Rachael Ray

When should girls start wearing makeup? I think the the answer is to follow your daughter’s lead and make sure whatever she chooses to wear - be it clothes or makeup - is age appropriate. There is nothing worse than seeing a young girl who is trying to look too grown up. I want to grab her and say “Honey - don’t rush it! There is plenty of time.”

I also think there is a fine line between being too controlling and setting some parameters for your kids when it comes to self expression. I used to walk to school with a neighborhood friend in 5th grade whose mother picked out her clothes for school and my friend had no choice but to wear the outfits. Mind you, we went a Catholic school and had a pretty strict dress code - skirts and blouses- you couldn’t really get too crazy. My friend would leave the house for school in her mom-sanctioned outfit, and then she would duck in the bushes a few blocks from school with me as the look-out to change into the outfit she wanted. I remember feeling so sorry for both my friend and her mom.

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When I was in 8th grade I started stealing into my mother’s room to put on her dark green eyeliner - on the inside of my bottom eyelid of course (remember that look?). Then in ninth grade I stared buying my own makeup - lots of frosty pink lipstick - perfect hue for my dark hair (ha) - and applying it perhaps a tad too aggressively. So much that I remember my father pulling me aside and telling me I looked like a hussy. I was outraged but I probably did.

It’s sad to think that my makeup experimentation started in 8th grade while today I have seen girls as young as eight with makeup on. I noticed some lip gloss on my daughter’s dresser the other day (she is in sixth grade and will turn 12 in May) and occasionally she has been looking a little sparkly. I actually think she looks pretty - no toddlers and tiaras, but a girl who it seems overnight has turned into a young lady. She is growing up. I think we need to give our kids some room to express themselves in an age-appropriate way. What do you think? When should girls be allowed to wear makeup?