Pre-teen girls and makeup; There is just no escaping it, is there?

Update July, 2020

Much has changed in our culture since I originally wrote this post. I'm not sure it is even relevant anymore, but I will keep it here, just for old times sake. 

What's appropriate in terms of makeup choices for tweens today? 

I recently posted an article on Facebook on the topic of teaching young girls to  use only safe cosmetics to protect their health and fertility.

This is a topic that I notice gets a lot of attention, and rightly so. This in itself is a post for another day, but today I want to talk about one of the comments I received about the post link, that set me to thinking.

"Teach them not to wear makeup at all."

The commenter stated that instead of teaching young girls to wear healthy makeup, we should be teaching them not to wear makeup at all.

The major point here being to teach our young women of today that they are more than just a pretty face and they don't need makeup to be accepted and loved.

How true! I concur! Girls and woman over all, do not need to wear makeup. 

What we need to know is that we are beautiful and perfect with or without our tube of  lipstick.

In a perfect world, women who did not want to wear makeup would still feel beautiful and powerful.

Men, who liked to wear what we now consider 'feminine' colors and bling would still feel masculine and strong.

When makeup becomes a crutch and we can not go out of the house without it, that is when it becomes unhealthy for our social and emotional well being.

Can you go out of the house without your mascara?

Likewise, boys are told by our culture that they cannot wear, nor even like pink, or purple, or sparkles..heaven forbid!

Yet, I have known many young boys who loved all of those.

I have known boys who loved wearing pink lipstick, glitter nail polish, dresses! (Your secrets are safe with me, my darlings)

Is this any better than telling our girls they should not play with makeup? 

Both genders like it; it is just plain fun and frivolous.

When our kids were little, didn't we give them something similar, in the form of play doh, paint and glitter?

Of course they want to dabble in it!

And today, men are enjoying more freedom then ever with the world of makeup.

Having said that, the idea of using makeup is very appealing and really can be fun!

'Makeup is also, in its most basic form, extremely satisfying to the senses. It’s the only thing post-childhood that retains a capacity for “play.”' via the Huffington Post's article "Exploring The Concept of Makeup As an Emotional Crutch" 

For those of us who like color and texture and little pots of sparkly powder...it's heady stuff. (I have to say I feel the same way when I walk into a yarn, bead or fabric shop...be still my heart.)

My point is this: keep it all in perspective.

If we raise our girls to be able to go out of the house with their hair in a pony tail and not a stitch of makeup on and still feel great, then we have done well.

If they want to play in pretty pots of powder and gel also, then so be it, just keep it healthy and in moderation.

And hey, my son's favorite outfit when he was five was a very colorful tie dye dress. Did I let him wear it? You bet.