At what Age should a Girl use Makeup?

Back in the early '80's, when I was going on fifteen there were still enough old-fashioned ideas around that there was no pressure to wear makeup. Of course we would sneak down to the local drugstore to buy our secret stash of blue eye shadow and pink lip-gloss, but for the most part, make-up was something for the older girls. Today, you would be hard pressed to find a member of the preteen set with a clean face. Gone is the "Noxema girl" my friends and I aspired to.

I grew up with television role models like Marsha Brady, the Cosby Show kids, and the girls from "Facts of Life." There was an entire Cosby episode where fourteen year old Vanessa got caught wearing makeup. I saw that episode the other day and poor little Vanessa was wearing far less make-up than the thirteen year old girl who lives next door to me.

The role models of today are not quite as wholesome. Hilary Duff and Miley Cyrus (Hannah Montana) are gorgeous young girls but they are made up to the hilt. They are even posing in adult type photo layouts. You certainly didn't see Tootie or Blair in that kind of spread. I think by allowing preteen role models to be shown seductively we are teaching our preteen girls to place way too much value on the physical.

So how young is too young to wear makeup? Under five? Definitely. Under ten? Not unless they are starring in their own sitcom. Under fifteen? This is the grey area.

I think allowing make-up before high school is unfair to our girls. They have the rest of their lives to be judged by how they look. They have the rest of their lives to be "grown ups". This is their time to be riding bikes, jumping rope and playing tag. It's tough for them to skip and play if they are worried about smudging mascara.

I also think it is very important to know your daughter. If she is easily swayed by peers, perhaps instead of getting her make-up, she should be enrolled in a class to help her elevate her self esteem and self worth. Dance class, art class or karate are all good choices to help guide a young girl into womanhood with confidence. Most of these classes are the cost of a couple of lipsticks. On the other hand, if your daughter is a strong personality, a leader who makes up her own mind about things and she wants to wear a little lipstick once in awhile, it would be silly not to let her.

So when should a girl start wearing makeup? On her thirteenth birthday, her sixteenth birthday, her first date, her first dance or some other milestone? Sadly, no matter when she begins, ultimately she will start wearing makeup when she is ready to leave her childhood behind.