11 Skin And Body Essentials For Your Growing Tween
From gentle yet effective cleansers to multi-use moisturisers, these skin and body essentials will keep up with your growing child.
By Aaron Kok -
It’s never too early to start your tweens off on a basic skin and body care regime. As they come into puberty and start becoming more aware of their appearance, equipping them with a baseline understanding of how to care for their skin is something that they can reap benefits from in the longer term.
Don’t get us wrong: we aren’t advocating dropping a cool $500 on a jar of face cream.
Instead, we’re all about accessible products that you can find in most drugstores, and products that can keep up with our tweens’ active lifestyles. We know you’ll want products that have multiple benefits – they’re kids, they don’t need a 5-step regime! – and we want key active ingredients that help with tween skin problems like acne and sun damage.
From gentle-yet-thorough face cleansers, moisturising sunscreens to affordable body washes that won’t damage your tween’s skin, here are some of our fave products.
Formulated with salicylic acid and ginger extracts, this foaming cleanser gently purifies and exfoliates skin to remove the build up of daily grime. Amino acid is used to retain the skin’s natural barrier, thereby restoring it after each cleanse.
Buy it here.
Cleansers can leave our tweens with dry skin, so a hydrating cleansing gel is key to avoiding this. CeraVe’s Hydrating Cleanser comes formulated with hyaluronic acid to draw moisture back into the skin, while ceramides work to lock in moisture and prevent moisture loss.
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Given that our tweens spend plenty of time out of the house with friends or playing sports, you want a cleanser that is effective without stripping the skin in the process. PSA’s cleanser removes any dirt or pollution build-up, without the feeling of dry or tight skin after.
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With a low SPF level already included in its formulation, this gentle moisturiser helps provide a baseline protection for your kid’s skin, while promising to hydrate their skin post-cleanse. A little goes a long way, and we recommend following with a sunscreen for added UV protection.
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Made by local skincare brand Kansoskin, this moisturiser is perfect for those living with sensitive skin. It’s formulated to lock in moisture and restore the skin’s natural barrier mantle. Beyond using it as a facial moisturiser, it can be used anywhere on the body too.
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Like we said, we want products that have multiple benefits. For our tweens who are always on the go, this means a sunscreen that provides adequate protection from UV damage and also doubles up as a moisturiser, and this one from Ultra Violette does the trick.
Buy it here.
It’s not just their faces that need protection, so keep a body sun lotion on hand for those sport days (or beach days with the family) in your tween’s skincare cabinet. Formulated to be non-sticky and water-resistant, this Eucerin sunscreen is great for all skin types – even sensitive ones.
Buy it here.
Hong Kong-based brand Coconut Matter was founded to provide all-natural products that do away with nasty sulphates and parabens. Their coconut-based deodorants help neutralise odour-causing bacteria without blocking sweat glands, and come in an array of different scents that your kid will love. Our fave is the floral Spring scent.
Buy it here.
For your sporty kids, a spray-on deodorant in a hardy packaging is essential. Made with a natural formulation of aloe vera, burdock and nettle extracts to help cool and soothe skin, this bottle of deodorant promises to keep them feeling refreshed all day long.
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Using a sulphate, fragrance, paraben and preservative-free formula, Suu Balm gently yet effectively lifts and rids the build up of daily grime and dirt. It is formulated by the National Skin Centre, so you can be rest assured that this will be gentle enough for sensitive or eczema-prone skin types also.
Buy it here.
As your kid hits puberty, body acne is something that they may face. To address this, find a body wash with a low concentration of salicylic acid to help address this concern. Medicube’s body wash also comes with niacinamide for skin barrier restoration and hyaluronic acid for hydration.
Buy it here.
All the items are independently selected by our editorial team. If you buy something through our retail links, we may earn an affiliate commission. But we only recommend products we love. Promise.