(By Cindy Brinkerhoff - from Keeping Up With The Brinkerhoffs) - click on over!
Make up has become a frequent topic of conversation around here lately. The girls have decided that they love the stuff and I mean l.o.v.e. it, the brighter, the thicker the better. Now don't get me wrong I love my make up too, but I tend to think of it as more of an enhancer then over all change my face sorta thing. And I have no qualms about going out in public with out it.
I think that there is a place for make up and certainly there are people who should wear it and choose not to, just as there are those that should find a scrub brush and lighten up a bit. There is daytime make up, evening make up and my daughters favorite Theatre' make up. My favorite is the mask... do these peoples mirrors not show that dark line?
Anyway, I was thinking yesterday about my first make up experience and had to laugh. I think that my teen make-up was most definitely a outward showing of what was going on inside. This was true especially during my butt rock days. Can you say eyeliner??? oh yeah I was all about the stuff "here comes eyeliner and her ahem... Cindy".
I remember the first summer I began to play with make-up. I was going into the 9th grade and had spent a couple months in Rosamond California (smack dab in the middle of the Mojave dessert) with the Muzzy's. The Muzzy's had an older teen daughter named Brenda. Brenda taught me how to apply Make-up . I wore bright purple eyeshadow with blue eyeliner and lots of blush. I also used peroxide on my hair that summer, which resulted in a horrible shade of orange. Come to think of it, I must of come home looking more like a clown than anything else. At least I was tan.
My point is I remember the joys of make -up. I also remember my Dad telling me I looked like a hooker and to go take it off! I remember DOING it. No Fuss. I just did it. My girls seem to think I am old fashioned, "times have changed'. "this is how people wear their make-up"... Am I old fashioned. Have I stopped being fun and daring? Or do I just want my babies to look their age?
My question to you our lovely readers.
How old were you when you were allowed to wear make-up?
Did your parents put up parameters about it?
Did you start slow or go for it?
Do you allow your teen daughters to wear the stuff?
We would love to hear your opinions on the matter and of course fun tips for applying would be great too!
It is becoming a major event in my house as well.
ReplyDeleteMary is allowed to wear some, but she had to go to one of the makeup counters at the mall and they should her how to apply it and now to use it so that she doesn't look like a circus clown.
How old were you when you were allowed to wear make-up? I was 12 when I started.
ReplyDeleteDid your parents put up parameters about it?I was only allowed mascara and blush (dunno why though)
Did you start slow or go for it? kind of. It only took a few weeks before my folks didn't care. LOL
Do you allow your teen daughters to wear the stuff? If I had a daughter I'd say 12/13 with lite make-up would be fine.
allowed to wear powder, blush, gloss and mascara when I started Jr. High. I'm not sure when it gradually morphed into more, but by high school, we'd added full face.
ReplyDeleteWith my sister who's now 20, We took her to a Bobbi Brown counter and had her colors done. Because the artists are paid on comission, I know she bought something, but then we got the same colors in drug-store brands.
My 11 year old sister is more of a tomboy and has worn light makeup for some special events (brother's wedding, family pictures). I know she uses some concealer and mascara occasionally.
Obviously, I don't have a teenage daughter, but I think a gradual approach is the best way to go. Also, going to a makeup counter like Bobbi Brown or Stila, where they usually keep things really natural and minimal helps get a voice other than Mom's in there.
I want to see pictures of your goth/clown days. (I bet I'm not the only one!)
ReplyDeleteI was 12 or 13. It was in the 6th grade. I remember that. I got to use whatever I wanted. I used eyeliner, mascara, blush, lip gloss. Sometimes I used eyeshadow. I had my mom tell me how to put it on and warned me of looking like a clown. I also had teen magazines to go off of what look I wanted. I must say though, I was starting out in the 90's. The 90's was all about enhancing that natural look. I think the make up today is becoming a throw back to the 80's, more is better I think it was.
ReplyDeleteAbbey will sometimes wear make up. She's not that interested. She has eyeliner, lip gloss, mascara, and a few neutral eye shadows.
It's also what kind of immage and attitude are they trying to project with the make up? Are they trying to make it look more mature because they are interested in older guys, therefor want to look older/sexier? Or, are they just having fun and daring and that's how they're expressing it?
To me it's all in the intent to use. You as a parent know your child and have a pretty good idea of what the motive is behind it.
My very first introduction to make-up was this pale blue stick of what must have been some kind of lipstick. Of course I wasn't allowed, and to be honest, I don't even remember how I came across it, (I do remember that it was "used". Did I find it in some bathroom stall or something?)but that didn't stop me for one second. I loved make-up from an early age. I'm sure that improving my attractiveness was a major issue, but I think that even more of an impetus was the fact that I was just plain an artist and I loved the idea of my face as a canvas.
ReplyDeleteAs Heidi stated, I let my girls start with make-up as soon as they wanted to. I showed them the basics and there was never a problem of them using it to extreme. I think that make-up falls under the catagory of say yes to the small things and save your "No Ways" for the really BIG things. Why give them something so unimportant to rebel against when there are so many worse things out there.