“When girls are younger, they tend to think they need more makeup than they actually do. A little bit goes a long, long way.”Bobbi Brown
It's a question that can make most any mom stop in her tracks: "Can I wear makeup?"
In a world where little girls of 5 or 6 get spa treatments and mega-birthday parties, can lip gloss and mascara be such a leap?
What's the right age? What's the right "starter makeup"? Why can't she wait just a little while?
It's a question that's popping up sooner than it once did. Little girls whose ages have not yet reached the double-digits are wanting to wear makeup more and more.
A new report by the NPD Group, which researches consumer trends, finds that makeup usage is going up in the fresh-faced group known as tweens (ages 8 to 12).
Among tweens, mascara use was up 8%, eye liner was up 6% and lipstick was up 5% over usage in 2007. This "Insight Into the Youth Beauty Market" report notes that regular use (at least once a month) of mascara in this group nearly doubled in the past two years (from 10% to 18%), and eye liner use was within a lash of that (rising from 9% to 15%).
The little ones who ask about wearing makeup may say their friends are doing it, but the beauty market report says they "look to their parents and siblings to see what they are using to help decide what to buy and use."
Of course, before they decide, you must decide.
All of which is of little concern to Kathy Attewell, a Greendale mother of two girls, now ages 12 and 16. She had little difficulty on this front with her own girls.
"I just stuck to my guns," she says. "I had rules. The rules were just the rules." When her youngest, Lauren, turned 12, she was allowed to wear "a little bit" of makeup. That meant mascara and a bit of blush.
"And that's pretty much it. We limited it," Attewell says. "I see kids in grade school who wear it. I waited until she was in sixth grade, in middle school. She was saying that kids younger than her were (wearing makeup) and I said, 'I don't care.'?"
She adds, "I was probably 16 when I wore 'the works.'?"
This is one thing that makes parenting today challenging, says Lynn H. Turner, a professor of communication at Marquette University, whose specialty is family communication.
"Kids are constantly bringing to you things that you did not experience as a child," she says. Consider the makeup issue a gateway to bigger topics - and ongoing discussions, she says.
"It's a feminist issue on many levels," she adds. "You can ask, 'Why do you need to wear makeup? Why do you need to enhance yourself? What do you feel is wrong?' It's a great opportunity, really, to introduce a lot of things."
Makeup maker Bobbi Brown has written about this in her book, "Bobbi Brown Teenage Beauty: Everything You Need to Look Pretty, Natural, Sexy and Awesome" (Harper, 2001). A follow-up, as yet untitled, is due out in September.
Her view on this matter isn't different from her view of makeup use in general.
"Don't try to cover up your face with too much makeup," Brown says in an e-mail interview. "Let your natural beauty shine through, and just use a few products to accentuate your beauty. When girls are younger, they tend to think they need more makeup than they actually do. A little bit goes a long, long way."
What's the right age, and the right "starter makeup"? Girls younger than 12 won't necessarily like what Brown has to say.
"There is no need to use makeup before the age of 12 or 13," Brown replies via e-mail. "Even then, you hardly need any, but at that age girls like to start experimenting with color. Most important at this age is to start a good skin regime, like cleaning your face morning and night and always using a moisturizer with an SPF in it.
"I suggest starting with lip gloss and mascara," she adds. "These are two items that will definitely play up your features while still allowing for a more natural look."
Here are more tips from Brown and Turner, a professor of communication at Marquette University specializing in family and adolescents relationships:
•?Make it a conversation. This shouldn't be a lecture, Turner says. "Listen. Find out why they want to do that. Just letting your child feel heard is extremely important," she says.
•?Don't worry about getting the conversation wrong. You'll have more than once chance, Turner says. "Parents have such a worry that they're going to say one thing wrong, and it's going to mess up their kids for life," she says. "One of the challenges and beauties of family communication is it's an ongoing thing. You do have your kids living in your home with you, so you have a lot of opportunities. So if you mess up once, you have other chances."
•?Keep it short. The younger the child, the shorter the attention span. "You don't have to go into a whole long dissertation on it," Turner says. "You just plant a few seeds and let them think about it, and come back to you when they're ready."
•?Take your time. "When a kid comes in and asks you about something you haven't thought over, there's nothing wrong with saying, 'Hmm, let me think about it for a while,'?" Turner says. "It's OK to admit to your kid that this is sort of a new thing for you, that when you were 8 that was the furthest thing from your mind."
•?Let them experiment. "Often, girls like to start experimenting with lip gloss and eye shadow." Brown says. These are two items that offer the most color options, and girls have fun experimenting with the different products."
Δεν υπάρχουν σχόλια:
Δημοσίευση σχολίου