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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

11 year old girls having their eyebrows done?

123 replies

TheHouseOnBellSt · 18/07/2015 08:56

By "done" I mean waxed....my sister has just had her 11 year old's brows done at a local salon because "she's going to high school isn't she....she can't have messy eyebrows."

Is that usual?

We're about to move abroad and my DD who would, if we were staying in the UK be going to secondary school would look at me like if I suggested she have her eyebrows waxed!

My niece didn't have big, bushy eyebrows or anything...they were normal!

Is this a thing people do now? I'm genuinely interested as none of the girls in my DDs school have done eyebrows at this age. The girls attended different primary schools and my DDs was a very rural one.

OP posts:

HorraceTheOtter · 18/07/2015 08:59

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

msgrinch · 18/07/2015 09:01

I wish my mum had done that for me. I wrecked my eyebrows by trying to do it myself

sebsmummy1 · 18/07/2015 09:02

No it's not normal. When I was younger we didn't have young girls with perfectly manicured nails and eyebrows, hair that was straightened and highlighted etc etc. we all looked a bloody mess, it was the eighties!!! Thank god quite honestly.

IWentAwayIStayedAway · 18/07/2015 09:02

I'm with Horrace. Wouldn't offer, but would certainly take them if they asked

1Morewineplease · 18/07/2015 09:02

I just find it sad that girls as young as this are put under such pressure to achieve "beauty" and "perfection" !!!!!!

everyonesfriend · 18/07/2015 09:02

going from my experience i wish my mum would have let me do it at 11 i sneeked to do it at 13 also had legs and underarms done , mum excepted it was part of growing up after i went and done it ,

i dont think its a bad thing to do if they understand it needs to be done regular its better than shaving imo

also my eyesbrows were "normal" but i wanted perfect ones and now at 26 i hardly have to do then so its paid off

i dnt agree with HD BROWS on girls under 16 or lazer treatment , hd brows i find strange

Original poster

TheHouseOnBellSt · 18/07/2015 09:02

sister said that the salon told dd that she now wouldn;t have to keep coming back but to just pluck any odd strays herself and the shape would remain.

I don't know....I feel it's too young...I do think that a child who is self conscious of her brows if they were thick should be allowed but niece's brows were fine....my DD has nice brows but now I'm wondering if the other kids her age will all suddenly look all primped in a few months and DD is still very much a little girl...

OP posts:

countryandchickens · 18/07/2015 09:04

I would younger than 11, to be honest.

DD looks awfully like me poor child and I have struggled with body hair all my life.

I will not put her through being ripped to shreds at primary.

MsVestibule · 18/07/2015 09:05

I was 11 in the '80s when we certainly didn't pluck our eyebrows! However, with personal grooming being a really big thing now, perhaps it is becoming 'normal'? I wore makeup when I was 13, so not that different, really.

The dinosaur in me thinks 'it's a disgrace! She's 11!', but I don't suppose it's that harmful, as long as she isn't being taught that her appearance is the most important part of her life.

Ashwinder · 18/07/2015 09:05

I had a uni brow at 13. It looked horrible and I was very self councious. I tried my best to pluck it myself but the results were not great. I'd never heard of waxing or threading but if I had, I would have begged my mum to take me.

diploddycus · 18/07/2015 09:05

I first got my eyebrows waxed when I was 12, in the summer holidays. I went with my my mum but I can't remember if she offered or I asked. My mum was quite strict, she'd said no when I asked to shave my legs the year before, so I think 11 or 12 is normal.

Purplepoodle · 18/07/2015 09:06

Had mine done second year school as had a mono brow (also had lip waxed). Wish I'd had them done pre comprehensive as saved lots of bullying

Whipnaenae · 18/07/2015 09:08

My mum sent me (in the 80s sebsmummy) I am glad, they were shaped correctly and have always looked good. Unlike many of my peers who didn't know what they were doing and over plucked them into thin arches. Yuck.

Dynomite · 18/07/2015 09:08

Agree with other PPs...I wish my mum had done the same! I shaved mine off around that age as I didn't quite understand the differences bt shaving, plucking etc!
yes, she's only 11, but it is the age where most girls start being concerned about their appearance and I think it's better to help them with constructive solutions rather than just saying 'aawwww but you're still little'. It doesn't mean she'll start wearing make up right away or that her self-esteem has been damaged for life. Most women pluck their eyebrows. Most kids will try it. Why not show her how it's done properly?

Pagwatch · 18/07/2015 09:10

I would let DD get her brows shaped if she really really wanted them to but she is nearly 13. Fortunately she is perfectly happy with how she looks naturally.
She did have a manicure yesterday though.

shebird · 18/07/2015 09:13

Have also just posted regarding the crazy world of parenting preteens these days. The eyebrow thing is a new one on me. It's just a sad world where 11 year olds feel the need to be primped and preened to perfection. The pressure on them is immense and damaging and parents need to do more to protect their daughters from this.

sebsmummy1 · 18/07/2015 09:14

The OP has stated that her niece just had perfectly normal brows. Not hugely bushy, no mono brow, just normal standard eyebrows.

I started shaving my legs and underarms at around 13 but didn't start attacking my eyebrows until about 18 I think.

Maybe83 · 18/07/2015 09:15

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

wigglesrock · 18/07/2015 09:16

My sister took a razor to her eyebrows because they were too bushy - they weren't but she felt that they were - waxing would have been a hugely preferable option. It doesn't matter if you feel her eyebrows were fine - it's how she feels.

AmandaTanen · 18/07/2015 09:16

I've always had lots of unwanted body hair, my mum was really strict about most things, apart from hair removal. Best to get it done professionally than messing about with tweezers or razors for legs etc.

NobodyLivesHere · 18/07/2015 09:20

I pluck both my girls eyebrows

Maybe83 · 18/07/2015 09:20

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

ArmfulOfRoses · 18/07/2015 09:24

I don't think it's too young, my dd11 has hers done but she had asked, I'm not sure I would have offered had she not brought it up but I have engineered conversations to let her know I am more than happy to take her to salons/make up shopping rather than her rip herself to shreds with razors or come home from town with bright orange foundation etc.

Dd is just finishing yr7, and from the photos of her friends, the vast majority have had their eyebrows done.

bigTillyMint · 18/07/2015 09:26

Thankfully DD and I are blonde, so our eyebrows/hairy legs don't show much! I would never have dreamed of taking her to have them done on leaving primary.

I only started getting mine done at about 35 - it had never occurred to me before (plus a uni friend had exceedingly high arches which made her look permanently surprised after doing it herself) but I am ancient.

DD started plucking/getting a friend to pluck hers/occasionally has them waxed at about 14 and now shades them in/has them dyed so they look nice and dark, but definitely not scouse-brow!

RandomMess · 18/07/2015 09:29

My 9 year old (year 5 though) is very aware of her unusual eyebrows and tbh I'll be taking her to a professional and getting the minimum amount done to make them look more typical.

She's been asking about getting her legs shaved for over a year and I've bought her the Philips IPL for us to start sorting them out this school holidays (it's also for my eldest who is also very dark and hairy). It bothers her to the point that she'll wear trousers when it's hot etc. so I'm biting the bullet and helping her now. She is very much a little girl still in lots of ways but so many of her friends have pale body hair (like me and the middle sisters) and unless you really look you can't notice them.

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