Make up for 4 year olds - tell me I am not the only 'mean' mum who won't allow it

[MrsLatcher]

Just hoping I am not alone here because all of my dds friends have or are getting make up (aimed at kids obviously). I hate this and think it looks awful. I feel strongly that it is wrong for young girls but my daughter really wants it. Does anyone else have this problem? What do you say to dd when she asks for it? Thanks.

dd1 is 6, & has a palette of cheap, shimmery eyeshadows I impulse-bought from a market stall for myself.

Because they're cheap they have very little pigment, which is why they're no good to me - I like strong, dark pigments - but great for dd for dressing up.

I wouldn't buy her special make up for ickle princeses, otoh...

Yy I got dsds make up from boyes. It's very cheap, but it is hypoallergenic as its almay.

No not at 4, too young.

Not normal amongst my dd's friends. At that age Lypsol with a slight pink tint and toenails painted for parties was the only makeup that she could have.

for people that say at not even two they can't want things like make-up why not? my youngest see's me and my oldest with nail varnish so asks for 'toes' despite being 19 months - she is very clear in what she likes / wants and wont have your ideas pushed on her...IMO a little play make-up will do no harm but nothing ott e.g. full face of make-up etc, it depends what they see on a day to day basis, and as others have said they just want to copy mum / aunty / sisters

DD (3.5) is make-up obsessed. She watches me put mine on the morning and wants to help. I let her do my lipstick for me - and she's very good at it. She'll then put it on herself - on the understanding that it comes off before we leave the house.

She desperately wanted a pink leather lipstick holder with mirror that she saw at the Tower of London and begged for it for her birthday. I said no. When she was still asking about it over 3 months later I decided that she obviously really wanted it rather than it being the thing of that particular instant so I popped back and bought it and got a pale pink Lypsol from Tescos to go in it. She was thrilled and you can't even see she's wearing it - so much nicer than lipgloss.

No way is she having powder or eyeshadow for quite a few years - I want something slightly forbidden to give her when she's 10! But, I don't want her plastering her beautiful skin with anything other than sunscreen and I'd never put mascara or eyeliner on her. Even for parties there is no way she is having make-up other than the facepaint variety.

Nail polish is my exception. She had a terrible nail biting habit and I have cured that by saying she can have a manicure on Saturdays if she doesn't bite them all week. I paint them a very pale pink so you'd barely notice it was there. It has been hugely successful. I was a chronic nail biter and really didn't want her to get into the habit.

I wear and enjoy make-up and see no problem with it. I would prefer her to learn to wear it properly in a less is more manner at an appropriate age than end up like my sister who rarely wears make-up and makes a dog's dinner of it when she does.

DH and I are still somewhat in shock to have a dolly-loving sparkly pink princess in our lives... apparently her ambition in life is to have a boyfriend who will buy her pink shoes, a pink bag and take her dancing. When she eyed up a diamond ring in a shop and I suggested that she needed to work hard at school and get a job so that she could buy one she looked totally disgusted and said that she'd just get a boyfriend to buy it. So, I think a bit of nail polish is the least of my worries!

Katie
my DD was obsessed with 'girlie' toys when she was 21 months, and now at age 10yo she abhors pink and glitter.

Saying that a 21 mth old is a girlie girl is ridiculous. Does she actually have non-gendered toys or is her room a mass of pink and fluffy stuff?

Not saying that it is terrible, btw - but it is something that like it or not, most of us do to a certain extent.

I don't let my 10yo wear make up on a regular basis, and she isn't really that interested in it. She'd rather be climbing a tree or looking at bats and snakes. Which isn't to say that she is uninterested in her appearance. She spends a long time thinking what to wear and how to do her hair.

Girls should be allowed to wear make up occasionally, if they want to, but this obsession with how one looks is not healthy.

10storylovesong

Look on YouTube for panacea81

She is a very good make up artist who does excellent basic tuitions online, as well as some more complex things.

Here is a very sensible teenaged girl's opinion on make up.

I wear make up, sometimes I don't, I never want to be one of those people who is unrecognisible without makeup. Whenever my 5 year old asks what I am doing and why can't she have some I tell her she is far too beautiful already to wear make up. In fact, recently I've put make up on myself and thought "actually I looked better without it". I put concealer and tinted moisturiser on to hide the bags and it some how flattens my face, removing the contours (which is why I then put blusher on, to bring back the contours!).

My point is you don't have to wear make up to look your best. And even if it matters to other people, it shouldn't, and instead of bowing to pressure, adding to the cycle, saying "it shouldn't matter but it does" we should stand up and resist and help create a new normality, one that doesn't involve bland pancake faces, but real ones. That's the lesson I will be teaching my daughters, not a make up one.