The Best Skincare Routine for Tweens & Teens Dermatologist-Approved

How do you help your tween or teen build confidence with skin care that’s actually made for them, not influencers or adults? In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Angela Casey, double board-certified dermatologist, Mohs surgeon, and a mom of three teens and tweens, to unravel the best approach to skincare for younger generations.

We dive into what makes tween and teen skin unique, why adult products aren’t the right fit, and the overwhelming impact of social media “skincare trends.” Dr. Casey breaks down the must-have ingredients for healthy, glowing skin, explains the power of prevention, and shares her journey in creating Bright Girl Skincare’s real, clean, and pH-balanced solutions for our youth.

Plus, you’ll hear a candid review from my own 13-year-old daughter, Jasmine, on what it’s like to try a skincare brand designed just for teens.

What You’ll Learn:

1. Why Tween & Teen Skin Needs Different Care
   Adult skincare isn’t designed for younger, developing skin. Learn how hormones, skin barrier development, and the microbiome make a big difference.
2. How to Empower Young People With Healthy Habits
   Setting up simple, positive routines early on builds confidence, helps prevent skin issues, and leads to lifelong skin health.
3. The Real Dangers of Skincare Misinformation
   Social media trends and influencer products can be risky. Get the facts on what actually works (and what to avoid) for tweens and teens.
4. Ingredients That Matter (and Ingredients to Skip)
   Dr. Casey outlines the ideal ingredients for gentle cleansing, hydration, and sun protection, and explains why mineral sunscreen is a must.
5. The Importance of Parental Modeling and Involvement
   The best way to motivate your tween or teen to care for their skin? Model the habits yourself, make great products accessible, and involve them in decision-making.

Music:  

Title: Relax by SyncLabMusic

Call to Action: 

Ready to empower our teens and tweens with healthy, glowing skin? Watch now, leave your biggest skincare question in the comments!

And don’t miss next week when we share another amazing episode created just for you.

Don’t forget to LIKE, SHARE, and COMMENT with your biggest teen skincare struggle, and SUBSCRIBE for more expert advice and real-life stories.

#TeenSkincare #TweenSkincare #DermatologistRecommended #BrightGirlBeauty #DrAngelaCasey #CreateTheBestMe #MidlifeMoms #SkincareRoutine #ParentingTeens

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Transcript

0:01

Today, I'm sitting down with Dr. Angela Casey, a double board-certified dermatologic, Mohs surgeon, and mom of three teens, tweens, girls who truly gets what our daughters are being sold on social media. Dr. Angela Casey, welcome to Create The Best Me. This is an honor, a privilege. I'm so excited about having you on the show. Thank you so much for the invitation, Carmen. It is truly an honor to be here. So before we get into today's exciting must have conversation, could you please tell the listeners and viewers a little bit about, who Dr. Casey is, what she does, and what else she does. Absolutely. I am a double board-certified dermatologist and micrographic dermatologic surgeon based in Columbus, Ohio, where I've practiced for almost 20 years now. I'm also the mother of three teen and tween daughters and a wife. And it's really the intersection of those two worlds of practicing skin cancer surgery and being a mom of three teens and tweens. That was the inspiration behind Bright Girl, which is my other role as the founder of Bright Girl Skincare, which is dermatologist created clean, pH- balanced, and clinically proven skincare for teens and tweens. And as I mentioned to you off screen, I have a 13-year-old and I am ecstatic that you have created a product for that generation because I don't want my kid using what I'm using. That is so often a theme that I hear in my practice. I hear it among friends and family members, and the truth is that our young people really look up to us as role models, and they wanna emulate us. But the simple truth is that the needs of their skin in the teen and tween years is very different from the needs of mature adult skin. Very different from the needs of skin of influencers and creators that they might be seeing on social media. So we really need to meet them where they are, but deliver really exceptional, upscale, elevated skincare products, but that are safe and tailor made for skin at their ages. So we have this opportunity to equip younger generations with the tools and understanding to properly care for their skin so that they don't end up in my office one day getting a skin cancer surgically removed. Mm-hmm. Very true. So, I don't mean to interrupt Dr. Casey as she's speaking here, but after our discussion that we originally had, she informed me that as a courtesy she was going to gift my daughter Jasmine, some products so that she can try out and to see what she thought. Little did Dr. Casey know that I already planned on purchasing the product because my discussion with her was. I was so excited. I'm just, I was just so excited and I wanted to have my daughter try something because, what mom does not want to protect their daughter's skin, especially at this early stage of life. So let's get back into our discussion. That is one of the many reasons why it is so critical and is the mom of a 13-year-old daughter, you can relate to this; it is so critical that we empower our young people, with the proper habits and the proper products to care for their skin from that young age. So it's not just as simple as like, here's a sunscreen, you've gotta use it. You have to get them hooked, and you have to give them products that are so exceptional that they are going to crave using it everyday. That is going to be something that they really can't start their day until they apply it to their skin. So really good mineral-based sunscreens'cause that sun damage is cumulative. We may not notice the ramifications of that sun damage in our twenties and thirties, even though it's happening. It's happening at the cellular level, it's happening at the level of the DNA. That damage is continuing to occur. To a certain extent, our skin has an innate ability to repair that damage, which is quite remarkable. It can have a sunburn, it can have an injury, and the DNA can kind of fix itself to a certain extent. Not a hundred percent, but maybe 98– 99%. As we get older, that ability to repair the skin damage the DNA damage lessens over time. And that's one of the reasons why we start to see that damage from years ago coming up. But then also any new sun exposures, or skin irritations, or skin damage, our skin does not bounce back quite as easily. Our Bright Girl Sunscreens are all mineral sunscreens, so we have a tinted version. We have a sheer version. If they don't know where else to go, you can go to bright girl.com. And know that you're getting quality sunscreens. That's the sunscreen I use every day. And a, countless my patients use it as well. I use The Bright Girl cleanser daily. I know that it's pH balanced on the label on the box, it calls out that it's pH balanced and tells you exactly where the pH is. But I know that works for my skin. And it has avocado oil that helps replenish the skin. It has aloe in it that's gonna soothe inflammation in the skin. And then it also has allantoin, which helps to very gently exfoliate and help promote that skin cell turnover. So not in a harsh or aggressive way, but just enough to get off all the debris that our skin doesn't need. Well, now that Dr. Casey has identified all of the amazing ingredients that are in Bright Girl Beauty, let's go into an actual testimonial from an actual user. Jasmine Hecox, welcome to Create the Best Me. The reason why I brought you on the show is so that you can review the products that you graciously receive by Dr. Angela Casey and Amy Bartko. Thank you for welcoming me to the show, mom. Alright, so everyone, please be gentle. This is Jasmine's very first time actually being interviewed and especially by her mother. So, Jasmine, you received courtesy product from Dr. Casey. What products did you receive? Um, I received the face mask, the moisturizer, the toner, and the cleanser. And those are Bright Girl products, is that correct? Mm-hmm. Were you excited about finally getting a product or receiving a product that was custom made for tweens and teens, young people as yourself? Yeah, because I feel like I see stuff online where like. I'll see like dermatologists saying how like all these products that people my age use and how they're dangerous for your skin and that you shouldn't use them. So I hear like a product that's made specifically for teens and I'm like, oh my gosh, this is so amazing.'Cause that means if I use it, I won't damage my skin. And that's really important because your skin is still, uh, as Dr. Casey mentioned in the recording, your skin is maturing and your skin will not reach this age of maturity until approximately 19. So I'm glad that here you are, you're 13 years old and you're thinking of the future. So you tried the cleanser. Let's talk about the cleanser. This is the face wash. How did it feel compared to other products that I have purchased for you that were not made for young skin as you have? I feel like it was like a lot gentler on my skin. I really liked the like way it glided on my skin and it wasn't like extremely sticky, like some cleansers I've tried are. It was like nice and smooth and it was easy to rinse off. Hmm. And then you moved on to the toner, is that correct? Yes. Have you ever used toner before? Yes, I have. So how would you say, what was the difference if you noticed any difference between the Bright Girl Toner and regular toner that you've used? I feel like, again, it was gentler on the skin.'Cause like the toners that I've tried in the past, I felt like a somewhat burn or it just like feels like it hardens on my skin. Oh, so, so if I understand you correctly, your skin sort of felt kind of dry as When it, like dries, like, 'cause it, you know how like toners liquid, um, so like when it would dry, it would like, feel like, like it hardens, like when I get gel on my face. That's a pretty good description. And I know this is a product that is kind of your favorite. Let's talk about the mask. Yeah, the mask was honestly one of the best masks I've ever tried.'Cause like I go through these phases where I'll have like really, really bad breakouts and like. Well, it's mostly from my blackheads and you can like just see the black like dot. And so I was like, okay, so um, I got this new face mask, I should try it and see if like it works. And so the first time, using it during my breakout already, all the blackness disappeared. Like you would have to go very close and personal to me to actually see that I have blackhead. And like before that, it was like you would see it from like a mile away. So it was like, oh my gosh, in one use. Wow. So other products that you've used, other masks that you've used, you kind of felt like you were just kind of wasting your time because once you rinsed it off, you still noticed some blackheads, some visible blackheads? Wow, that's pretty impressive. And I know that another product that, or another accessory that was one of your favorites was the headband. Yeah, because like I, I usually like, will like start washing my face. And like my hair will just go boom, in my face and it gets wet, and then it sticks to my face and it's like the most uncomfortable feeling. Especially when I've already done my hair at night. Cause then the product gets, like, the hair product gets on my face and then like the hair product washes out in my hair. And, but when I use like a headband like that, it's like. Because like I've tried, um, the cotton headbands, but then they get like soaking wet. But like the material of the headband made it so it doesn't like get like soaking wet. Like it's not just like if you like wet, like I'd say like a, a fabric of some sort where it just like is just wet and heavy. It's like with the headband, it was just light, but it was still a little wet, but it didn't seep through to like my hair and so, yeah. Yeah, so it sort of protected your hair from getting wet? Mm-hmm. And I know something that really excited me and I wanna touch base with you and find out why. Why did you ask me to buy you the sunscreen? Because I feel like you always tell me about how I should wear sunscreen. Um, and I've tried sunscreen in the past, but they're like, they're like usually like sticky and stuff. And like, it like takes a while for it to like, like, 'cause like when you put on sunscreen, it will be like white. And sunscreen, in the past I've tried it just like I have to rub it for a while for it to actually like get to like the color of my skin. And I've heard, that mineral sunscreen is good for your skin. And so I was like, oh, well I really like this, um, brand of products, so I might really like their sunscreen too. And I was like looking at the sunscreen one night and I was like, oh, and they have a tinted one. And I've heard that that like gives like a nice glow to your skin. So I asked you for it. And what does it feel like? Was it everything you thought it would feel like? Yeah, because it, like, it has that soft, gentle, like, feel. And it like makes my, like skin, it doesn't like, I don't know, like, it doesn't like dry out my skin or make it feel sticky. It just has that smooth, like pillowy like feeling. So kind of like you felt like you were hydrating your skin. Is that correct? Oh, and another product, I forgot to touch on the moisturizer. What do you think about the moisturizer? I really like the moisturizer. And that's also one of the best moisturizers I've had.'Cause it has this like nice, gentle smelt it and like it's not very strong like for people that are sensitive to smell.'Cause I am, sort of sensitive to smell. It just has that nice like gentle, natural smell. Um, and I put it on and it like has this, it makes my skin really hydrated and really glowy. Mm. What about the bottles, the colors, do they excite you? Are they fun? Yeah, because they're like bright colors and I really like the design. Um, it's very unique. And I just really like the layout of the bottles. Mm-hmm. And how they're designed to function. So would you recommend this product to your friends or anybody out there who maybe has a daughter or a granddaughter who's about your age, would you recommend that they try Bright Girl products? Honestly, yeah.'Cause like this is one of the; I feel like this is honestly the best brand of skincare products I've ever like used.'Cause it's like really gentle, makes my skin glow, soft. And like honestly, I feel like kid, like kids my age, they struggle finding a skincare brand right for them. And I feel like a Bright Girl would be the best one for them. That's nice to hear. And again, I am not forcing you to say this. This is coming out of something that your own personal beliefs. Am I correct? That's great. So what do you say to Dr. Casey and Amy of Chatterbox? Thank you so much for sending me your products. They're super amazing. Like my skin has never looked better. Alright. Thank you for coming on this show. Thanks for providing your input. I just hope that it inspires more young people as yourself, to try Bright Girl so that they can protect their skin today so that they'll have beautiful skin tomorrow. Thank you for welcoming me on your show Mom. Thank you. Love you. Love you. Yeah. So, I'm a mom of a 13-year-old. You are a doctor and a mom of teenagers and pre-teen. What can we do, you know, some of those listeners or viewers that are in the same situation as you and I. What can we do to ensure that we are teaching our daughters good skin health, to where they feel confident and they don't feel persuaded by social media that this is the standard? This is what I need to do because this influencer's doing it? First and foremost, we have to model those behaviors ourselves, and we have to make our skin health a priority if we're not already doing that. So we have to make sure we wash our face every night. We have to make sure we're putting on sunscreen. And taking those opportunities to talk through it with our teens. No teen wants to be preached, like, you know, wear your sunscreen every day and don't go out until you have your sunscreen. Make sure you wash your face. They don't wanna hear that, but they will take note of what we are doing as parents. So that's first and foremost, is making sure we're taking care of ourselves and modeling that behavior. Secondly is to really be listening to our teens and tweens; when they come to us with a product that they saw on social media that was being promoted, the last thing you wanna do is shut them down and say, that's not meant for your skin. I'm never gonna buy that for you. Like, how could you think that. We wanna say, okay, where did you hear about this? Why do you wanna use it? We want to, if we can understand where they're coming from and what their goal is, and then meet them where they are. And say, well, that looks really interesting, but I know about this brand, which was specifically formulated for skin at your stage. And then talking to them about why their skin is unique and it's special, at this stage. And I think when we have that vocabulary and we can give them the why behind it, it's gonna resonate with them. And here's the why for your listeners. I'll give you the spiel, and really the clinically proven and the clinically backed answer. During our teen and tween years, our skin is going through a very dynamic time. And that has to do with hormone changes. It has to do with our skin barrier it's still developing. So in our teens, our skin barrier is not fully developed. It's not nearly as strong as it is in adult skin. And you throw into that all the hormone changes and the impact that that has on our skin microbiome, all the organisms that live on our skin and keep things in balance and keep things healthy and prevent inflammation. If we don't support that with the right products, then everything gets out of whack and conditions like acne, eczema and sensitive skin and redness get much, much worse. And no teen wants their acne to get worse. And no teen wants their skin to be sensitive and red and blotchy. And that's the concern with a lot of the skincare that is being promoted by influencers and creators who are probably in their twenties or thirties and their skin tolerates those products well. So we have to have that conversation of the uniqueness of skin in the teen and tween years and that there are products that are specifically made for them. And that are still really outstanding and cool and elevated, and still have interesting ingredients, in it that they can talk about. But when they make that decision and we as parents empower them with that knowledge and understanding, it really does build the confidence. Because it's not just about their appearance, Carmen, it's about them becoming experts in their own skin. And every day that they practice their habit, it becomes part of their identity. I am a girl who takes care of my skin. I'm a girl who knows what ingredients to choose for my skin. I'm a girl who can help educate my friends about why certain ingredients are good or not good for their skin. And that's really cool. And what teenager doesn't wanna be the expert on their own skin? And then help spread that message to others. Exactly. And how do you get a teen to wear their sunscreen without you telling them, wear your sunscreen. You make that sunscreen so exceptional and so amazing and so much fun to apply that they really feel like their day hasn't started until they put it on. So, when I created and I'll, I'm gonna talk a little bit more specifically to Bright Girl Skincare. When I formulated this line, which I formulated from scratch with cosmetic chemists, and it was three years of research and development; but my benchmarks, Carmen, were the very best of the best dermatology products that I had tried over the course of my career. And I was fortunate to have access to literally thousands of brands. So I could say, these are the best moisturizers that I've tried and, you know, across the board, perform so well. These are the best cleansers that I've tried. These are the best sunscreens. Because if you don't deliver that exceptional kinda immediate positive feedback to teens, it's game over. Like then they're done, they've made their decision. So it has to feel good. It has to smell good, it has to come in pretty packaging. You can see the packaging behind me. It has to look cute on their shelf. They have to be proud when they pull it out of their purse or their backpack. But as parents, we need to make that accessible for them. So we're the ones with purchasing power usually in our household. So, making that accessible, putting the sunscreen by their toothbrush in the morning so they remember to put it on. Doing that with them, understanding, getting their feedback. And it may not be The Bright Girl sunscreen that they love, there might be another one out there. Maybe it means taking a trip out to Sephora, or out to Beauty Space, and trying different samples with them until they find something that they really love. But when they're involved in that decision making and then we make it accessible for them, they're much more likely to use it. And if we just say like, you've gotta use this just because, like, maybe not so much. So talk to them. Talk to them about the different brands. Sample the different brands with them. And let them make the decision, that's right. And the truth is that there are hundreds of amazing sunscreens out there. There's not any evidence that one is dramatically much better than another, as long as it's at least an SPF 30 and ideally a mineral sunscreen. But if they don't like the mineral sunscreens, then a chemical sunscreen is better than no sunscreen at all. Perfect. And just to wrap up, Bright Girls, not just for teens, from what I'm understanding. We have a lot of moms and sometimes grandmas that are stealing it from their teens bathrooms. So the the script has been flipped for decades, our daughters were coming into our bathrooms and stealing our skincare. Now it's the other way around and the products are that good. I love nothing more than when I have stories of my patients or sometimes our social media followers that it's a grandmother who bought The Bright Girl line, for her daughter, and her granddaughter, and they're all using it together and sharing the stories. But more importantly, they're participating in that ritual of caring for their skin and celebrating that, and they have that memory that they're creating together. That is really exceptional. That is beautiful. That is beautiful. Because I was wondering if you were gonna come up with the mature line, but I don't think you need to. It's already there. Not right now. We're all about prevention, Carmen, right. That is truly an ounce of prevention, is worth a pound of cure. And that's really our mission with Bright Girl is to help prevent those skin damage issues that occur down the line. And ultimately to have a significant impact on the skin cancer epidemic, which affects one in five Americans by age 70. And skin cancer is the number one cancer worldwide and actually amounts to all other cancers combined. So it is not only, I really view this through the lens of skin health, and not so much about beauty in appearance. It is a skin health and a healthcare issue. And this is a small way that we can implement a habit, that's not such a huge lift for any of us as individuals to walk towards that healthier skin throughout our life. Great. Dr. Casey, thank you so much for coming on the show. I will include links to your website because your website actually tells people where they can actually grab the product from local stores or order it directly from Bright Girl. Absolutely. And please follow us too on TikTok and Instagram, we're at Bright Girl Beauty, all one word. Great. Thank you very much. Thank you so much, Carmen. Alright. I don't know about you, but this is an amazing episode. You hear from Dr. Casey talk about Bright Girl Beauty. You hear a personal testimonial from none other, but my daughter, my baby, Jasmine Hecox. I hope that it has inspired you to purchase this product for, a little teen or tween or someone young in your life. Doesn't have to be your daughter. It could be a granddaughter. It could be a niece. Really good information. If you would like to hear more information about today's episode, learn more about Dr. Angela Casey, and Bright Girl Beauty. Head on over to createthebestmecom/ep157. Or you can click the links below and, it'll take his directly to Dr. Casey's website. And if this episode helped you share it with a friend, especially a midlife friend or a mom raising tweens or teens who's already eye influencer, skincare. Come back next week for another amazing episode created just for you. Until then, keep dreaming big. Take care of yourself. And remember, you are beautiful, strong, and capable of creating the best version of yourself. Thank you for watching. Catch you next week. Bye for now.