I have two nieces, aged 10 and 5 respectively, who refuse to leave their house without a heavy coat of lipstick and lip gloss. They are also the same kids who have a full face of makeup for their school's annual functions. I knew it was futile to bring this up with their mother because guess where they got access to all the makeup from? There were a few videos doing the rounds of internet a few months ago, showing young girls, as young as 3 year olds, doing makeup like a pro. You should see them work the beauty blender and put on fake eyelashes like a pro. The most common comment under those videos was 'oh! so cute'. And I wanted to scream! How can people find something that flabbergasting, cute? Do they fail to see that it is wrong and causing harm to that little's girl's self-esteem big time? Now I am not against makeup, but when young girls start 'loving' makeup that way, it is alarming for me. If you find young girls with makeup cute, then please read on to find out how it harms those very little girls.
Chemicals: Ever read the back of a lipstick or concealer cover? Go through the ingredients list, or better still, do a google search on how cosmetics are made, and you will understand the point I am trying to drive home. On one hand, people use only baby products, paraben free and safe for a baby's sensitive skin, and then expose them to a truckload of chemicals and whatnot through makeup! Doesn't make sense, right? And when you do a full face of makeup, foundation, concealer, lipstick, bronze, eyelash glue and whatnot, you are exposing your skin to a number of chemicals that can be harmful.
Body image: Childhood is the time when you need to work on filling your child with confidence and positive body image. By exposing them to a world of makeup and fake beauty, what are you teaching her? That she is only as pretty as the products and shades she wears? That she has to spend hours and hours to look beautiful? Why would you want your child to be that shallow?Relying on makeup only gives you a fake sense of achievement and self-worth. If you are a parent of a child, it is your duty to teach them to accept beauty in its raw form, without the highlighters and correctors.
Losing innocence: When you let your child 'play with makeup', you are snatching away the idea of things she can actually play with. A 5 year old shouldn't need to worry about what shade of lipstick goes well with her dress? She should be running free and getting messy. Why do you want your child to grow up faster that she already is? Let your child learn and run, let her scrape her knees and cover it with a bandage. She can learn later in life how to 'cover her flaws' with makeup -- which again is a very wrong attitude and does not teach self-worth in any way.
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