Regulatory and Compliance Considerations in Marketing Skincare Products to Minors

In today’s crowded beauty and skincare sector, brands may try to capture new market share by advertising directly to teens and even pre‑teens. Two recent matters — the joint National Advertising Division (NAD) and Children’s Advertising Review Unit (CARU) challenge to Bubble Beauty Inc. (Bubble Beauty) and NAD’s separate inquiry into Drunk Elephant — underscore just how carefully companies must substantiate health‑and‑safety claims directed at young users.

In the Bubble Beauty inquiry, NAD and CARU’s joint challenge focused on certain social media advertisements that the self-regulatory bodies alleged were targeted at adults and children. In particular, NAD examined claims that certain Bubble Beauty products are safe and effective for children under 13 years old, while CARU reviewed Bubble Beauty’s advertising for its Disney-branded skincare bundles that appeared to target girls under 13.

To support its safety and efficacy claims, Bubble Beauty supplied multiple independent reports and third-party testing, including Consumer Product Safety Reports (CPSR), human repeat insult patch tests (HRIPTs), and antimicrobial testing to demonstrate that its formulations are safe for children. However, the company relied on consumer-use studies of adults 18 years of age or older for its claims that the products are effective in children. NAD determined that Bubble Beauty had provided a reasonable basis for its safety claims, but found the efficacy claims were unsubstantiated as consumer perception studies on adults are inadequate to prove objective performance benefits for children.

CARU’s review mirrored NAD’s conclusion with respect to the safety and efficacy claims and also analyzed whether Bubble Beauty’s advertisements for its Disney-branded skincare products were aimed at children. Though Bubble Beauty argued its ads were not targeted at girls under 13, CARU rejected this assertion pointing to Bubble Beauty’s favorable, emoji-laden replies to TikTok videos posted by girls under 13 using its skincare products and to consumer testimonials posted on its website that referenced children using its products.

The Bubble Beauty inquiry follows a similar challenge against Drunk Elephant, another skincare brand that is increasingly popular with teens and tweens. As part of its routine monitoring program, NAD asked Drunk Elephant to support the representation that certain of its products “are safe for kids and tweens to use.” Similar to Bubble Beauty, the brand furnished CPSRs and HRIPTs indicating its products were safe for children, and NAD agreed the data provided a reasonable basis for its safety claims.

The NAD and CARU decisions are a clear signal: health and safety representations aimed at minors — whether made in ads, on product pages, or through seemingly casual social media interactions — will be examined closely and must be backed by robust, age relevant evidence. NAD and CARU are not alone in raising concerns about beauty marketing to children. With the booming popularity of skincare among tweens and teens, lawmakers and dermatologists are increasingly alarmed by the use of potent, adult-formulated products like retinol on young skin. In California, a bill was introduced to prohibit the sale of certain anti-aging skincare products to minors under 18.

On a broader level, social media advertising to children has garnered close attention on both a federal and state level. For instance, in its latest amendments to the Endorsement Guides, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) added a section cautioning that endorsements in ads addressed to children “may be of special concern because of the character of the audience.” The FTC emphasized that practices acceptable in adult advertising may not be acceptable when directed at children. Some states are also beginning to regulate the participation of minors in social media marketing. For example, Minnesota passed a bill (effective July 1, 2025) that prohibits children under 14 from engaging in content creation work.

Brands should also keep in mind that social media advertising can raise significant privacy issues and that federal and state laws like the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act and California’s Consumer Privacy Act provide heightened protections for minors’ online data.

Key Takeaways

The marketing of skincare products to children and teens is under increasing scrutiny from multiple regulatory bodies and lawmakers. Brands that wish to engage this growing demographic must ensure their health and efficacy claims are properly substantiated, their social media strategies are carefully managed, and they are in compliance with a broad and evolving landscape of advertising, privacy, and labor regulations. With this in mind, brands that market skincare and other personal-care products for children’s use should consider the following to help mitigate risk when marketing their products:

• Audience Identification. Claims that reach, or could reasonably reach, children trigger CARU guidelines and are closely scrutinized by the FTC and NAD; thus, brands should audit where and how their content appears, especially on TikTok, Instagram Reels, and other platforms popular with minors.
• Safety Substantiation. As shown in the Bubble Beauty and Drunk Elephant inquiries, advertisers are expected to support their safety claims with evidence tailored to the claimed age group. To ensure adequate substantiation, brands marketing products to children should consider retaining third-party labs experienced with pediatric panels or maintain evidence demonstrating that their safety testing is applicable to children’s use of the products.
• Efficacy Substantiation. Likewise, studies conducted in adults are unlikely to be sufficient to show performance in children; thus, brands should conduct age-appropriate clinical testing when making objective efficacy promises for users under 18.
• Age-Appropriate Product Formulation. Brands should also assess whether the ingredients in their formulations are developmentally suitable for young users. Products containing active ingredients like retinol, salicylic acid, or exfoliating acids may be too harsh for children’s skin and could increase regulatory or reputational risk if marketed to minors.
• Social Media Engagement. Endorsements, comments, and “likes” can evidence child-directed marketing; thus, it is important for brands to train their marketing teams and set guardrails for interacting with child content creators.
• Third-Party Partnerships and Influencer Agreements. When working with influencers, media platforms, or other marketing partners, brands should ensure contracts address compliance with children’s advertising rules and data privacy requirements. Sponsored content should be clearly disclosed, and content creators should not misrepresent their age or encourage improper product use by minors.

As the regulatory landscape intensifies, brands should continue to closely monitor developments and ensure their marketing strategies align with the evolving regulations and laws governing social media advertising.

© Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP 2025 All Rights Reserved. This Blog post is intended to be a general summary of the law and does not constitute legal advice. You should consult with counsel to determine applicable legal requirements in a specific fact situation.