Should children play with make up?
As a mum to twin girls, I’m very aware of ensuring that I promote a body positive attitude to my girls. Although they’re only four years old, I’m careful what I say around them when it comes to my opinions on my body.
I mean nobody is perfect. Everyone has parts of them that they’d like to improve upon. Perhaps you want to be a little taller, slimmer or have a smaller nose, who knows! The things that children over hear adults saying can often have quite a powerful impact on their own opinions of themselves.
I’d like to have a flatter tummy, but you’d never hear me saying this in front of my children. Instead I walk with confidence when going from the shower to the bedroom to get dressed. I don’t hide my body from them. It’s nothing to be ashamed of and I want the girls to see that you may not think you’re perfect, but no-body is and in fact we should all learn to embrace our imperfections as they’re what makes us, us.
Like many women I wear make-up. Ever since the girls were babies they’ve always watched me do my make-up so it was only natural that eventually their curiosity would mean that they’d ask me questions about why I wear make-up and of course they then want to try it themselves.
I let them put on some clear lip balm and very pale peach eye shadow, but I would never let them put mascara, lipstick or foundation etc. on. I don’t think it’s wrong to let children experiment and play with make-up, but I do always tell the girls that we’re all beautiful without make-up and we certainly don’t need it to be beautiful because we already are.
I’m still unsure how to answer them though when they ask me why I wear make-up. Should I tell them it’s because it makes me feel a little more confident about myself? That it makes me feel a bit better about the way I look? Well, maybe not the last one, but I’m yet to find a suitable answer.
Either way, I don’t see any harm in letting them have a play with my make-up now and again, as long as they understand that they’re beautiful as they are.
What do you think? Would you let your child wear makeup?
3 Comments
Mellissa Williams
August 2, 2016 at 12:04 pm
I think you are doing the right thing, let them play with makeup but also tell them they are beautiful with or without, it makes no difference to you
MissBonda
August 2, 2016 at 7:36 pm
My mum never showed me how to apply make up properly, I think what you are doing is great!But I LOVE that you make they understand they are beautiful as they are even more 🙂
Katie Clark
August 3, 2016 at 1:06 pm
I think you're spot on with this. I don't think there's anything wrong at all with children playing with make-up – it's all just part of experimenting and exploring as children. What I do think is wrong though (and it's clear you're not doing this and I'm not for a moment suggesting you are) is young children in properly applied make up to go out to parties, to play, to just to places in general. In my view there is a huge difference between playing dress up using make up and actually wearing make up. Like you say, that has the potential to suggest that we need to wear make up to be beautiful, to participate in activities and it worries me from the perspective of sexualising children. It's tricky isn't it, but it sounds to me you're spot on with it 🙂