I know we sort of discussed this before, but lately I have been seeing more and more really young girls wearing make up. Last night I saw a 4 year old wearing lip stick and blush. Even though I was told that it was make up from out of some type of kit for little girls, it still bothered me plus the child looked like a clown. As a mom with 2 girls, I see my girls constantly imitating my style and both want to wear make up. I have said no to both because I don't think they are old enough, so one gets to wear lip gloss (the other is 2 years old and addicted to shoes, its scary!!!). I guess my question is, what is the appropriate age to wear make up? Just for the record, my mind is made up about my own kids, I just want to know you all's opinions.

I couldn't wear real make-up until I was 16. My aunt took me to Jc Penney's and bought me some Iman make-up.. It's probably the reason I never really suffered from bad acne as a teen.

Personally, I think freshmen year in high school (13/14 years old) is a good time to start…

I think I was around eighth grade when I started wearing a little bit of make up. Nothing too extreme. My mom didn't want us wearing makeup but my dad actually said we were girls and we were old enough. Now we used to have makeup for when we played dress up. Or did "makeovers". But we were never allowed to wear it out. But I do remember we always had Avon chapsticks.

I think I started wearing make-up when I was in high school and at that time it was only lipstick. Only now have I incorporated a little more...Mascara, eyeliner, blush and mineral foundation..This is a lot for me b/c I hardly wear any now and I'm in my 30s....My neice likes to put make-up on and she's 4. We let her do it when she plays dress up at home but when it comes to going out no way. I think my sister sometimes lets her wear clear glitter lip gloss. I know she is just imitating my sister.

14 years of age is fine…

I think anything shocking is wrong unless you are at a club/ or a fancy dress party. Enhance/Accentuate is the name of the game… If say for example you have acne, a medicated concealer or tea tree oil underneath concealer and a tinted moisturizer in case you have some discolorations you don't like and a powder for shine on the nose is good to cover up something you don't like.

Then after that, maybe some brown/black mascara to make the eyelashes look darker, and a light bronzy/pink/reddy lip gloss/tinted lip balm or even a lipstick like cliniques almost lipstick is good. Maybe some bronzer or blusher.

Anything under 10 is not good. Tinted lip balm or light pink or clear gloss is fine for the pre-teens, between 10 and 13, according to the age - preferably tinted lip balm/chapstick for the 10-11 yr olds and clear gloss for the 11-12 yr olds, and then light pink gloss for the 12-13 yr olds.

Make-up tends to cause skin problems. Especially anything that clogs pores. I think girls should begin using makeup when they’re 15 and up. If your skin is clear enough to go without concealer, then let your natural beauty shine through.

I was allowed to wear makeup starting when I entered high school at age 14, and that’s what my daughter is going to do. The only difference is that my daughter is going to learn about good skin care very early.

All kids should learn about good skin care, and it doesn’t have to be more than my three basics:
1) keep your skin sensibly clean
2) wear sunscreen every single day (SPF 15 minimum for errands outside, SPF 30 minimum for outdoor activities)
3) don’t smoke

I didn’t learn about good skin care until long after I started wearing makeup, and by that point, I needed coverage for my acne and eventually, my acne scars.

When I was 12 I got a compact chocolate chip cookie with lip gloss from AVON .  Yummy!  I loved it and I wore it all the time.  However, I’d put all over my lips, chin, nose and the like.  I learned this lesson from my Aunt - “You can wear it when you learn to put it on without looking like a clown.” So somewhere around 14 I finally learned.

Somewhere around freshman year a girl should be able to wear make-up.  Hopefully they learn better technique than I had at 12.

My mom let me start wearing mascara, lip gloss and powder in the 6th grade and from then on I just kept adding to what I wore, it wasn’t until I was about 14 that I really started a makeup routine though.

I thought my mom had it right when she let us start wearing a little bit of make-up (mascara, blush, lipgloss) at 13 and at 15 we could wear anything. In order to keep up looking from clowns she got us a consultation at a make up counter and had them teach us what was appropriate. I had to give her credit. Had she tried to tell us (my sister and I) what was appropriate herself, we probably would have ignored it and ended up looking like clowns or sluts!

I think it depends on the culture. There are some cultures that doesn’t allow kids below 16 to wear makeup while there are others who are lenient on this.

But as for me, I haven’t worn make up until I started college. I like to make myself look good but wearing all those products on my face takes a lot of my time and I’m very particular about time and punctuality. I usually rush things just to get to class in time and the only thing i get to put on are powder and lipstick.