Wednesday, December 12, 2012

"What do you think?" Wednesdays - When is it okay to start wearing makeup?

For most things in life there is an age band where an action is considered appropriate (drinking alcohol, having children, throwing tantrums etc) but sometimes the lines get a little blurry. Wearing makeup is one of those things where people differ greatly in opinion, and most often they have very good reasons as to why they believe a certain thing. So is there an answer for the question When is it okay to start wearing makeup?

Another question that can be raised, is "Does good application make up for someone being very young?" What I mean by that, is if you saw a ten year old with orange foundation, heavy eyeliner and bright red lipstick I imagine you would frown upon their parents for letting them wear makeup. However, if you were to pass a ten year old wearing a light tinted moisturiser, colourless lip balm and perhaps even a coat or two of mascara, you probably wouldn't think so poorly of them (or their parents), if you even noticed it at all. By applying their makeup well, can someone gain 'rights' to wearing makeup at a younger age than their peers with shocking application skills?

I know for me that was certainly the case, at least with my parents. When I was about twelve I remember taking an interest in tinted lip balms, gradually moving on to glosses. I remember making a deal with Mum that I could wear a light pink (practically non existent) gloss only on the weekends, and I could use a colourless lip balm as I pleased. I remember thinking that this was a brilliant deal. As time moved on and others around me began wearing makeup of a more serious nature (like mascara, eyeliner and foundation) I too wanted to give it a try. Not confident in what I was doing, I sought lessons from Mum who was happy to teach me. The way she saw it, when she was teaching me how to apply makeup tastefully, I would be able to wear all the makeup that I wanted (which was not a lot) and I would look nice, instead of trashy like all my peers who seemed to have broken all the unwritten rules of makeup application.

I really appreciate Mum doing this, because it allowed me to experiment and have fun with makeup without people looking down on me and judging both me and her. I wore tinted moisturiser that tricked people into thinking I had gorgeous glowing skin, without even realising that I had sought the help of a tinted moisturiser. I wore one coat of mascara that served the purpose of separating, lengthening and defining my lashes. No one ever thought I was wearing mascara, they just thought I had to-die-for lashes. As for the lips, I wore natural shades of pink in every kind, and whilst people could tell I had something on my lips, it was never something to be frowned upon.

My good application skills meant that I was able to get away with wearing makeup at what I consider to be quite a young age (about 12). As I got older I began to wear more makeup and incorporate a wider variety of products into my daily 'look' but in the beginning it was simple, natural and sweet.

Coming back to how old one must be to start wearing makeup...I really don't think there is an answer to this. Some people start young, others start wearing makeup in high school or university. Some never wear makeup for their whole life. There is no right or wrong, however I do personally  think that Primary school aged kids (5-12 years) is a bit young, although by 12 years you are in that awkward stage where you are either too young for everything or too old for everything, there is nothing in between.

I wouldn't think anything of a 12 year old wearing what I did when I was that age, and I would in fact praise whoever taught them how to wear makeup because they have instilled good taste into their child in terms of makeup from the start! Seriously though, I avoid judging people that age because there is no right and wrong. I do think that when you see tiny little girls (like those in the awful beauty pageants) wearing a full face of makeup (or even just a little) that it is quite heartbreaking more than anything.

No five year old would express an interest in spending time applying makeup every morning - they have important things to worry about like finding good hiding spots for hide and seek and which clothes to put on their doll for the day. In those situations, it is the parents who are forcing the makeup upon the child, and that makes me sad. The poor child is being introduced into a world of never looking good enough and where beauty is all that matters. You really want kids to view makeup as a fun confidence booster, not a compulsory 'face' that is the difference as to whether they are ugly or attractive.

When I see those photos of the celebrities whose 5 year old daughter is wearing shocking red lipstick, I find it strange and perhaps even a little uncomfortable. Sure, little kids loving playing with Mummy's lipstick at home every now and again, but I can guarantee my Mum would never have let me out in public with perfectly applied red lipstick before I was even old enough to go to school! Even nail polish was one of those things where I could only wear it on my fingers once I was about 8 years old!

Well that was a remarkably long post - I guess I have a lot to say about this topic! I would love to know your thoughts, especially considering that it is one of those topics where people differ greatly in opinion (I know some people who think that 18 is the age that one should begin wearing makeup, because it is an 'adult' activity - I guess I broke that law then!)

16 comments:

  1. I definitely think how someone applies their makeup affects my opinion of whether they should be wearing makeup or not. Countless girls at my school have a lovely visible orange foundation line at their chin -.-

    I personally started wearing makeup at 12 for a dance recital, then just concealer and powder for my first few years in high school.

    If I was a parent, I would probably allow my kid to wear makeup only once she is in high school because when you have perfect skin, it's best to leave it alone!

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    1. Ahhh the old orange foundation line! Good point about not messing up your skin - as soon as I started wearing foundation and concealer I noticed an obvious change in my skin.
      xx

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  2. This is a real tough one! But I do think you hit the nail on the head when you talked about how the make-up is applied. The way your mum helped you, I think is absolutely fine. Nothing wrong with that at all, but I do agree that seeing a five year old with bright lipstick on is just disgraceful, as it's obviously not what they want. At the age of 12 or whereabouts is when girls start noticing boys, their own bodies start changing etc etc so it's only natural for them to be interested in looking good and feeling confident, so as long as it's done right and with care, there's no problem! :)
    xx

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    1. So true, 12 is kind of the age where you really start becoming a 'grown up.' Little kids with lipstick is always going to make people uncomfortable I think...it's almost as if it is taking away their childhood or something, it's sad.
      xx

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  3. My mum isn't a huge makeup person, and when I was 14/15 my makeup was pretty darn horrible. There was a lot of black eye liner involved, I wish I had have learned at a younger age to keep my makeup lighter :)
    x

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    1. For me I was always too scared of the black eyeliner (thank goodness!) At least now you know what you are doing with your makeup to avoid potential disasters!
      xx

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  4. Jeez, I feel so old compared to you (on the age you started wearing make-up)! I started voluntarily using make-up when I was 19! Nineteen! I think it was more of I wasn't really interested in them before. I see it everywhere but it just didn't pique my interest. It was about last year that I suddenly started to like make-up and that was when I bought eyeliners and a few eyeshadows. Of course when I was younger, make-up was applied to me when there are special events like weddings. I remember I didn't even want to use lipstick because it made me feel like I couldn't move my lips or lick them because the colour would come off! Little did I know that when I grow up, lipsticks would become one of my favourite things!

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    1. To be honest I think that most people don't start wearing makeup when they are that little, I think I was the strange one! :) Haha, I know what you mean about the lipsticks, I remember thinking 'only old people wear lipstick!' and then falling in love with them because they are just so much fun (and discovering that if you wear it right, young people wear lipstick too!)
      xxx

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  5. I remember back in the day when i was 13 i started using black pencil eyeliner on my waterline, since my mum didnt want it anymore... Yeah bad mistake since i never realised that it gave me panda eyes at the end of the day. But i think its alright to start using light makeup during the highschool years like eg. Eyeliner,lipgloss,mascara then probably hit the foundation around ages 16+ since you dont want to ruin your skin at a young age :)

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    1. Ahhh, you feel victim to the panda eyes too :( Like I said before, thank goodness I was always too scared of the black eyeliner!
      xxx

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  6. I totally and 100% agree with you. If say a 5th grader started to wear makeup, but it was light I would think it's okay. If it's done light and nicely I see no wrong. I know from myself that I loved makeup. I used to do my dolls makeup, with makers of course when I was quite young. My mom always let me paint my nails. I have to say maybe about when I was four I saw pictures of me with nail polish, usually pink or purples. I liked it because I saw my mom do it.

    I also believe that the makeup for kids their interest or lack of interest stems from what kind of makeup their mothers wear. My mom always had her nails painted, light on the makeup but always had a mani. Natural nails, to this day I'm not a fan of fake nails. I don't see the point when you can just grow your nails out.

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    1. I think the application is the main thing that determines whether a young person wearing makeup looks fine or disgraceful. I also think that fake nails aren't the greatest.
      xx

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  7. I started wearing makeup when I was about 15. All I wore was eyeliner and I really went to town with it. I sometimes used foundation but it was rare. I dropped wearing it after awhile as I preferred sleeping in, in the morning rather than doing my makeup and didn't pick it up again until last year.

    I think it's pretty cute when young kids wear makeup. Not a full face as that looks ridiculous but if they were playing around with a lipstick or some lip gloss, I'd think that it was cute and they must've had a good time playing around with mum's makeup.

    By the way, were you talking about Suri Cruise? I had a picture in my mind of her wearing red lipstick :P

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    1. I think it is totally worth dropping the makeup routine for sleep, especially in high school when you seem to never get enough sleep.

      Haha, I WAS talking about Suri Cruise - I saw a picture on someone's blog before I wrote this post and it was fresh in my mind :)

      xx

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  8. I think it very much depends on the parents opinion on make up in a lot of cases. I don't remember exactly when I started wearing foundation, but I had an obsession with Lip smackers from Year 3-4 onwards and started tinted moisturizer in Year 8 when puberty hit and I couldn't stand going out in public without something covering my pimples. My mother wears make up every day, so have always had help with the application of make up and knowing when I am wearing too much for an ocassion. My boyfriends sister, however, is 14 now and because her mother just doesn't really wear make up, she is a bit confused when it comes to the application and products. However, the range does seem to be between 11-14 , the years when we decide we want to try more womanly things I guess.

    Similar to the beauty pageant thing, but I do ballroom dancing and I often see girls competing who wear more make up than I do. I do find this quite sad, as the girls are in primary school. But I guess it just comes with the territory, whether we put it down to tradition or custom is a hard thing to say.

    So, all in all I don't think there is a right or wrong age, it just depends on the circumstances and incfluences I think.

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    1. Lip Smackers! They are just the greatest! You're right about the age range, 11-14 is quite common for the interest in makeup to develop. Then again, lots of people don't bother with makeup until their late teens/early twenties.

      I found your point about Ballroom dancing interesting. I understand that on stage you do need to wear a considerable amount more than you usually would in terms of makeup, but when it comes down to it, is it really that necessary? It's the same with gymnastics and dancing, I believe. I'm not a huge fan of it, but I guess it is part of the costume as opposed to a 'daily look.'

      Thanks for your input.
      xxxx

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