We’ve all seen those cute YouTube clips of little girls playing around with their mother’s makeup in mock beauty tutorials, and cooed “aw, how cute”, but it turns out that an increasing number of British mothers will let their young daughters wear makeup for real.
Nail polish, eye shadow and lip gloss are all makeup items that many British mothers turn a blind eye to when it comes to their under five-year old daughters; however, many draw the line at false nails, eyeliner and false eyelashes, making them wait until their teens first.
The findings were released by FalseEyelashes.co.uk as part of an ongoing study of more than 2,000 women who have at least one daughter under the age of 13 years old, and their beauty habits.
So, what camp are you in? Do you think “hold up, we need to let little girls be little girls, and enjoy their childhood before growing up too fast” or do you think “It’s just a little fun, no harm done”?
Reassuringly, most mothers in the study think makeup is inappropriate for their children, because it will make them appear older or ruin their skin, however, they will generally allow them to wear nail polish, eye shadow and lip gloss under the age of five. This in spite of the fact that they only started wearing makeup themselves when they were about 10 years.
A spokesperson for FalseEyelases.co.uk, commented: “It’s one of those topics that everyone has an opinion on; should children be wearing makeup, appearing older, acting older even, or should they keep their innocence and enjoy their childhood for as long as possible? Similar to ear piercing, there will be some parents that think it’s OK from a young age, whilst there are others that will prefer for their children to wait as long as possible – there’s no right or wrong answer.”
Those surveyed were asked when it would be okay for their daughters to begin wearing various types of makeup and other beauty products and the average ages were collated. Read on for their responses. Do you agree? Let us know in the comments.
- Nail polish – 2 years 4 months
- Eye shadow – 3 years 9 months
- Lip gloss – 4 years 5 months
- Blusher – 6 years 10 months
- Lipstick – 7 years 6 months
- Mascara – 10 years 1 month
- Foundation – 12 years 7 months
- Stick on / acrylic nails – 13 years 1 month
- Eyeliner – 13 years 3 months
- False eyelashes – 14 years 8 months
YouTube credit: Marv n Nikky
