Thoughts on guiding DD through the maze of skincare and make up please......

[midnightmoomoo]

So my DD is 11, far too young to be at the full face of slap stage of things, but she's interested in make up etc and I have just ordered her a first deodorant (Green People so no nasties). I'm just wondering how those of you with daughters 'manage' them in terms of wearing make up/skincare and so on.

My mum doesn't wear make up and has always been a soap and Olay user so back in the day I had to learn as I went along. How much of a free reign do you give, or don't you?

Advice and product recommendations welcome! FWIW she's happily using the curly girl ideas from on here to help with her hair and will happily take on ideas to try new things.

Depending on her skin type, I'd encourage her now to get into a good cleansing regime. If she's prone to spots and has oily skin, something like Clean n Clear gel followed by freedom, or if she has dry skin, a cream based cleanser and moisturiser with SP.
Maybe get her a tinted lip salve. Carmex do a red one which is quite nice and light, and I've seen pale pink ones too. I'd get her some clear mascara too and let her practise until she's got the hang of applying it then move on to dark ones. Same goes for eye shadows and nail polish. Get pale and neutral ones at first so she can apply them without looking like a clown, then she can choose her own. Kimmel is a really well made cheapish brand to start with. And Miss Sporty has pocket money priced nail varnishes.

Rimmel, not Kimmel. Stupid predictive text.

Thanks, sounds good. She hasn't got an oily skin (yet) but she does get some very dry patches which is one reason I'm not keen for her to go all out on the make up front yet (unlike some of her friends who wear more than me already!!). I think I'll look into a very gentle cleanser and cream for her to try.

Do make sure the "no nasties" deodorant actually works. Particularly if she's at all sporty , or wears a leotard or other synthetic fabric kit it may well be worse than useless. "No nasties" often means "no actual ingredients that stop you sweating or smelling"

Both of my children (boy and girl) used Body Shop Aloe Vera face wash when their first started to get "teenage skin". It worked very well for them.

As for make up, I do think it's better to have some rules about how much, when and where, and then just let them experiment. I let my dd wear mascara, and then dye her eyelashes from very early on, because she was very self conscious about her "white mouse" lashes under her glasses. The boost to her confidence was huge.

My DD is now 15. Her interest in makeup and skincare has evolved quite naturally and slowly since she was about your DD's age. I'd take my signals from her, concentrating on skincare. I gave my DD the Liz Earle 3 step cleanse/tone/moisturise when she was about 12 and starting to get "hormonal"- it's v gentle and easy. On the makeup side she and her friends aren't into a whole lot of slap- mascara and lipstick are the main things, sometimes eyeliner but never shadow, a bit of blusher maybe. One thing that was completely great was a Bobbi Brown teen lesson, which had a great focus on skincare and guidance on technique for a v natural look. It was free, no pressure to buy and great fun.

Oh and if she doesn't already vloggers like Zoella and Sprinkle of glitter are great for young teens for makeup, fadhion, skincare etc

She might not actually have any interest in make up, so I'd follow her lead.

I have one DD (16) who wears a ton of slap with winged eyeliner, etc. (She's not orange, though. It's more a baby-goth look.) My younger DD (14) wears none at all. They both use the boots tea tree and witch hazel products, though. And Burts bees lip salve. And Schwarzkopf Live hair colour, in varying shades.

I would book in at benefit, bare minerals or Bobby brown for a make up trial, would be a great day out together but also makes her feel special with a pro Mua . . . They can guide her on the basics and have some lovely tinted moisturisers or even the light mineral powders and lovely lip glosses that would be 'just enough' to not be that ott look of teenagers! For skin care I'm a big fat in Avon . . They have a basic 3 in 1 face wash which is a very gentle cleanser toner moisturiser, and make maybe add a day and night cream. her skin will change with hormones but there's lots of different options tailored for all skin types they are really reasonably priced as well.

You could get hold of the latest edition of The Green Beauty Bible. It is not infallible by any means - and may be rather out of date (in that some of the brands mentioned may no longer exist and new stuff has become available since) but it is a good starting point for conscious decision making about face/body products.

Agree on the 'no nasties' deodorant - it does often mean nothing that is actually effective as a deodorant/anti-perspirant especially for teen pits.

Plus when I was a teen, everybody used the same deodorant as word got round it was the best, nastier the better as far as we were concerned!

Thanks everyone!

Deodorant is fine, DH and I use them and DS1 has the same one I've bought for DD (the teenage range one) and it works really well.

DS uses a Clearasil wash in the shower and a Clearasil pad on his t-zone at night which keep his teenage spots at bay but DD isn't spotty and if she's going to start wearing make up I need something she can use to cleanse without making her skin drier.

Will look at the BS Aloe Vera range, and I do have some Liz Earle light moisturiser she can have.

My DD is nearly 14
She uses BodyShop Camomile Butter to cleanse/ Micelar Water (I think Boots Botanical) / FaceWash in shower
Benefits moisturiser (in a jar) and SBC Collagen gel

Make-up : benefits, Rimmel concealer, Botanical mascara

And brushes. OMG the brushes (a millionty Real Technique and Beauty Blender)

I bought her some Barbara Daly brushes to start off with (and took them back for myself )

Oh, and a Wet/Dry Ladyshave (DD does gymnastics, those leotards and crop top/shorts outfits mean she's scrupulous about her legs/armpits hair)

I am only 22 and can vividly remember being that age, and I have a younger sister too so maybe I can offer some brands [grins] At your daughter's age I had acne and did absolutely nothing for my skin apart from eventually go to the GP and try one topical acne treatment after another until I eventually went on antibiotics when I was about 13 which helped a lot. My mum wears very little makeup and has a very minimal skincare routine, and never ever spoke to me about either, I was just heavily discouraged from wearing makeup and made to feel silly when I first started to try. So my first thing to say is that I'm really glad you're thinking about this and wanting to help your daughter.

I only wore makeup on special occasions, so for parties and things. I still mostly do now, never been super interested in it, too lazy and not very girly. My sister is the same except she likes her punk-rock type eye make-up. Things we started with were anti-perspirent, perfume, concealer, nail varnish, lip gloss and lipstick, and eye shadow. Moved on from there to eyeliner, mascara and foundation.

Brands I would recommend:
Miss Sporty - cheap and alright quality, nail varnish especially good.
No.7 at Boots, 17 at Boots.
The Body Shop - good but can be pricey. I wouldn't have had the funds at 12 to buy things from here so it was more a treat for birthday presents and that.
Maybelline.
Lush - again good but can be pricey so not something I could afford at 12.
Sleek.
ELF.
Stargazer.
Some decent cheap brands there for her to play around with! I still use some of them now.