Kids always want to play at being grown up and a number of manufacturers tend to pander to that need in children. Whereas earlier teenage girls would argue with parents to be allowed to wear makeup, it is now tweens (kids aged 8 to 12) who are getting into the whole blush and lip gloss and mascara routine now.
Witness the new line of make up for Tweens from Walmart that is sparking controversy, causing people to argue that there is little if indeed any need for girls that age to be wearing any make up at all.
While some can argue that this could be part of hygiene, in that face wash and exfoliation formulations are actually performing a grooming function, others think that there is simply no need for make up when a girl is that young. There is the apprehension that this fosters the idea of superficial or skin deep beauty in girls, even eroding their self esteem because they learn to think of appearances as being most important.
According to Dr. Logan Levkoff, author of the book Third Base Ain’t What it Used to Be, it is important for parents to understand that it is OK to say no to their tweens if they think makeup inappropriate, and to try to foster their sense of self at this stage.
