Shay Mitchell — the Pretty Little Liars alum and Beis founder — just dropped a new venture: creating a skincare line for toddlers. Not teenagers. Actual toddlers. Wrap your mind around that one, please.
Mitchell, who is a mum to little Atlas and Rome, announced her brand Rini on Instagram earlier this week, co-created with mate Esther Song.
According to the Rini website, their “mission is simple: to nurture healthy habits, spark confidence, and make thoughtfully crafted daily care essentials and play products accessible to every family”.
Sounds wholesome, right? Not everyone thinks so.
The first drop features a hydrogel facial mask, an after-sun facial mask, and an everyday sheet mask — each with puppy, unicorn and panda designs, no less. Because apparently, nothing says “self-care” like slapping a panda on your toddler’s face and hoping for the best.
Shay posted about Rini and the backlash arrived faster than you can say “kids don’t need sheet masks”. Cue an avalanche of comments from people wondering, quite reasonably, whether society has officially lost the plot.
“Please tell me this is not skincare for children,” one wrote.
Others chimed in: “Why are we projecting beauty standards onto children now?” and “Let them be kids ffs.”
Collectively, the internet seems torn between mild panic and aggressive eye rolling.
Critics are pointing to the infamous ‘Sephora kids’ scandal of 2024, where tweens were dropping pocket money on products with ingredients so harsh, even a grown-up’s skin would flinch. It was a whole saga: parents, brands, and retail workers frantically Googling ‘gentle skincare for kids’ while twelve-year-olds walked out of Sephora slathered in retinol.
So, what’s driving this trend? According to Shay herself, it all started thanks to her girls’ curiosity at birthday parties and face paint disasters. “This has been three years in the making — inspired by my girls. Their curiosity and all the little moments that made me realise how early it starts from birthday parties and face paint to wanting to do ‘what mummy does’ with her face masks… It was only a matter of time,” she explained in an Instagram Story, following the backlash.
She clarified: “Rini isn’t about beauty it’s about self-care. About teaching our kids that taking care of themselves can be fun, gentle and safe… Kids are naturally curious, and instead of ignoring that, we can embrace it with safe, gentle products parents can trust, and sweet moments that bring us closer.”
Fair enough, but for plenty of folks online, the idea of “teaching self-care” with sheet masks feels like a jump.
Lily Twelftree from BareFaced Media summed it up pretty neatly. “Shay Mitchell… has launched a skincare line for children. Not teenagers, children. And they’ve launched with this aloe vera sheet mask. What is so harmful about this messaging is that aloe vera sheet masks have been around forever. There are plenty of face masks that exist without any actives in them, but they’re not marketed to children,” she said on TikTok.
“What kills me about this is that she’s a celebrity that wanted to launch a skincare brand, and it’s not hard to take a look around and go, ‘Hmm, there’s a few too many of those… you know what there aren’t few too many of? Celebrity skincare brands for children.’ And how that fact would have been a point of differentiation, rather than the fact it probably shouldn’t exist.”
Meanwhile, the Rini team is insistent it’s about protecting little skin from nasty dance recital face paints, partnering with paediatric chemists in South Korea to develop the range. Co-founder Song says it’s “about nurturing their imagination and confidence, while knowing we are choosing products made thoughtfully for their skin”.
Still, social media’s not buying it. One Instagram user said, “Call me crazy, but the only thing we should be putting on kids’ faces is sunscreen.”
Another added: “Kids don’t need face masks. If it is to mitigate them using harsh chemicals from ‘mummy’s’ products, be better at saying no.”
But hey, not everyone is mad. Some mums are on board, commenting “What a great idea! We mums need this.” The room, however, remains divided.
So, is this the new normal or just capitalism in a unicorn mask? Time — plus a few thousand more Instagram comments — will tell.
Lead image: Getty Images / Rini
The post Shay Mitchell’s Toddler Skincare Line Cops Major Backlash: ‘Let Them Be Kids For FFS’ appeared first on PEDESTRIAN.TV .
