makeup girlTime to head to the store to get a push-up bra and some make-up for your 8 year-old. Wait…what? That’s right. According to the latest trends in beauty and fashion, push-up bras and anti-aging makeup are being marketed to tweens. Apparently, 8-12-year-olds should start looking and acting like adults. What is wrong with this picture? As the mom of three girls, I say absolutely everything is wrong with this. Should kids be wearing real makeup and push-up bras? Eco-friendly or not, do kids really need anti-aging products? One adult-like makeup product made especially for kids contains anti-aging properties. Sure, it’s supposedly an all-natural and earth friendly product line. But, do kids really need to smooth away wrinkles? Really? I’m looking at my 7 year old, 12 year old, and even my 13 year old right now. Please tell me where the wrinkles are on these girls because I fail to see them even with a magnifying glass. I’ll be 33 this year and I haven’t ever used an anti-aging product. Why would I buy one for someone not even a third of my age? Anti-aging aside, why do kids need adult makeup? Sure little girls like to play dress-up and part of that includes play makeup. The key word there is “play.” Any makeup designed for kids this young should be restricted to play. But the makeup mentioned above is not what you’d typically find in the toy aisle. When I heard about the makeup, I decided to test my opinions against other moms to see if I was being too uptight. Here’s what three different U.S. moms had to say about makeup and children. “I did not allow my three daughters to wear any makeup until they were thirteen years old. If someone showed them how to wear it without the makeup looking like it was applied with a trowel, they could continue to use it. As a Christian mom, I wanted my daughters to have their real beauty show from the inside out. I wanted their focus to be more on learning to be kind, sympathetic, and generous to others, not on how pretty they could make themselves.” – Sandy Petersen, Two Harbors, MN “I don’t like the idea of real makeup being marketed toward children. Kids are already being affected by marketing in areas of body image an attractiveness. I don’t want my daughter to think that she is not beautiful without makeup. She will not be wearing any for several years.” – Jolynne Hudnell, Athens, OH “I know several adults who could benefit from proper personal grooming, so starting at a young age is a fantastic idea. I’m assuming that make-up marketed to young girls would be muted in comparison to makeup for adults, like a tinted lip gloss as opposed to deep red lipstick. It’s important for young girls to learn how to look presentable. This skill will be invaluable later in life in social and professional situations.” Kay Whittenhauer, Rochester, NY When this same mom learned the makeup was adult-like, she quickly changed her tune:I’d rather a young girl wear age-appropriate make-up than make-up that’s “too old” for her. Then what makes it make-up for young girls? I was thinking of flavored, no-color lip gloss, which I still like. And maybe acne cover-up and very light blush with a hint of mascara and liner – just enough to have a wholesome, put-together look.” – Kay Whittenhauer, Rochester, NY Enough with the makeup. What about those push-up bras? You heard me correctly. A popular retailer apparently had the idea that padded push-up bikini tops were a good idea for kids as young as seven. What? First of all, kids that young don’t generally have anything there to enhance. Even if they did, why would we want to enhance it? I am actually sickened by this product and others that over-sexualize young girls. Such products could potentially attract sexual predators, the very people we want to protect our children from. I am not sure what saddens me more – the fact that someone would market such a product or the fact that there are parents who would buy it. Article by Yahoo! Shine

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I agree with the author’s perspective, but seriously, the fact that this article even had to be written pisses me off. Do you feel a rant coming on?! Cause I do! NO. Fuck, NO. WHY are we exposing children to body enhancers, cosmetics and anti-agers?! Anti-agers have only become widely marketed over the past few years. In fact, most have been proven to be nothing more than hype – they don’t do a damn thing. Before then, most of our mothers and grandmothers bared smile lines and crows feet. They were too busy living life to remember to put on their collagen cream. Imagine that… Desperately, we MUST teach children to value themselves and their individuality. Seriously, it is OK if your boobs don’t sit right under your chin. Really, life WILL go on if you get a wrinkle as a result of using the same facial muscles your entire life. And honestly, your lips do not have to be the perfect pink and your eyelashes do not have to be one inch long. I think that, as adults, we need to clean our acts up. Marketers and media are counting on the parents of kids to buy this bullshit. I believe that without the influence of adults, eight year olds really wouldn’t give a fuck about lipstick or wrinkles. We need to change our values to protect theirs. This is a moral responsibility to raise a stronger generation underneath us. So no, I do not want to see an eight year old wearing a push up bra. Or stuffing tissues down her shirt. I wouldn’t even want a grown woman to do this. Please just realize, that you are quite lovely.

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