Young Girls and Makeup

Do you remember when you were first allowed to wear makeup? I’m not sure about you, but my parents made me wait until I turned 13. In fact, on my thirteenth birthday, my mom had a Mary Kay consultant come over and give my friends and I all facials. Of course, part of my birthday present from my mother was purchasing some of the makeup for me.

At the time, I didn’t think a thing about having to wait until I was 13 before I could wear makeup. And, neither did my friends…that age was a pretty normal age for girls “back then” (1990s) to start putting makeup on. However, things are beginning to change for young girls today.

It seems that more and more girls around the age of 7 are beginning to wear makeup. Why do you think this is? There truly isn’t a real need for girls at that age to be wearing makeup to school, is there? Girls at this age generally have flawless skin and don’t need any help looking beautiful. The problem is the beauty industry has begun to focus on young girls with their marketing efforts, making them believe that they will look prettier/better if they wear these products. Of course, it doesn’t matter what advertisements the beauty industry produces with our little girls in mind because parents have the ultimate say-so regarding when their girls will be able to wear makeup.

So, the question for you is at what age do you believe it’s okay for your daughter(s) to wear makeup? (There is no wrong answer here, it is your decision to make.) Every family’s situation is unique, which can also have an impact on how you answer this question. For instance, maybe your daughter loves to participate in child beauty pageants, which often requires some makeup to enhance her pageant outfits. Often times, when young girls in beauty pageants begin to wear makeup to perform, they like to wear some light makeup when they aren’t performing too.

Playing dress up is another example of when many parents allow their young girls to wear makeup. And, right now, princess parties are very popular. Little girls love to get together and have their makeup done, hair curled and nails painted – just like all the princesses get to have done. Even if it isn’t a princess party, many little girls like to play dress up when they have friends over and many parents let them play with light colored makeup…which is perfectly fine too, as it is for play.

As previously mentioned, there really is no wrong age for young girls to begin wearing makeup – it’s entirely up to the parent and what you are comfortable with. So, at what age will you (or did you) let your girls begin wearing makeup?