It all started with a birthday party. When Lizna Kabani’s daughter turned 11, she estimates that 60% of the gifts at her party were makeup and skincare. “I literally had to google each ingredient to see if it even worked for her, and it didn’t,” she says. “Kids are asking for self-care, which is beautiful that they want to take care of themselves, but something that is safe that’s actually made for them didn’t exist. That was an aha moment where we realized the aisles aren’t built for them—you go from the baby aisle to the adult aisle and there is absolutely nothing in between, but they’re asking for it.”
Parents have always had a lot to worry about when it comes to raising kids but until recently, a healthy skin barrier wasn’t one of them. “Sephora tweens” have staked out a spot in the beauty world, and while self-care is almost always a good thing, in some cases it went too far—kids were buying products formulated for adult complexions that were doing much more harm than good to their sensitive skin, like liquid exfoliants that were damaging the natural skin barrier and other active ingredients that were far too harsh.
Kabani was talking to her friend since college, Sana Mithani, and learned that her tween daughter was also asking to stand with her as she did her self-care routine. They had a lightbulb moment and decided to co-found Prereq, a brand they built from the ground up that’s designed to safely nourish young skin.
The Saint Crewe skincare collection
Saint Crewe
“We were so ready to get this product out so our kids would stop using harsh ingredients and things that are not appropriate for them,” Kabani says. “It’s this beauty standard that they’re thinking they need to achieve because of what’s out there in social media, and we’re here to tell them that you are perfect the way you are. That’s the messaging we give to our kids and we dove into this with Prereq.”
While many brands designed for adult skin have unintentionally topped many teens’ wishlists, there’s a new crop that’s specifically designed for delicate young skin emerging on the beauty scene, often helmed by parents who wanted to provide a safe option for their own children. That’s also the case for Saint Crewe.
“One aspect of why I got this started is purely from a mother’s point of view,” says Erin Piper, Co-Founder of Saint Crewe. “I don’t want to focus on eight-year-olds worrying about skincare, whether it’s mine or someone else’s, because I want them to be outside playing and not standing in front of the mirror. I wanted to give my daughter something that I could say yes to, that I could feel good about, and that I could feel good telling other mamas that this is safe for their children and teens.”
Prereq launched with two multitasking hero products that are safe yet efficacious. The Reset Mode Deo-Multi Mist combines a deodorant with a body mist that keeps kids fresh sans irritation, courtesy of sugarcane-powered odor control and glycolipid barrier support. The Giving Me Life Hydro-Mist is a facial spray, dubbed a “reset in a bottle” by the brand, that hydrates, calms and protects against environmental stressors like pollution and blue light with ectoin and cactus extract to keep skin balanced.
Saint Crewe also launched with a tight edit, serving the point that young skin doesn’t need many products at all. There’s the Clean Beam Balmy Dream, a milky cleansing balm that takes it all off while soothing and hydrating skin; Team Gleam, a water-gel serum that balances the microbiome and fights the effects of environmental stressors, including blue light from screen time; Water Whip, a light gel cream that hydrates and leaves a glow; and Goji Go + Glow, a face mist that prevents breakouts and zaps excess oil.
Sephora tweens don’t just represent a new beauty consumer—it’s also a cultural shift. Instead of slumber parties, tweens are vying for a birthday party at Sephora. That’s how far the underage beauty scene has gone. Appealing to Gen Alpha is no easy task, so it’s not just the formulas that are designed to catch the eyes of kids. Prereq’s products are designed in every way for that specific age group. They’re made to fit into kids’ lifestyles (and backpacks and lockers) by being multifunctional and great on-the-go, ideal for students with jam-packed schedules.
The Saint Crewe Clean Beam Balmy Dream
Saint Crewe
“Parents don’t want their kids spending all this time in the bathroom doing these 10-step routines and a lot of things they don’t really need, like certain actives,” Mithani says. “These two products give you the basis of what we consider self-care. Kids can spray them on and move on. If you want a quick refresh, our hydration mist has ectoin, so it helps protect your skin from blue light when they’re sitting on an iPad or laptop all day. It also helps protect the skin barrier. It’s all of the things that are necessary for busy, active kids throughout their day. The Deo-Multi Mist is a natural deodorant that’s designed to neutralize order, so it can also be used after gym class. As your body’s developing and odor is forming, it’s helping you feel confident and fresh.”
To really understand the demographic, Kabani and Mithani tapped them to help launch the brand. Prereq Care was co-created with 50 real teens and pre-teens, whom they call their co-founders, to get to the bottom of what’s important to this generation. They recruited them through friends of their children and their extended network. They did a lot more than just test the products.
“One of the first things we wanted to do was understand what parents and kids were facing,” Mithani says. “We asked, is skincare even on your mind? If it is, what’s driving that? What are the products you’re using? Do your parents allow it? And if so, why and why not? We got some really insightful information. Some of them are just in the beginning stages. They’re hearing it from older siblings or social media and feel there’s an expectation to meet as a part of growing up. They see that their bodies are changing, the first time they realize ‘is that me smelling?’ or they’re seeing their first pimple pop up. They’re starting to think about all of these things and feel they don’t have control over that. A lot of parents were concerned that kids are starting to have these conversations at such early stages and it’s hard to navigate that. We wanted to start building this community so parents have a space to have these conversations and work as a village to support our kids in healthy ways, and that helped drive our formulation.”
Prereq Co-Founders Sana Mithani and Lizna Kabani
Prereq
That feedback helped form the path of what Prereq became. “Kids should be active and living their lives,” Mithani says. “A product shouldn’t change their schedule—it should be able to move with them and support them through the stages of life they’re going through. We wanted our products to be not in the forefront, but in the background as a supporting actor to their lives so they have the confidence to be their real selves. That’s what we saw coming from a lot of these kids when we spoke to them.”
Their focus group of students has their imprint all over the products. “One of the kids plays football and he was telling us that when he’s playing, he doesn’t have time to go to the bathroom and wash his face,” Kabani says. “He also has eczema, and he was telling us a lot of kids on his team have sensitive skin. That’s where we’re like, how do we do this in a way where you don’t have to run to the bathroom, so you don’t develop acne on your forehead from sweating, and essentially you have a shower in a bottle that also neutralizes order. The Deo-Multi Mist was created around this idea.”
Though Piper didn’t have an official focus group, with her background as a social worker focusing on teens, she had years of experience working with this demographic. “I’ve seen firsthand how much their skin affects their confidence, and it’s a big discussion,” she says. “These girls come in when their skin looks great and they feel great; when it doesn’t, they’re losing their minds. We work a lot in my practice on coping, and [reminding them] there will be another day if the girlfriend or the boyfriend breaks up with them, and if they have a breakout, it’s going to be okay. They have been such a fabulous sounding board for Saint Crewe.”
The Saint Crewe Goji Go + Glow
Saint Crewe
Of course, what’s in the bottle was of the utmost importance, so both brands worked with cosmetic chemists and experts to carefully formulate products that are safe for young skin. “We’ve put so much education out there on how clean ingredients really do better,” Piper says. “What you’re putting on your skin very much matters. But we’re also putting out that message that your skin isn’t who you are. Our tagline is ‘it will always be you.’ What I mean by that is no one’s coming to save you—you are in charge, and you create your audacity. The decisions in your life are fueled by you. I focus on this in my practice too, that nobody’s doing anything for you, so if you want it done, do it yourself. That breeds confidence and coping. Going through some bumps is what makes you tougher.”
Ultimately, brands like Saint Crewe and Prereq are a celebration of each kid’s individual beauty. The founders want their brands to be approachable, down to their messaging and social media. That’s why when Prereq had their big brand launch, instead of celebrating with influencers, they opted to spend it with the students who helped create the brand. “These are the kids that helped us build the foundation of Prereq and they deserve to see the product first, touch it, feel it and enjoy that moment with us of what we built together,” Kabani says. “The conversation about beauty standards is so close to our hearts as moms. We, as a brand, want to really embrace differences. We have no intention of airbrushing pimples or braces. We’re showing them that this is such a beautiful time in their lives.”
This article was originally published on Forbes.com
