Teen Boys Used to Suffer Acne in Silence. Now They’re Buying Their Way Out of Breakouts.

Ten-year-old girls taking over Sephora to stock up on Drunk Elephant may be big news these days, but their male counterparts are beginning to quietly rival them in the vanity stakes. Teen boys have been taking to TikTok in droves, mewing and gum-chewing their way to (allegedly) more chiseled jawlines and passionately debating notes in luxury fragrances. A certain segment of them are even taking extreme measures to tackle a skin concern that has plagued teens since time immemorial: acne. That is, if their parents can pay for it.

On the 16th floor of CORE: New York, a members-only club on Fifth Avenue, there is a miracle worker who needs only one name, à la Cher: Dangene. For 28 years she has wielded all manner of lasers and facial contraptions in the name of what she calls SRT (skin rejuvenation treatment), a custom protocol designed to “make you as perfect as possible.” She is not a doctor or a facialist; she is, as she puts it, “an aesthetic internal and external health advisor.” Her clients are primarily women who come from all over the world and sign up for packages (52 appointments over the course of a year for $42,000 is a popular option). So it comes as a bit of a surprise to learn that her favorite subjects these days are teenage boys.

“They listen,” she says. “And they’re willing to not wear makeup.” For $6,000 to $8,000 and six weeks’ time, she guarantees that she can control 90 percent of a client’s acne. Her philosophy is that it’s necessary to give skin the most intense cleaning imaginable. That means a combination of hourslong manual extractions, microdermabrasion to exfoliate, Hydrafacials to tighten pores, BBL or Laser Genesis to bring down redness and kill bacteria, Secret RF to help with scars, CO₂ laser to tighten and smooth skin, and LED lights for overall skin health.

If it sounds grueling, that’s because it is. The first week is the toughest: five days in a row, with the initial day lasting up to six hours. Then the visits amount to fewer hours and three days a week. “I had a terrible breakout, the worst my skin has ever been,” says Tony, who started seeing Dangene when he was 17. “They extracted all the bad stuff, treated my rosacea, and left my skin as smooth as a baby’s bum.”

Teen boys used to suffer through breakouts in silence, often eventually seeking out drug therapy if the situation got bad enough. But now, Dangene says, they are keen on trying what’s trending on social media. “They’re really curious about different lasers,” she says. “And they’re also more willing to speak to their friends about their skin than they were
in the past. Today we start with the boy and then we get the girlfriend.”

While there isn’t anything different about boys’ acne compared with girls’, there are often activity-related flare-ups, from excessive sweating, helmet and headband use, and hygiene. “The acne is a little different based on the sport,” Dangene says. “Football players have more on their backs.” If her clients live locally, they come before or after school, or take a train from the suburbs to the Midtown office. If they’re from elsewhere in the country or another continent, club members will often book a suite at CORE for a week so they’re just an elevator ride away.

This is all a long way from slapping on some Clearasil and calling it a day. But at a time when every tween seems to have a 10-step skincare routine, the fact that kids are ready for the big guns isn’t such a leap. “I have had terrible cystic acne since middle school,” says Kyle, who is now 22 with “virtually clear skin.” “I tried everything to fix it: Accutane, antibiotics, and every possible diet and lifestyle change. It felt hopeless.” Dangene’s protocol, he says, changed his life. “I still go in periodically for maintenance,” he says, “and just to hang out.”