Should I allow my 14yo dd to wear makeup?

[Rachel422]

Hello everyone,
My 14yo dd has been nagging at me for the past few weeks about wearing makeup. I initially said no and that she was too young but then she put up an argument about how she wouldn't wear anything heavy, maybe just concealer, mascara and blush. It is the fact that she said "maybe" which means that if I say yes, she'll have free reign and the whole "natural" look will suddenly disappear and she'll end up looking like an orange panda with bright red lips (this is what many of the girls at her school look like ). I left it as a "no" but know I'm starting to contemplate it. Maybe I should let her grow up and experiment a bit.
What would you do? Is she too young? Has anyone been in this situation before? How do I handle it?

Many thanks in advance

Yes.

You're lucky she asked.

At 14 I had concealer (stick kind) and powder (to cover spots). I got quite adept at applying this, using a Jackie Magazine technique of applying concealer with a brush, dabbing with finger tip until blend and setting with powder. Being able to do this helped me be less self conscious about teenage skin.

I also wore eye-liner (navy on inside of lashes - 1980's), mascara and lipstick.

I would second going with her and helping her choose the right colours re. skin make-up, as a 'treat' you could buy her some (that you're happy with).

I think, at 14, you let go a little bit and say yes - on the understanding that she does not go down the orange panda with lipstick on look.

this i let my dds wear make up if they wanted dd1 wasn't fussed and hardly ever wears it dd2 does wear it I just never allowed her to chose foundation by herself or she would look like an orange panda

I agree with mathanxiety and trills.

Agree with others, of course let her wear make-up. I wouldn't have dreamed of asking for permission. My mum did (natural) make-up for me at 11/12 for the occasional party.
By 13 I wore loads (bought it with pocket money). Cringeing at the memories of what I wore - green eyeshadow, awful shades of lipstick, 'heather shimmer' I remember that one ChasingStaplers ;-) and that was to school.
Many girls overdo it at first, but yeah, they realise they look ridiculous and grow out of it. I liked to be quite girly as a young teen. By 16 I was in my head 'too deep' (and too depressed) to be bothered with make-up and clothes. Ah, teenagers. :-)

Also agree with the 'forbidden fruit' principle - if you ban something, teenagers just want to go and do it even more. I agree with giving her lessons, going shopping together etc if you have that kind of relationship, it's a nice bonding thing and will make her feel you recognise she's growing up.

I think you should let her, my dd3 14 is still at the thick black eyeliner stage, dd2 16 has grown out of the black eye look, wears too much foundation but otherwise looks fine, dd1 grown up now wears very little.
When i was 14 my mum wouldn't let me wear make up, told me all that talk about natural beauty etc, I put it on in the toilets at the station on the way to school, and washed it off before I got home, no way was I going to school looking any different from all the others.

Mine (14) wear far too much make-up according to my taste, but she argues that she wants to hide her spots and that she plans to wear close to no make-up when her skin is better. In the meantime she is taking care of her skin and having regular facials and her skin is improving. And she has toned down the 'applied with a trowel' look after I pointed out how she could make it look (slightly) more natural (to make my point I also smeared lipstick all over my face whilst we were on an outing).

Maybe you could make an appointment for her to have a make up lesson somewhere like body shop/boots, go together and make it nice mother/daughter outing? :)

Yes! She's 14 and most of her friends probably wear makeup too. Teenagers use makeup as a confidence boost and she'll appreciate a relaxed attitude from you towards it.

Yes, I allowed dd at 14 out of school.

In school they're not allowed but she has very fair eyelashes so I also allow her to wear brown mascara. Obviously all the other girls are Oompa-Loompas but she still has to stick to the rules.

We had lots of conversations about safety too as make up on her makes her look much older and she has unfortunately had unwelcome attention if she looks older.

Umm... Of course! She will just do it behind your back if you say no. Mine wears quite heavy makeup daily to cover up her acne and no way i would take it from her. ever. www.mumsnet.com/emo/te/brew.gif.pagespeed.ce.BTRk_e7apN.gif