(WGGB/WSHM) — The growing trend of young girls wearing makeup and using beauty products is causing controversy. Many ask what effect these products can have on children as they grow up. Western Mass News gets answers about whether kids in our area are just playing, or if beauty brands are marketing to them on purpose.
Fourth and fifth graders, just nine and ten years old, are asking for the high-quality products they see online. Similar makeup artists, like Liz Walsher, are working on the job. “I feel like there’s a lot of deliberate advertising aimed at kids… Experimenting can be fun, but when it leads you to very expensive products with unnecessary ingredients, it feels unnecessary to me,” Washer explains.
Although makeup is not a new thing for children, experts say that what has changed is a polished and inspiring way of teaching content, drawing, and preparing with me videos, which can feel like a friend who gives advice.
Allison Werder, VP of Marketing and Communications and Chief Marketing Officer at the UMass Amherst Isenberg School of Management, tells Western Mass News, “It can feel very important, it can feel personal but in reality, they are often given paid endorsements and influencers have other incentives to get that audience to engage.”
For children, she says, news from someone a little older can make a lot of sense, especially when the goal is to make them look older and feel more beautiful.
“A lot of these young women want to be adults, they want to be adults, and when they see these influencers or these YouTube videos of people who are older but closer in age, and they see by putting these products on their faces they look more mature, they look more attractive … it really has an impact on this young group in particular,” Assistant Dean explains.
However, it’s not just videos. Marketing experts say that packaging can also sell companies that use bright colors, glitter and small types of products to sell more, “A lot of experiments, small versions that you can put in your bags, all of the packaging and branding are subtle ways that products can make it more appealing.”
Mental health experts say that for some children, makeup is actually play, creativity, experimentation, and even gender expression.
Sarah Babbs Caress, Clinical Social Worker and Center for Human Development, tells Western Mass News that creativity can quickly turn into pressure when the goal goes from fun, to feeling like you have to look great or perfect.
She goes on to explain, “The expectation is that an 11, 12, or 13-year-old girl will look like a 20-year-old influential woman…
There are also things related to the body. Experts say that some popular skin care products, especially those with “natural” ingredients, are not made for young skin and can cause irritation or allergic reactions. Makeup artist Liz Washer says, “It’s very common to be allergic to skincare products that have a lot of active ingredients that aren’t made for younger skin.”
So, what can parents do? Professionals like Caress tell us to start with questions, then you set limits, “If your child comes to you and sees that I am really interested in doing makeup, and I want to try it, the first question is what appeals to you about that? What makes you interested in that? kind of things to make sure that it is part of the game and experiments and the process of growth and not something that becomes dangerous.”
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