What Age Should Girls Wear Makeup

What Age Should Girls Wear Makeup What is the right age for girls to wear makeup?

The age that girls should be allowed to wear makeup has been an age-old and controversial debate and one that tends to create discord in the hearts of mothers and guardians the world over. While the average of girls beginning to wear makeup is dropping – a recent survey done in the United Kingdom showed that girls are now wearing makeup at the age of 11 – three years younger than it was a decade ago – most women don’t approve of girls in their pre-teens wearing makeup.  According to the survey, 89% of women think girls should be at least 14 years old before wearing foundation, 13 years before using eye make-up and 12-and-a-half before wearing lip-gloss. Girls younger than that should not be wearing makeup at all.

“Mom – I want to wear makeup!”

When your daughter comes home from school and utters those words, it is time to make a decision as to whether you will allow her to begin the daily routine of applying makeup. Professionals believe that the desire to wear makeup represents a young girl’s eagerness to grow up and become a ‘woman’ – older women wear makeup to enhance their features and look attractive and this is what a young girl foresees. Parents, however, may see this desire to grow up in a different light – as a form of peer pressure from other girls at school or a need to feel and look more attractive for the opposite sex, which can be a scary thought for any parent. While you cannot stop the natural progression of growing up, you can certainly slow it down and manage it to a certain extent.

One Step at a Time

Lip Gloss and Mascara- Start with the basics, such as lip-gloss and mascara, which can be applied very lightly to create a natural look. Girls between the ages of 10-12 shouldn’t wear anything more than this, as they will look overdone and too ‘made-up’ for their age.

Foundation and Cover Up- From here, progress onto a light foundation or cover up makeup for ages 13-14. It is very important at this stage to teach your daughter how to choose the correct color of foundation to suit her skin tone, as well as the correct methods of applying it. Foundation that is the wrong color or incorrectly applied can look ‘cakey’ and thick, causing the wearer to look much older than she is.

Color – Eyeliner, Eye Shadow and Blush- From there, color can be added from the age of 15 onwards in the form of eyeliner, eye shadow, and blush. Here again, it is vital to guide your daughter into choosing the correct colors for her eyes in order to enhance her natural beauty.

Teenage daughters don’t always tend to agree with their mothers – so a good idea would be to take her to a makeup counter in the beauty section of a department store and allow the makeup artist or consultant to guide her through the process of choosing the correct tones of makeup and methods of application.

The desire for young girls to wear makeup might also be a confidence issue, so whether you are an advocate of allowing makeup to be worn or not, one of the most important things to remember is to continually reassure your daughter that she is beautiful just the way she is.