Daughters and Makeup :-)

It seems that girls are getting younger and younger who want to start wearing makeup... and doing things like shaving their legs for that matter, too.

At what age did you (or will you) allow makeup to be worn by your daughters? And what about starting to shave when it's in no way necessary yet?

For me, there are different answers for this one. Things like nail polish and mascara will certainly be "okay" earlier than the heavy "after dark" makeup that far too many little girls think looks good on them. Some of it is relatively harmless, but the heavy eye makeup and lipstick for a 10 year old trying to look 18 just doesn't fly with me.
Shaving... well, when I was young, someone telling me what will actually happen the minute I start shaving my legs would have scared me into putting it off as long as possible but I'm not sure that would work anymore... they want to shave while there's still only "baby fuzz."

Looking forward to seeing your different answers here!

I feel like this is a hard one! I don't wear a ton of makeup myself so I don't know that my daughter will be that worried about it super young. Honestly, I only really wear a tinted moisturizer with sunscreen, and if she enthusiastically wants to wear sunscreen I'll be happy about that!!

I think it's all about conversations with kids. If my daughter asked at a young age to wear makeup I would probably sit down with her and ask her why she feels that way. Maybe at like 12 I would say it was okay for special occasions only - and certainly not heavy make up either. But I really want to encourage her self esteem and make sure she understands she is beautiful just as she is - that's the key foundation I want to build!

My daughter is 12 years old and just started wearing mascara. A lot of her friends are wearing a lot more makeup than that, but I've always been one who uses makeup to accentuate features, not disguise them, so I'm hopeful that she will be the same way. We have always told her how beautiful she is and I'm hoping that she will continue to only use makeup as a means to highlight or accentuate rather than make herself something she's not...if that makes any sense.

She started shaving about a year ago, and it was hard for me to deal with the fact that my baby was shaving...for her it was necessary as she is a competitive gymnast, so the fuzzy baby hairs on her legs were very noticeable during her competitions. We never made a big deal about it or even pointed it out, but when she came to us and asked to shave, we readily agreed with her and proceeded to guide her in the right direction.

I don't think there's a certain age where these things should be allowed for girls. It takes knowing the girl and the circumstances of her life to know when it's the right time for her...and as always, it takes careful guidance and patience so we teach them to be body positive.