New Bill Bans Sale of Anti-Aging Skin Care Products to Minors

A bill aimed at banning the sale of anti-aging skin care products to those under the age of 18 was introduced in the Assembly on Tuesday.

Assembly Bill 728 by Assemblyman Alex Lee (D-San Jose), would make it unlawful to sell an over-the-counter skin care product or cosmetic product that lists as an ingredient vitamin A or an alpha hydroxy acid without first verifying the purchaser’s age and identity. In addition, the bill would define verifying age and identity to include, among other things, verbally asking the buyer’s age and asking for documents that are evidence of age and identity related to the age-based prohibitions for aerosol paint and etching cream.

Lee wrote the bill to combat a TikTok and YouTube trend amongst younger people in which they use anti-aging skin products. As they aren’t meant for younger people, the creams can actually damage the skin of younger people and lead to permanent scarring. The use of these by younger people can also lead to a multitude of other issues, including an increased chance of sun damage and sunburns. The trend actually began last year, with Lee creating a similar bill last session that would have done the same thing but included the age restriction at 13 rather than 18. That bill, AB 2491, died in the Assembly following trade groups informing the Assembly that such a law would be impossible to comply with or enforce, and that it over-regulated so much that it even affected many products beneficial towards young people.

“Assembly Bill 2491, introduced by Assemblyman Alex Lee, while well-intentioned in its efforts to protect preteens, falls short of addressing the real issue and instead creates restrictions so complicated that compliance or enforcement would be largely impossible,” the Personal Care Products Council said last year. “By proposing sales restrictions for a wide range of cosmetics and personal care products, including basic essentials like sunscreens, moisturizers, and cleansers, this bill threatens to overregulate products that are safe and essential for healthy skin care.

“Safeguarding preteens from the pressures of social media and the inappropriate use of cosmetics is extremely important to our member companies. This bill would not provide such safeguards. AB 2491 is a hastily drafted attempt to use legislative force to stop a social media trend. Every ingredient targeted by this bill is safe when used as directed at the appropriate age. In addition to reviewing product ingredients with each sale, this bill would require cashiers to know whether a product has been advertised as anti-aging and would further require them to verify a customer’s age at checkout.

“We must collectively find real solutions that genuinely promote the welfare of preteens. In the meantime, we urge legislators to vote no on AB 2491.”

Despite the failure last year, Lee went ahead and expanded the age range in AB 728, while also easing up somewhat on the punishments.

“The beauty industry is cashing in on the ‘Sephora kids’ phenomenon where children are buying and using adult anti-aging products,” said Assemblymember Lee in a statement on Tuesday. “Kids don’t need anti-aging products. The beauty industry knows that, and some companies have acknowledged the issue. But their statements — absent real and meaningful action — are performative and fall short of responsible behavior. We have to stop the beauty industry from exploiting our youth. It’s time we take action, and my bill is a common sense measure to protect kids from unnecessary and potentially harmful anti-aging products.”

However, despite the well meaning intentions of AB 728, trade groups are expected to fight against the bill once again, with the increased age range expected to draw more backlash amongst state legislators. In addition, it is unknown where Governor Gavin Newsom stands on the issue, further increasing the likelihood of another bill failure this year.

“Lee didn’t learn from last year,” said Dana, a Capitol staffer, to the Globe on Wednesday. “Usually when Assemblymembers or Senators try again for a bill, they water it down some to get it passed, but keep the core things in there to stop what is wrong. Lee should have consulted with colleagues and should have reached out to the cosmetics industry to figure out a decent place to put the ban that could have been enforceable, that could still stop minors from buying and using the product, and could have gotten approval.

“A better idea would have been a state ad campaign showing images of damaged skin from minors after using the cream as a warning or something like that. Switch tactics. It’s done all the time and has a pretty good success rate. Instead we seem to be doubling down.”