Introducing Your Daughter to Makeup

As parents we don't want to think about our children growing up. In fact the idea of a beloved baby girl growing into someone who wears makeup can strike terror into the hearts of parents everywhere.

Yes, it's hard. But the fact is that your little doll is going to wear makeup at some point. It should be you who teaches her the way to wear makeup. Otherwise she'll end up applying blue mascara in the girl's room after she's arrived at school. No one wants that.

The way to introduce your daughter to makeup is to start slowly. Begin when she is about ten or eleven. I know you think that's too young, but trust me. This is when the blue mascara craze begins. You need to get in there early.

When your daughter is a tween (10, 11, 12), take her shopping for some lip-gloss. That's all you need to get started. Get a pale pink shade, and show her how to apply it. Assuming it's okay with her school, let her wear this all she wants. Hopefully this will fill that makeup void in her little pre-adolescent mind, and she will not turn to other kinds of makeup as her peers might be doing.

When she's a little bit older, you can introduce blush. Again, choose a pale shade. Show her how to apply just a little bit to her cheekbones. Teach her to blend so that she's not running around with big pink stripes on her cheeks.

This is a good time to have the talk about how a little bit of makeup goes a long way. When girls first start wearing makeup they are tempted to believe that more is better. Instruct your daughter that makeup is used to enhance your beauty, not to attempt to create a false look.

Show your daughter how to choose the best colors for her face and how to match her makeup selections. For example she should know that she can wear a peach colored blush with a peach colored lip-gloss but not a peach blush with a pink lip-gloss.

After blush, the next step should be eye shadow. Buy something neutral in the tan family. Show her how to apply it just on the round part of her eyelid, not up to her brows.

As your daughter gets older, you can show her more advanced types of makeup like mascara. Young girls rarely need foundation. Their young skin is usually just fine without it. If your daughter insists on foundation try talking her out of it by telling her that it will cause her to break out. This is true.

Speaking of zits, get your child some green tinted concealer before she tries to cake on the thick stuff. Show her how to use just a tiny bit to set off the redness. Tell her honestly that you cannot hide a zit. All you are going to do with too much makeup is to call attention to a weird bump on your face. Also be sure to let her know that squeezing and digging only makes the problem worse and makes the zit last longer.

If your daughter starts wearing too much makeup be cautious about how to approach it. Demanding that she wear less is likely to backfire. Instead ask her what look she's going for. Get some magazines and ask her to show you what she's trying to accomplish with her makeup. You can even take her to a cosmetologist who can give her some tips about which makeup to use and how to apply it. A teenager will often take advice more easily from a professional than from her mom.

Done leave your daughter to find her way through the world of makeup alone. She needs you to guide her. With your help she can be pretty without being scary, and you might even get in a little bonding time.