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Skincare is now being sold to children as young as three. Let that sink in. Actress Shay Mitchell, best known for Pretty Little Liars, recently launched Rini, a skincare line for kids. The campaign shows toddlers in sheet masks at birthday parties, sleepovers, and play dates. The products are framed as a part of developing “healthy habits”. But the brand, which claims to be gentle, fun and safe, follows a familiar industry playbook: manufacture insecurity then monetise it.

We have been chasing youth for centuries. From legends of the fountain of youth to billion-pound industries built on the promise of turning back time, the obsession never went away. It only changed form. Today, it is bottled in “anti-ageing” creams, filtered selfies, and airbrushed campaigns that teach us that growing older is a problem to fix.

Beauty marketing has taught us to trust an illusion. To aim for the kind of perfection that doesn’t exist outside a screen: skin without pores, faces without texture, smiles without lines. Images that convince us that real faces need fixing. Until CVS Pharmacy decided to break that spell.