Too Young For Makeup

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My 11 year old step-daughter wears makeup - My 7 year old step-daughter (turned 7 today) got make up from her mom for her birthday. We have a 17 month old girl we had together - I’m very concerned about introducing makeup and the whole material girl thing at such young ages. What is a good rule of thumb?
 
Maybe things have changed, but 11 is very young for makeup. 7 is definitely too young.

Do you want your second grade stepdaughter trying to attract boys?

SMH, Heaven help us.
 
Interesting article from a few years ago.
From a survey conducted by the Renfrew Center Foundation in 2013, it has been discovered that one in five girls who have worn makeup between the ages of 8 and 18 years old have negative feelings about their looks when they don’t wear makeup, such as feeling self-conscious, unattractive or as if something is missing from their faces. Of the girls who wear makeup, 65 percent started wearing it between the ages of 8 and 13 and 27 percent hardly ever leave the house without wearing any. The places most girls feel are okay to be bare-faced are at home, the pool or beach and the gym. The least acceptable places to be bare-faced are friends’ houses and school.
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and
Not only did she want makeup to be a rite of passage for her daughter, but she also wishes young girls wouldn’t be so quick to cover up their faces: “There’s something emotional about seeing your skin as it is and getting to love it,” she said. “You can never get young skin back.” Her advice to tweens who want to wear makeup as soon as possible is to look closely in the mirror and gaze at all the natural colors in your face; tell yourself daily how beautiful you are and realize how much your face shines by itself. You may be anxious to wear makeup early on, but what you naturally have now is what older generations are trying to get back later in life.
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I really like make up.
No, it doesn´t have to cost much.
No, I don´t want to attract men with it.
My mother had a simple rule - no (moderate) heels or make up before the first bra. Worked for me.
 
Not having any experience with makeup except for having 5 sisters, an 11 year-old girl with makeup on is kind of weird. If a seven year-old needs makeup to look good for the world, Heaven help us.
 
I’ve bought my girls (10 and 7) sparkly makeup (eye shadow and lip balm)…sometimes they put it on but usually they forget about it…they’ve watched me put on makeup and want mine. I only ever wear it to Church or if I happen to go out on a date night (rare lol!). They think it’s fun though.
 
I think I was in 7th grade when I first started wearing light makeup. I didn’t NEED to wear it then and wasn’t doing it for boys. It was just for fun. I think it was a bit early compared to my classmates who started wearing it in late middle school/early high school.
 
Makeup is just a thing. It doesn’t have any connotations attached unless we attach those connotations.

I wear makeup semi-regularly. I don’t wear it to attract men. I wear it because there are some days I want to wear make up. It’s fun. My eyes look fantastic with some eyeshadow and eyeliner, and it’s a chance for a little bit of self-expression. I colour my hair for the same reason.

I think the bigger issue arises when we teach little girls that the only reason to bother looking good is for men. It isn’t. You can look good for you, even when you’re a girl.

Makeup should be age appropriate, no matter what the age, and should be reasonable and flattering. If your seven-year-old is painting her face like Marilyn Monroe, that’s a problem. If she’s wearing pink nail polish and sparkles, she’s probably fine. If you make a fuss over everything she wears, she learns to be self-conscious and/or rebels against it at the earliest opportunity.
 
Brittany said:
Personally, I think it best to avoid makeup at all ages unless a special event arises. I don’t understand the need some women (and even some men) feel to wear makeup on a daily basis. Not only is it super expensive, it’s all focused on looking more attractive - and that seems to be something brought about by our sexually-driven culture. What’s wrong with the faces we were born with? I don’t see the purpose of covering it up. (Of course, if one has serious scars or birth defects that make them very uncomfortable, that is a different scenario and I can understand someone wanting to wear makeup all the time for that.)
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I´m really tired to hear this, sorry.
Why do you wear nice clothes when god made you beautiful?
It´s cultural, and I like culture. We are not called to live and cloth us like nuns when we are not. No, it´s not expensive. I spend less than 5 $ per month for beauty products, often nothing for several months. No, I don´t want to attract men. I simply like myself polished. I like myself without make up, but I also like myself in pyjamas and woulnd´t walk the dog or go to work with them. Getting dressed and some light make up is for me a sign of self respect, time for me, respect for my husband as I look nice, as he looks nice in a blazer and good shoes. No, I don´t feel obligated to wear red lipstick to wash the dishes, but I have no problem if I like it that way some days.
 
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I would like to add, as I think this is really a source of misunderstandings, extremism and fear of being sinful: aesthetically pleasing is not the same as lustful. My husband notice other women´s looks as beautiful, it doesnt have to be a sexually looking. Don´t misuse those two things. It´s a common misunderstanding especially for very young adults I think, but beauty has so many aspects beside sexual attraction. Think of this before entering a relation ship. Otherwise, probems, insecurieties and maybe jealousy are near. I couldn´t have a relaxed marriage with a man who is too feared of beauty because he thinks it was sinful.
 
I suppose it depends on where you live, but most 11 year olds I know do not wear makeup on a regular basis. 7 is definitely very, very young for makeup, unless it is just for fun.
I am not a parent, but I am a high school teacher and I do find it concerning when some of my students say that they feel that they cannot leave the house without makeup, or that they feel less beautiful. Some would rather be late for school than leave the house without nicely done makeup.
I wore light makeup in high school but by the time I was in university the novelty wore off. I didn’t want to have to worry about my makeup smudging and smearing… I only wear makeup for special occasions.
I think that makeup is fine as a form of self expression, but we also need to understand that we are no less beautiful without makeup, or that it is something required to look put together.
 
CoeurRempli said:
I think that makeup is fine as a form of self expression, but we also need to understand that we are no less beautiful without makeup, or that it is something required to look put together.
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I agree, but I think the key to sending this message is to take the specialness out of makeup. When we equate makeup with attractiveness and attention (e.g. you are too young to wear makeup because this is something we do to attract male attention), we send the message that to be attractive, you need makeup. When makeup is simply something that you can choose to wear if you feel it expresses something about you on that day, it turns it into an empowering action.
 
Thanks for all the (name removed by moderator)ut. The seven year old is just for fun, but the 11 (soon to be 12) is a bit more on the boy-crazy side. I’m a little worried
So thanks and GodBless!
 
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