Is a pamper party at seven too young?

[Strawberryfield85]

Hi everyone,

I'd like a bit of a sense check please.

My soon to be 7 year old daughter loves make up, clothes, nail varnish - you get the picture. Her birthday is coming up and I found a company that offers pamper parties including chocolate face mask making, mini mani and pedicure and a little catwalk in the end. It would be in our home, so no salon or anything.

I'm after honest opinions - is this too early? Some of the girls would obviously still be 6 years old. I know my daughter would love this but I'm happy to wait a couple of years if you think some parents may not agree with it at this age.

My 7 year old daughter would absolutely love it. I wouldn't mind it all.

My DD had a pamper party for her 7th birthday earlier this year and her and her friends absolutely loved it! If she's into hair / nails / make-up etc then I'd say go for it.

I’m very cynical, so, rightly or wrongly, I’d assume it was the mother’s choice, rather than the birthday girl’s.

I just think it’s a bit much, personally.

Mum of 2 girls here. I find this really sad, we already know the pressure girls face growing up and beyond to be aware of how they look and how appealing they may or may not be. Let them be children, maybe encourage them to take an interest in other things.

But how can a not quite 7 year old be 'into' hair, nails, make up? It's not the gendered nature of the party that's the problem, it's the early focus on appearance as validation for a female. Go Ape would be a better party to learn about wellbeing - being strong, taking risks, using your body wisely. Or making pizzas at Pizza Express. Or jewellery making or dancing or horseriding or a million other active parties, rather than a passive party where other people 'pamper' your body. The whole idea of 'pampering' being about making yourself look a certain way makes me feel really uncomfortable. Indeed, the word 'pamper' itself is as nauseating as 'treats'.

As older women we can make more informed choices about how much we want to engage in societal ideas of beauty, and probably most of us will engage to some extent as it's hard not to. But it would be easy to suggest another, more appropriate party for a seven year old.

Where have you gone OP? What have you decided?

Wouldn’t bother me, it’s just a party. My DD went to a couple at that age and loved them - , face masks, nails, hair, little bit of make up, ‘photoshoot’ with friends.

After that it was all trampoline parks, laser quest, cinema etc. We hired a gaming truck for her 10th birthday. They did a bit of pampering stuff at sleepovers in their tweens, but that was it. At 7 they were still in a Disney princess phase, by 8 all of that had lost its appeal and they were much more into the active stuff again,

She’s 16 now and loves beauty stuff (as do I) but she’s also very judgement of the “Sephora kids” who are asking for stuff like Drunk Elephant products so young,