10-11 is when I introduced my much younger cousin. I'd taken her older brother out and she was interested. We started with face masks and a cleanser (derma e, I think). Now she's been introduced to serums, adapalene gel, sunscreen, and various moisturizers.

We made sure to explain the what and why of ingredients and how to structure a skincare routine for different issues and how the skin works. We use a lot of beauty counter but mix in other adult brands.

She has avoided the skin issues that cropped up for everyone else in the family and starting early is almost certainly why.

When my son first started getting acne (maybe age 11), I bought him some cleanser and just suggested he use it at night and/or in the AM. As the acne got worse, I got him a couple of additional products (after asking him about it) and told him to tell me if he wanted something else. I should probably remind him now about washing his face regularly and ask again if he wants to do more to try to treat the acne. I'm not going to push him into a routine and even his Dr. asked if the acne bothered him and he said no. The dr. said that was fine.

11 is when I told my son he needed to use a facial wash nightly instead of just letting shampoo run down on his face in a shower.

Other than my telling her to wash her face with Cetaphil, as I have done for 30+ years (ugh, when I think back to using Noxema back in the olden days!), and using sunscreen in the summer, that's about it for my almost 12 yo DD.

She's into the facial masks, so she uses those on weekends. If that craze counts for "skin care routine".

I waited for me DD to come and talk to me about it. She did in 5th grade. Her teacher stressed very strongly that kids use deodorant. I let her explore with her girlfriends, they have parties with face masks and what not else. I try to keep the beauty expectations to a minimum. She uses cetaphil.

When my DD turned 10. I bought her a light cleanser and a moisturizer with SPF. That is all she uses for now, morning and night. I'm guessing I'll add a toner once she hits puberty.

If you can afford to, take DD to the derm and have the derm give her a simple routine to follow. This sort of advice is always easier coming from a 3rd party than from your mom.

DD is newly 10, and while her skin is still poreless and lovely, she has occasionally had little tiny bumps on her forehead or nose. Not sure you'd fully qualify them as acne, but definitely blemishes of some sort.

I've encouraged her to start using Cetaphil morning and night to get into good habits, but it can be a battle. If your kids are now a bit older, when did you really start to lay out a skin care routine? She has a friend whose mom is Korean and the child already has a crazy multistep routine, but that's not what I'm looking for. I'm pretty low maintenance myself, but had bad breakouts as a teen and would like to help DD avoid that if I can.