An Italian authority is investigating beauty brands Benefit and Sephora for attempting to sell anti-aging products to children under 10, which dermatologists say may be harmful to them.

According to BBC New, the brands have appeared to adopt a "particularly insidious" marketing strategy of using young influencers to market skincare to children.

The Italian Competition Authority (AGCM) said it had launched an investigation into the brands' owner, luxury goods giant LVMH, for actions that may have helped fuel so-called "cosmeticorexia" —  an unhealthy obsession with skincare in young people experts believe may be on the rise.

LVMH said in a statement that it would "fully co-operate" with the authorities but declined to comment further, citing the ongoing investigation.

AGCM said its officers and Italy's financial police had carried out inspections of LVMH and Sephora's Italian headquarters on March 26 as part of its investigation.

BBC reports that Sephora, which has nearly 23 million followers on Instagram and more than two million on TikTok, has been at the center of the "Sephora kids" social media trend, in which children share their skincare routines and purchases.