how old to start wearing make-up?
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Anonymous
| My tween has expressed an interest. My rising ninth grader hasn't but I'm wondering what high school girls do these days so she doesn't stick out like a sore thumb one way or the other. I can think of one of her classmates in HS who was noticeable because she wore a huge amount but I haven't really played attention to any of the others. |
Anonymous
Each kid is different (but you probably knew that  ) and what your tween might be interested is in the actual changing of color on eyes etc rather than making it an everyday thing. I let my oldest dd try on make-up etc at home, but she wasn't allowed to wear it out until she was in eighth grade. By that time she had gotten a lot of the fascination (ie sparkly purple eyeshadow to match hair chalk) out of her system.
I'd hold off advising, or even asking, your rising ninth grader about make up. Starting high school provides a huge shift to kids regarding what they can and may want to wear. Give school a couple of weeks, and I imagine she'll want to try and experiment with new looks/style to emulate the older kids. SOme wear lots of make-up, some don't--the nice thing about high school is that its a chance to try on and quickly discard all sorts of personas until the teens finds their niche. |
Anonymous
| I live in SF where things are a little more natural than the NE, where I grew up. On the first day of sixth grade, ONE girl wore tinted lip gloss and on the second day of sixth grade, so did EVERY OTHER GIRL. My DD is a rising seventh grader. She loves EOS lip balms, but never wants tint or makeup. My plan is that when she gets into makeup, I'll take her to a makeup person to teach her how to do it correctly so she doesn't make herself accidentally look like a whore. At this point, whenever she wants will be fine with me. |
Anonymous
I think it depends on the high school, and the particular class. WAY back when (in the 90s), there were only 2 or 3 girls in my class who wore full makeup - it was actually pretty natural. We didn't know they had it on until they didn't. Most of us wore lipstick/lipgloss. My cousin, who is now a makeup artist, asked her mom to wear makeup starting in 7th grade, I think. Their compromise was that she could start out with 2 items (like lipstick and eyeshadow or whatever), and then add another item (mascara, foundation, etc) every year. |
Anonymous
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My daughter is rising 9th and hasn't worn a drop. Some wear a little lipgloss and mascara but it is much more natural than the late 80's for me. Big hair big make-up. What a horrible decade
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Anonymous
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13 is my soft set rule. I have a 4th grader that is absolutely obsessed. Right now lipgloss is the only thing I allow outside of the house. My husband thinks I should just start giving lessons now so she at least wears it appropriately.
I wish she didn't care. |
Anonymous
I think that she probably knows more about what high school girls do these days than you do, or than DCUM does. If you want to know what high school girls do these days, ask her. |
Anonymous
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I see sixth grade girls wearing mascara at the school where I teach, but the majority of the girls don't wear makeup regularly until 8th/9th (some don't wear it then). It actually appears that hair dying is much more popular among the middle school crowd at this point here, especially the odd streak of pink or blue. The high school girls go for a more sophisticated look.
If I had a daughter, I would probably allow mascara in 6th if she wanted, and lip gloss. I would also buy her a Clarisonic and some nice face washes and creams and try to entice her into spending time on skin care rather than thick makeup. But we're in Europe and I don't have a daughter, so I could be way out of touch with all of this. |
Anonymous
| I would say ok to lip gloss with very light coloring if any, but not anything else, and def. not mascara. It smears during the day and she'll look gawdawful. |
Anonymous
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Whenever they want, as long as they're responsible enough to wash their faces daily without needing reminders and they comply with any dress code restrictions.
Makeup is harmless, and how my kids look is their business. I can remember wearing some pretty hideous eye shadow for a few weeks in middle school before I got that out of my system. |
Anonymous
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It really depends, but my Moco high school DD has been wearing some makeup since 7th grade. She generally wears mascara and liner pencil under the eyes and a bit of lip gloss or tinted lip balm. She also wears a bit of sheer foundation and powder now at age 16, but this is mostly to cover redness on her face due to a skin issue (Rosacea).
I never forbid her wearing makeup, even in 7th grade, but did try to guide her choices away from anything too garish or over the top. We did a couple of trips to Sephora so she could experiment and get some feedback from me and the consultants who work there. |
Anonymous
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Before 6th grade: regular lip balm
6th grade: tinted lip balm, clear mascara, concealer if needed 9th grade: everything else |
Anonymous
| Agree totally with those who are cautioning about cleaning face thoroughly each night. DD uses the Neutrogena makeup remover wipes, and follows up with gentle face washing with cetaphil or similar. This has worked well. |
Anonymous
Exactly what I was going to recommend. They can show them how to do a fresh, age-appropriate look. |
Anonymous
Sorry but concealer in 6th grade???? |