How Young Is Too Young?

[xina751]

What an awesome thread to start.

I feel like i have some what contradictory view to this. i was an artistic child, so i really felt when i was young that i could wear makeup without looking awful. and as many of you know, i had bad rosacea, so my mom loosened her grip on makeup a little bit because of how self conscious i was over my skin (this was middle school...anyone else remember that awful time?). once she gave me the freedom, i went to town, but i was that kid who was DETERMINED to learn how to wear it right. my mom didn't know much about makeup, and never really wore any herself except for occasional lipstick or mascara...but she encouraged me by complimenting my work and getting me into studying makeup by myself with books and magazines, then later with school and training.

i am not so niave to say that all middle school aged girls should be allowed to wear makeup and then beyond that, wear older clothes. children should definitely be left to be children. but i also don't think one set in stone way to deal with this. my mom is english and very set in her ideas....but she saw me sneaking foundation because of how awful my skin was. you just have to be involved with your kids is the bottom line. if you are going to allow something, then you need to take the responsibility as a parent to monitor your child's progression. i think it's important to examine each child, each situation differently....

 

[greeneyedlady]

^ What a great point. And yes, those middle school years were AWFUL when it came to skin. For me, the skin issues started during 4th grade....I matured very early. By 5th grade mother nature came and I had full blown acne and hated to leave the house. There were countless trips to the dermatologist....medications up the wah-zoo, etc. Nothing helped. Finally I got put on Accutane (it was experimental at the time), as well as birth control, (it was mandatory if you were on Accutane), and had to go for weekly blood tests to make sure the medication wasn't affecting my liver. It was AWFUL, but it cured my acne and prevented scarring. 

I also snuck my mom's foundation to hide the problem. Shortly following that is when I started seeing the dermatologist. 

Xina: Do you still have rosacea? I'm not very familiar with the condition. Does it come and go? Is it permanent? Do you "grow out of it?" Is there a cure? Thanks for sharing! 

 

[Claudia5]

Originally Posted by musingmuse /img/forum/go_quote.gif


Lucky! I was a hairy beast.

I'm glad I can shave it all off now. lol

LOL! I feel your pain

 

[Claudia5]

In my opinion maybe 15..I dont think 13 year old girls should be worried about makeup, heck i was still playing with dolls at that age

..In middle school I would wear some loose powder and a little bit of eyeliner...but I didnt start doing my "complete" makeup with mascara eyeliner foundation etc. until i was a sophmore 

About a month ago i was at sephora waiting to get my makeup matched again and there was a little girl i would say who was about 9..she had more eyeliner and eye makeup than a drag queen.. she was running all over the place grabbing lipsticks and lip liners and what really surprised me was how good she was at applying everything..shoot when i would play dress up and use my moms makeup i ended up looking like a raccoon...any who i think the reality of things is that a lot of kids now a days are not acting their age..its so sad i remember when i was younger i didn't give a rats ass about dressing nice or doing my hair..i was just enjoying my adolescent years and a lot children just are doing that anymore..

 

[jusnanz]

I think opinions may vary with this question; however, my personal opinion is that elementary is too young.  I've allowed my daughter the flavored lipglosses in elementary, but nothing more.  My daughter is now a Freshmen in high school and she wears eyeliner and mascara, but it is by her choice.  I prefer the natural look or less is more look of make-up, but will do the bold and smokey looks for special occasion and my daughter has the same attitude regarding make-up.

 

[NotAVampireLvr]

I wore makeup for the first time to a dance in 8th grade... My mom took me out to the drug store and we got some Almay powder foundation and some neutral eyeshadow.    I wish I had a better skin care regime back then... I don't think I started taking care of my face until I was in college.

With my daughter I plan to get her started on skin care when she hits puberty... maybe play with make-up together once in a while at home... outside the house though - probably not until the night of her 8th grade dance.  I remember that trip with my mom fondly and I'm looking forward to creating something similar with her.

 

[zadidoll]

Watching My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding on one of the cable channel (TLC I think) and I'm SHOCKED by the amount of makeup that the little girls wear along with how revealing and provocative the clothes are. If you ever seen Toddlers and Tiara... this is worse because the girls wear makeup like that EVERY DAY.

 

[taliacrayon24]

I personally had to fight a long, long battle with my mom to be able to wear makeup in 8th grade. I finally won, and could wear whatever I wanted. However, I think 12 is the absolute youngest that should be allowed. Any younger is just growing up too fast. Also, I see girls in 6th grade wearing heavy black eyeliner, and it just looks bad. That's my opinion.

 

[angels41105]

Hmm. Well. My mom didn't let me wear makeup. That doesn't mean I didn't wear any.

When I hit 6th grade, puberty kicked in and so did acne. So I started wearing foundation. Which i'm sure made it worse, I remember it being really greasy. But she did teach me to blend.

She stuck to her guns about eyeshadow though. Definitely No eyeshadow for me and god forbid she suspect that I had some on. I wore lipstick. Usually Mauvey shades ( and this rediculous orange/rust colored stuff). I worked my way into wearing eye makeup by the end of 8th grade becuase i was in a lot of theater stuff. But even then it wasn't eyeshadow, but eyeliner.

Thinking thinking..... High school didn't mean much for me in regards to extreme makeup either (except during theater seasons). It was my senior year that it kicked in. I used to be an artist on paper and canvas, a poetry writer and painter. All that died around that same time and my artistic outlet became face and nails. And the past couple years I've really been blossoming with eye makeup.

I ALWAYS looked older than my age, regardless of makeup. So even when I wore it, I didn't look like a little kid with makeup on. And my mom was right so tapper me into it. If I hadn't had that theater loophole I probably wouldn't have used any till late high school.

 

[xina751]

Greeneyedlady...for a long time my rosacea what unexplained. it was resistant to traditional rosacea treatments and i also had the added bonus of small bumpy type inflammation to go along with it! alot of people believe that rosacea is bacterial in nature and in my case that is probably true. i have suspected lyme disease and have been using treatments for lyme that help with all of my symptoms and has helped my skin quite a lot. it is still pink though, and i think that may be forever. although i don't know for sure.

 

[zadidoll]

Rosecea is permanent and doctors don't really know what causes it. In my case I had clear skin until I was 28 and had my twins. After that my skin went to hell in a hand basket and has never really recuperated.

http://www.medicinenet.com/rosacea/article.htm

Rosacea (roz-ay-sha) is a very common red, acne-like benign skin condition that affects many people worldwide. As of 2010, rosacea is estimated to affect at least 16 million people in the United States alone and approximately 45 million worldwide. Most people with rosacea are Caucasian and have fair skin. The main symptoms of rosacea include red or pink patches, visible tiny broken blood vessels, small red bumps, red cysts, and pink or irritated eyes. Most people with the disease may not even know they have rosacea or that it is a diagnosable and treatable condition. Many people who have rosacea may just assume they blush or flush easily or are just very sun sensitive.

Rosacea is considered a chronic (long-term), non-curable skin condition with periodic ups and downs. As opposed to traditional or teenage acne, most adult patients do not "outgrow" rosacea. Rosacea characteristically involves the central region of the face, causing persistent redness or transient flushing over the areas of the face and nose that normally blush -- mainly the forehead, the chin, and the lower half of the nose. It is most commonly seen in people with light skin and particularly in those of English, Irish, and Scottish backgrounds. Some famous people with rosacea include the former U.S. President Bill Clinton and W.C. Fields.

Rosacea is not considered contagious or infectious. There is no evidence that rosacea can be spread by contact with the skin, sharing towels, or through inhalation.

http://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/tc/rosacea-topic-overview

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/rosacea/DS00308

The cause of rosacea is unknown, but researchers believe it's likely due to some combination of hereditary and environmental factors.

A number of factors can aggravate rosacea or make it worse by increasing blood flow to the surface of your skin. Some of these factors include:

• Hot foods or beverages
• Spicy foods
• Alcohol
• Temperature extremes
• Sunlight
• Stress, anger or embarrassment
• Strenuous exercise
• Hot baths, saunas
• Corticosteroids
• Drugs that dilate blood vessels, including some blood pressure medications

One thing is certain — alcohol doesn't cause rosacea. Although drinking alcohol can lead to flushing of the skin and may worsen rosacea, people who don't drink alcohol can get rosacea.

 

[BombDiggity]

Haha I remember that commercial too! I haven't seen it in ages..

Anyways I started wearing eyeliner on my water line in grade 8 and foundation and mascara, foundation eyeliner, liquid liner, blush and all stuff in grade 9 all the way to grade 11. Then I stopped caring in grade 12 and felt like it was a waste of good makeup to wear it to school every day so then I mostly only wore foundation and concealer to school haha and I kept my makeup for when I hung out with my friends and went to parties and stuff..

Originally Posted by AndreaRenee /img/forum/go_quote.gif

No one ever regulated make-up for me, I don't ever remember someone telling me to go wash my make-up off at any age. =x

I started wearing it at 13. Eyeshadow, mascara, powder foundation and blush. I used to use a lot of eyeliner too.

I remember wearing a dark teal eyeshadow on my lid and a dark purple on my lower lash line with black eyeliner and mascara. This was my staple look, haha.

If I have a daughter I'll probably only let her wear mascara and lipgloss in middle school too. I'll loosen up a bit when she reaches high school but I still wouldn't want her looking older than she is.

There seems to be so much pressure on kids to grow up so fast these days, I wouldn't want her 'playing adult' and missing out on a child hood. Or being deeply affected by all of the pressures from the media that girls need to look and be 'perfect'.

This reminds me of a PSA that aired a lot when I was a kid, I wish they still showed these:

 

[greeneyedlady]

Wow there's a flash from the past! The PSA that stands out in my mind is the fried egg/anti drug one.

 

[Claudia5]

Originally Posted by BackwoodsBlonde /img/forum/go_quote.gif

When I was in middle school, my mom bought my my first set of makeup. It was the Almay Intense i-Color set which was supposed to enhance my blue eyes. It was pretty natural and she made sure I kept it toned down. That was all I wore though aside from the occasional clear lipgloss.

I find it ridiculous to see all these younger girls -I've personally seen girls in elementary schools dolled up like gals who go to my high-school- getting into intense makeup and trying to act grown up. Don't get me started on the hair, clothes, and the fact that they have nicer phones than mine, haha. They see all these shows on TV that give a false impression of the real world and encourage them to forget that they're kids and become one of the cast members of The Hills or something.

Even though I'm only a junior in High School right now, I've already planned to not allow my future kids -if I have daughters anyways- to wear makeup until they're around 14 or 15 -and even then it'll be light-. They need time to enjoy being kids like we all did and not be so heavily influenced by pop culture. Makeup is a beautiful and creative tool to enhance someone's features but at the same time, when you've got natural youth and beauty, you dont cover it up for the sake of looking "mature". Simple as that.

doesnt that feel great when you get your first set of makeup.. you feel so grown up

 

[Johnnie]

Originally Posted by Bonnie Krupa /img/forum/go_quote.gif





I put eyeshadow and blush on my 2 year old because she loves it.  It's only for fun though I don't let her wear it out.  Happy birthday to your daughter!!

I do the same for my 3 year old. She loves watching me put it on and at least asks for lipstick. She is not allowed to wear it outside of the house because like you said, it's only for fun.

Hmm...I think I started wearing makeup in 8th grade. Although if I had wanted to wear it sooner I'm sure my mom wouldn't have had a problem with that. My mom, grandma and all of my aunts wore a lot of makeup, huge influence!

By the time my daughter is 8 I will let her wear lip gloss to school. We will see how it pans out from there. Like Reija said, I teach my daughter that she is beautiful, even more beautiful actually, without it. I don't want her believing she needs it to be beautiful.

 

[AliciaMLay]

I think it is all dependent on the child.  I had extremely dark circles even in 4th grade that made me very self conscious. I was already chubby so I didn't need anything else really to make me self-conscious.  My older sister helped me learn proper concealer techniques and just a little bit worked wonders for me.  I also shaved my legs at this point (very light skin, very dark hair!) but I was mature at that age and felt like I was doing it for reasons that weren't frivolous.  My niece is 12 and has a uni-brow but doesn't care about it and doesn't want to do anything.  I think that's great because it works for her.  Every child is different!

 

[angels41105]

I have an almost 4 year old niece. And her mom is anything but feminine. But this little girl, the most gorgeous child ever..... she likes to watch her auntie do makeup. Last night she cleptoed my makeup bag and was asking me what everything was and was playing with my brushes. Shes just way too darn cute. And i hate to say it, she's got her mom's brows ( or my brother's), either way she's gonna need a tweezers and her mom clearly doesnt own one.

but shes 4 so that's YEARS off of happening. I truly think as well that it is dependent on the kid. And their reasons for wanting to wear makeup. Is it to look older? To impress someone? Or for like some of us, starts out as "necessity". To cover up things, to mute puberty.

When i was 12 my mom and i still got into it about me shaving my legs. .... I have DARK hair and i was practically transparent back then. Finally one day i grabbed a razor and went to work. Same with tweezing. Some things you decide for yourself.

For my niece, though she sees me doing crazy stuff with  my face I will have to be the one to guide her. And I think, I hope, she will respect my opinion when the time comes.

( the pretty kid ) She got lucky and got mine/my mom's eyes. Both my bro and her mom have brown eyes.

 

[geeko]

I only wore make up with i was 15 but that's only caused I had to put on for a dance performance.

Otherwise, i started officially wearing ANY form of make up when i was 17

 

[Shaylynn]

Depends on the situation.

My mom let me wear light makeup (Concealer, powder) in 6th grade, when I started struggling with acne. I'd say, light makeup is necessary if a child feels insecure or gets teased about her appearance, at pretty much any age. Keyword: LIGHT. 

Back in 6th grade, it made me sick to see so many little girls with fake tans, bleached hair, too much eyeliner, facial piercings, even! At 11 and 12, they are still children, and should be told EVERY DAY to enjoy their time as such. There is a time to experiment with makeup and go totally crazy with it: COLLEGE. 

 

[DD98]

well i was in grade gour when i started getting interested before that my 2 sisters who are much older and my mum would put make up on me for fun /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" /> but i remember grade four i started asking my mum if i could get some make up she said no of course but i am very persistant  so she said very little why dont you ask ur sisters if they have some old stuff so i did ask they didnt so i went and bought some lick smackers eye shadow pallet and some tinted lip gloss that was good for me i got my fix until grade six i started wearing everything pretty much but i did it tastefully i did not wear foundation i wore a little powder concealer because i didnt want to have a shiny face and no liquid liner only pencil on the bottom also no crazzzzyyy red lipstick or anything and i wasnt aloud to wear it to church my mum tried to not let me wear it to school but me being the 11 year old snot i was(still am 2 years later) i didnt listen and finally my mum was kinda like its better then drugs... its not messing with her school work so whatever and grade seven i started to wear foundation BUT only mousse i did not like liquid and im alot more experianced with all that stuff liquid just gives you NARSTY cake face i use whatever i want to now but my parents cant really stop me lol but i got my period before grade four and everyone told me i was a women now and all that kind of thing so i thought i had to grow up but i look back MAN I WISH I HAD MORE OF A CHILDHOOD! since i was little i was trying tobe like my sisters who were sooo much older so i didnt really "play" i did art and sang and modeled i loved the modeling i wish i still could but i am much too self concouse and feel there are too many thing that are wrong about me... but im okay i guess lol