This year will be Zoe Oosting’s seventh summer at the Rockbrook Summer Camp for Girls in western North Carolina, where campers, ages 6 to 16, ride horses through the mountains, spin slabs of clay and weave friendship bracelets.
This summer, Ms. Oosting’s second as a counselor, she’s observed a new bonding activity: multistep skin care routines.
The girls in her cabin, ages 11 to 13, packed their suitcases with Glow Recipe serums, Drunk Elephant jelly cleansers and bottles of Sol de Janeiro body spray.
Teenagers have forged friendships over face masks for generations, but with the explosion of a skin-care-obsessed beauty industry, even young campers have taken to the fad of pampering their faces with a variety of products, often expensive and touted by Sephora-loyal influencers.
In reels on TikTok, summer camp editions of “get ready with me” videos feature female campers showing off sleek pink bottles of Monday shampoo and conditioner, rose quartz face rollers and Supergoop sunscreen, alongside staples like jean shorts and Converse sneakers.
“It’s become such a huge thing,” Ms. Oosting said. “Girls are bringing it and keeping it in the cabin and then the restrooms.”
