aren't appropriate for them thanks in part to social media, a leading dermatologist has warned.

Girls as young as 10 are said to be using anti-ageing skincare products as part of a trend on TikTok.

Consultant Dermatologist Professor Caitriona Ryan told Moncrieff 'desperate' parents have been coming to her for advice.

"It's become a complete viral trend," she said.

"I've had desperate mums on to me - I'd say this has been going on for about a year - kids that are 8, 9 or 10 [are] asking for skincare products for Christmas or their birthdays.

"It's all coming from social media."

A young girl in a white dressing gown after a skincare routine. Image Svetlana Sankova / Alamy

Prof Ryan said the products being marketed young children are quite expensive.

"There's certain brands, Drunk Elephant is one of them, and really I think a lot of the campaigning is targeted at kids," she said.

"A lot of time it's things that people my age - I'm in my mid-40s - would be using.

"Serums, glycolic acids, retinols and things like that that for the most part aren't appropriate for them at all."

'Completely unnecessary'

Prof Ryan said some active products can also cause skin reactions.

"Our skin doesn't even start ageing in that sort of way, we don't start to lose our collagen till our mid-20s," she said.

"A lot of it is completely unnecessary but also some of these more active products - especially the glycolic acids and the retinoids - can be irritating and can cause skin reactions".

Prof Ryan said she wants to turn the trend around.

"I think there's an opportunity here... if we could turn this trend around into just showing people how to cleanse their face and put on sunblock it'd be great," she said.

"Just a gentle easy cleanser to cleanse their face in the morning and evening and then a sunblock every morning.

"The vast majority of our sun damage is done before the age of 18 because we don't have the DNA repair mechanisms in younger skin that we have as we get older.

"So if we could turn this into us showing people how to use sunblock every morning that'd be fantastic".

Prof Ryan described TikTok as "a powerful platform full of misinformation but kids with phones are incredibly impressionable".

She added that it is "very hard to control what goes on on TikTok".

Main image: A girl reviewing make-up as part of a skincare routine, 1-2-18. Image: Dmytro Zinkevych / Alamy