Makeup at 10 years old?

I have 3 adult DDs - the oldest is 52 - and none of them have ever worn makeup. They are as appalled as I am at the slug eyebrows and pillow lips etc.

But as I said upthread, DGD wears some very subtle makeup which actually looks good on her.

I cringe at the idea of a ten year old (or eleven, twelve, or thirteen year old) wearing make up. I think that there is something inherently creepy and off-putting about adults normalizing a child walking around trying to look like a woman. In this day and age, where children are commonly exploited and sexualized by degenerate adults online, this trend is out of touch and actually harmful imo.

Additionally, what are we teaching them about self love and self-esteem? Why allow little girls to start looking at their natural faces as something to hide so early in life? What happened to teaching them that they are lovely as they are? It’s nearly inevitable that most young women will start wearing make up at some point, so I see no need to rush. Let the children be children for pete’s sake!

Gransnet rant aside, I keep my mouth shut and those thoughts to myself when it comes to how parents choose to parent. Your DIL won’t stop allowing the child to wear the make up. She’ll only take whatever you say as criticism, and it is criticism no matter how justified you feel. Let them get on with it. Their mistakes are their own to make.

I am actually very surprised that some schools allow girls to wear makeup in school.

When one school tried to put a stop to this, some mothers were aghast and said that it was bad for their daughters' self-confidence not to be allowed to wear makeup. Surely, their arents should have brought them up with enough self-confidence to realise they don't need to wear makeup in school?

Mind you, young teenage boys can be nasty and some of the bullying that goes on in schools now is toxic, so if a girl had spots or a blemish, the bullying can be vile.

Not allowed at the high school my grandchildren went to here in Australia except for sunscreen . I don’t see many teenagers at any school round here wearing makeup so it is probably a general rule. Not allowed phones,either.

This has absolutely nothing to do with encouraging a girl that she needs to change her face to be happy/popular/accepted.

I don't think wearing makeup and using makeup has anything at all to do with being popular or accepted. I can never understand why people say that. It's all to do with how you see yourself and how confident you are.

Using makeup well is a skill, and one of the few skills that most girls can share with their friends - even boys wear makeup now. It can be as expensive or cheap as you can afford. There used to be a cat-fishing thing on You Tube where girls would make themselves up to look entirely different. There used to be a number of very young girls doing it, I don't know if they still do as I don't watch them. I only came across them randomly. I was pretty shocked that girls who look their 12 years of age without makeup suddenly transformed themselves into 20 year old sex sirens.

BlessedArt

I cringe at the idea of a ten year old (or eleven, twelve, or thirteen year old) wearing make up. I think that there is something inherently creepy and off-putting about adults normalizing a child walking around trying to look like a woman. In this day and age, where children are commonly exploited and sexualized by degenerate adults online, this trend is out of touch and actually harmful imo.

Additionally, what are we teaching them about self love and self-esteem? Why allow little girls to start looking at their natural faces as something to hide so early in life? What happened to teaching them that they are lovely as they are? It’s nearly inevitable that most young women will start wearing make up at some point, so I see no need to rush. Let the children be children for pete’s sake!

Gransnet rant aside, I keep my mouth shut and those thoughts to myself when it comes to how parents choose to parent. Your DIL won’t stop allowing the child to wear the make up. She’ll only take whatever you say as criticism, and it is criticism no matter how justified you feel. Let them get on with it. Their mistakes are their own to make.

Not just exploited online! I've seen the start of this ITRW (In The Real World). A girl (I say "girl" because that's what she felt like to me - despite being in her 40's) with a couple of young daughters and I did NOT like the attitude her on/off boyfriend was displaying towards her daughters one little bit. He is someone that I know - and I know he's thoroughly irresponsible and selfish and a right bum all round.

Cue for I hit the ceiling when she told me about a couple of episodes of his behaviour near her daughters, asked if he'd done one or two other bits of behaviour near them - yep he had. I really really wouldnt like the thought of if they'd tried to parade round like mini-adults wearing make-up near someone like that.

In the end I read her the Riot Act so comprehensively - including a summing-up of what I could see would happen re her daughters next - that she finally finished with him for good and all. She got a telling-off from me in no uncertain terms for putting her daughters at risk from someone so clearly irresponsible and got told "You have two options - we can do this the way we know of going to the police. Or we can do this the other way - and I do know who we could send round to pay him a visit he won't want to have to make him behave himself". She chose the normal way and told the police - and that was the end of that. He'd "had his hands tied" virtually speaking and they would be safe from him.

I'd have had a fit all the sooner if I'd seen her letting them dress in a revealing way and wearing make-up. Basically I think girls should have a certain level of maturity and commonsense before they start doing so.

Everyone sees this differently, but I feel it’s a personal choice for the child and her parents. Exploring interests like fashion and beauty can be a normal part of growing up.

@CariadAgain

Incredibly disturbing!!!

I went to a convent boarding school in the 1970s and I remember one girl being sent home after returning from half term holiday with a perm!

She was told to straighten her hair or not return. She had to do this. Not great for her hair of course.

No make up or pierced ears allowed either. As for short skirts. Well.

The nuns were pretty horrible.