I made an concession to DD' development tonight

[Ormirian]

We had had an afternoon out together and o the way back I said. "You know DD, if you ever want some make-up, or ....that sort of thing.... you are welcome. I want you to grow up just as quickly as you want to. You don't have to be ...you know... like me"

She just laughed and said 'OK mum". And then a few minutes later "Actually mum I would quite like some make-up".

Go on. Tell me I did well....

BTW 'like me' means ungroomed scruff!

She must be quite excited

Well done.

God, I'm dreading DD doing all that. thankfully my friend has a DD 7 years older so she can take DD in hand and deal with it.

OK so where do we start? What brands of make-up are best for young skin?

What's your budget? Make up varies hugely in price.

I would say she is likely to want to experiment and try different things, different styles, so brands like Barry M and Boots 17 are super cheap, but pretty good quality for the price.

Teaching her a good skin care routine right from the beginning, and the importance of taking make up off at the end of the day, would be good too.

E.L.F online are also good, and Sleek, available from superdrug.

I would be reluctant to spend a lot of money on make up for a teenager, and I think as long as she has a good skin care routine, using cheaper brands shouldn't be a problem.

There are some fantastic make up tutorials on youtube. I've only worn make up for the last couple of years, and youtube taught me everything I know.

Bobbi Brown has a book specifically about makeup and skincare for teenagers. I'm sure it is £££ but if you live somewhere with a big library system ...?

THanks everyone.

I agree that I need to teach her about taking make-up off. But what does consitute 'good skin care routine' for a teenager? Mine is cleanse and moisturise in the evening and morning, with eyecream for more craggy old eye-sockets But does she need to moisturise? Is a face-wash or a cleanser better?

When I was a teenager I used to wash my face and rarely used any sort of moisturier - probably why my face is such a mess now though

I would skip the toning side of a routine. Perhaps use a light moisturising lotion. Boots own, or Simple. Or maybe one with an spf in? She may start getting oily teenage skin and spots in a couple of years, so it might need to be adjusted to suit that.

Cleanse with a facail wash, nothing too harsh, perhaps soemthing from the 'simple' range or a range for young skin

Tone - simple again

Moisturise - even greasy skin needs to be moisturised. A light cream should be fine

Some facial wipes for make-up removal only

My dsd is 13 and as her mums idea of skin care is rubbing her face with a soapy flannel in the morning, it's down to Nemofish

And tell her make up must always come off before bed and not wiped onto my white bathroom towels!

i agree stress the importance of skin care, spf and removing makeup, keep her away from foundation for as long as possible it blocks the pores, maybe try mineral if she needs a little coverage. Boots 17 is a good range and superdrug have a few cheaper brands. Please dont let her turn orange either.

yes a bit of eyeshadow, mascara, blush and lip gloss in a neutral / light shade should be enough.

Red lippy, kohl ringed eyes, blue shadow and a fag hanging out of her mouth, not such a good luck

My mum never wore make-up,save a little blusher, so I had to figure it out on my own. I had a little Constance Carroll eyeshadow set with one pale blue and one dark blue - i thought you had to put the dark blue on the lids and the pale all the way up to the eyebrows!

I also didn't take my foundation off at night because I thought I'd save money by only doing it every couple of days. Remarkably, not a single spot until age 21.

Superdrug do a range called Amie designed for younger skin. If you want to treat her for Christmas, the Urban Decay Naked palette or the Pixi Deluxe set are on offer on Boots online, but both are £££ to replace so you may want to start her with something cheaper. Natural Collection at Boots is very low-key, so may be good for a young teenager. Also, Barbara Daly at Tesco are good. A light eye pencil could work for liner - liquid takes practice - something like a brown or a grey, depending on her colouring (I'm assuming you're Caucasian - if not it's sadly going to be tricky and more expensive...) If my teenage friends were anything to go by, she needs to learn that foundation two shades darker will NOT make her skin look tanned, and neither will anything orange.

As I've got older I really like bright shadows and liners but you need to have an idea how to wear them to avoid looking like a clown or a draq queen hooker. If she likes them, she can work her way on to them gradually after she's figured out her style. Sleek do some good bright colours and have good staying power.