Kids and make-up: The right age to begin

Make-up often represents a girl’s eagerness and excitement to be known as a ‘grown-up,’ and explore her attractiveness to peers. For her parents, however, it brings opposite thoughts. They show some concern for their daughter, which sometimes leads to fear and stress relating to the maturity of their, child which could make them become interested in boys.

Stephanie, a five-year-old pupil in Primary One does not go out with her parents without make-up on her face. When asked why, her innocent response was, “My mummy put the lipstick and eye pencil for me.’’ The mum in question turned her face away pretending not to know what her little girl was talking about. Seeing little kids between the ages of 3 and 10 with their faces fully made up is fast becoming a trend.
Sometimes, because she constantly watches her mother applying make-up to her face, a little girl might walk up to her and say, “Mum, I want to wear make-up”. Those words may strike fear into the mother’s heart who feels like it was only yesterday she was walking her little girl hand-in-hand on her first day at school. Quoting Julie Hanks, a psychotherapist who specializes in family relationships, Kim Grundy in an article titled, ‘What’s the right age for girls to wear makeup?’ stated, “It may also represent a daughter pulling away from her parents to focus more on peers, which may feel scary for some parents.”
The teenage years are all about being independent. It means that your child is moving away from being under your wing, and following your rules, to making up their own mind and taking decisions with your advice and counsel. They are more influenced by others, and less by you. It may be quite hurting sometimes to see that they accept the advice of friends or some random social media friend than yours.
Therefore, it can be quite a wrench when your daughter first comes into the room fully made up as a young woman who is going to set out in the world.  This is a step that frightens most parents, especially fathers. At the same time, it is a totally normal and necessary part which denotes partial independence. This leads us to the question: What is the right age to start wearing make-up?
Lifextra cross-examined the opinion of parents and got very interesting and varying responses.
Twentyish Onyinye Amadi, self-employed, expressed annoyance at some mothers this way. “I really get annoyed when I see mothers who dress their children like adults. For God sake, allow them enjoy their childhood. I like seeing kids who look cute. There are other ways of making your child appear fine; you don’t have to go the extra mile to make the child look older than her age in the process all in the name of wanting her to look good.
Giving an advice, Onyinye added, “Let the child have the opportunity of being able to reminisce her childhood when she becomes an adult. In life there are stages. There is no double promotion, hence every stage should be lived to its fullest as they would go a long way in arranging for the next phase you will encounter.”
Lawrence Okonta, a businessman, recalled when his sisters were growing up. He said, “I remember when my sisters were young. They were not allowed to make big hair styles, not to talk of making up. My parents believed in allowing a child attain a mature age before acting mature. These days you see a 13-year-old girl looking like a 19-year-old. That wasn’t the case in the past. I agree that things have changed and children grow faster, but we the parents shouldn’t add petrol to fire by encouraging them to do things that are above their age.
Asking a rhetoric question, Okonta said, “How can you explain this: a small child, especially the girl-child already wearing make-up and making a hairstyle that is too big for her and you the parent would be comfortable with that? And when she is being disturbed by men you would cry out ‘child molestation’. Parents should learn to allow their children live and act like children and not make them grow faster than biology and nature.”
Many parents like Cynthia Ekene, a dentist, may agree their kids should start with light make-up, such as lip gloss and mascara. Cynthia said, “It is no big deal if you choose to make your child look good and presentable. The only problem is when you overdo it. A parent can give the son a good haircut and dress him well, or apply powder and lip balm for his/her baby girl, but it doesn’t mean he/she wants the child to look older or mature than he/she is supposed to”.
She, however, added that some parents step beyond the boundaries and made their children look like ‘big girls’.
 Jude Nwafor, an architect said, “Last Christmas, I saw a baby that I guessed should be just eight or nine years old. She had on this popular hairdo Rihanna, which I understand is made with gum. I recall a time when my wife made that hairdo. She always complained of heat, itching and how much discomfort the hairdo caused her. Now imagine an adult facing such discomfort and a parent melting down the same thing on a small child for the sake of fashion.”
Nwafor had some words of advice for parents. “Parents should learn to draw the line. There should be a sense of morality because if you as a parent is already encouraging that, how would you be able to caution that child when she is an adult and doing things wrongly for the sake of fashion? I remember when my priest was preaching one day and he said: “How would you stop your teenage daughter from wearing bum short if you as the parent already dressed her up in such way when she was younger?”
So then what should be the right age for kids to start ‘wearing’ make-up?