Too Young - Age Issues in Cosmetics and Makeup

Dear Sugar,
I just received your message and your question.
At what age should young girls be allowed to use or even experiment with makeup?

Of course in our society we have various divergent views on this. My parents had four boys and my only sister was the last (I was the first) so my recollection of these is scanty to say the least. All the same my mom was very conservative with most things and I seriously doubt she would be any less protective of her only daughter.  I imagine she would probably make a rule that would go like...” Listen. No makeup until you are out of (secondary) school, period.”
Well, other answers may not be quite so simplistic.

Last year Mario Dedivanovich (celebrity makeup artist) posted a picture of a child wearing very professional makeup. In her comment, Mattie Kahn of ManRepeller.com stated “I don’t condone babies in oversexed photo shoots or winged liner on toddlers. But I do know that I fell for makeup when I was too young to use it. I think a lot of us did.” (manrepeller.com June 30, 2015). Probably alluding to the fact that experimenting with makeup is a just an innocent part of growing up for any young girl and nothing to get overly excited about. Boys will be boys and girls will play with makeup.

Bridget March of Cosmopolitan also commented:  “People called it not only "wrong" but "disturbing", "sick" and actually "abuse". While others retaliated by labeling it "art", "beautiful" and pointing out that the age of innocence is all about playing dress up and make believe. (Bridget March June 24, 2015 cosmopolitan.co.uk)

However, a mischievous escapade into mommy’s cabinet is one thing, wearing full blown makeup to the primary school Christmas party is quite another.

On Sundays it’s not uncommon to find a few “wayward’ parents bringing their young girls to church wearing long hair extensions, heals and full makeup. Of course most people (me inclusive) would just prefer to simply wrinkle our noses in distaste and then forget about it seconds later. Still it’s a worrying trend these days.

Jan Fahll MeD (parents.com) suggests that parents should ”exert their influence, offer advice, and say "no," particularly when issues involve the child's health, safety, and the family's values.”

She goes on to state that “even if you make this rule about lipstick, she might sneak a tube of it in her backpack and apply it once at school. If you catch her doing so, confiscate the lipstick and state how disappointed you are. Don't, however, punish her further. Because dress-up and makeup have been a lifelong interest of your daughter, combined with the influence of certain female entertainers who little girls attempt to emulate, you're probably fighting a losing battle. Nevertheless, exert your power, control, and influence as best you can, while not losing the loving relationship that exists between you and your daughter.”

In an interesting twist Dr. Jan also states that “Makeup, hair styles, and clothing are the gray areas in parenting -- there are no hard-and-fast rules. Each parent-and-child pair needs to settle on certain parameters without resorting to heated arguments, which will only hurt the parent/child relationship, most likely making the issue bigger than it is.”

Is this an overblown issue? Are our kids losing their innocence too soon? Are mere babies being encouraged or even forced to look and act like adults, never enjoying the joy and freedom of just being kids? Can parallels be drawn to child trafficking and child abuse? Is there a common thread?

“In Nigeria, girls cannot wear makeup to school... Some schools don't allow you to even retouch/relax your hair. Some insist on all girls cutting their hair really short...No painting of nails. No long nails in some cases. And most certainly no makeup. (therelentlessbuilder.com  23 September 2013)

Most conservative Nigerian parents would take similar position. 

Alvin Toffler once stated that “parenthood remains the single greatest preserve of the amateur”.

Seriously, if this is true, for any amateur it’s always better to err on the side of caution.