If your little princess is searching for cosmetics in your bag, it is an issue of concern. Generally, kids copy to their parents when parents get ready, put cream or foundation on their face. It is not easy to control your kid, but you need to remember that the cosmetics your young kids wear for makeup use harmful chemicals. Sometimes, mothers love to put makeup on their pretty little daughters which is very harmful too. So, you must know the health risks of wearing makeup for kids. Every parent must determine the bounds and restrictions before allowing the young children to come in contact with makeup and beautification products.
Why Makeup Is Harmful To Kids?
Your child should not use these makeup products at such a young age. Check out the reasons why:
Toxic substances
Children have tender skin. Research has shown that child-skin’s absorption rate is 10% higher than adults because of their faster metabolism. So, whenever they apply lipstick or any other makeup products with dangerous chemicals, their skin will absorb those chemical products in a fast manner and ultimately the effects become evident in the future. Thus, your child becomes vulnerable to toxic materials and substances of the cosmetics products.
Sensitive skin
Studies have shown that children have thinner skin which has lower barrier functions than adults. As they have lower barrier function in their skin, they cannot protect the skin from harmful materials. Besides, children’s skin is not equipped enough to defend itself against irritants. So, application of makeup products can cause diverse skin problems in children.
Dryness And Itchiness
Continuous use of makeup products can cause dryness, itchiness, redness, and irritation to the tender skin of children. It ultimately harms the skin’s barrier. Moreover, the structure of the skin can get damaged. As a result the skin can become highly sensitive and can even react to water.
Risk of Acne
After wearing makeup for hours a child needs to wash the face properly. Inefficient product removal combined with unhygienic behaviors can lead towards clogged pores and spread of bacteria. It may cause teenage acne later. So if you allow your child to wear makeup, such practices may harm their skin in the long run.
How to Prevent Your Child from Wearing Makeups
Check out here 10 proven ways to discourage your child to wear makeup:
Convince them that it’s a ‘grown-up thing
Make your child understand that you can do a lot of things but they don’t. First, explain to them what ‘grown up’ things are. Then tell them that makeup is one of the grown-up things. But never say makeup is a bad thing because then your child will question why you use a bad thing. So let them realize that certain things are not suitable, or appropriate for children. As a mother you can also share your experience with your kids telling them that you did not start using makeup until you were old enough.
Don’t use makeup around them
The best thing will be not to use makeup around your child. You may need to do makeup before going to a party or something like that. Try to do simple makeup at home and colorful ones like eyeliner and lipstick later. The young children are in general attracted to the colorful parts of the makeup, so keeping the colors away might help.
Tell that makeup does not mean beautiful
Make sure your children don’t connect the act of makeup with the concept of beauty. So, as a responsible parent, never allow your child to think that made-up eyes or bright lips are symbols of beauty. So, give a message to your child that you don’t do makeup to make you look or feel beautiful. You need to remember that at the tender age of your child, she needs to learn self-love and self-worth before the shades of lipsticks.
Understand the reason
Sometimes, children, especially teens, wear make-up to cover up their acne. Actually, cosmetics are not a solution for acne. Try to help them understand the real reason behind acne. Acnes can be caused by a lot of reasons, such as, food habits, not cleaning face properly, wearing any cosmetics product or makeup, etc.
When the children understand that their acne problems are worsened by cosmetics, they would stop or minimize wearing makeup.
Tell them that Makeup is not safe
Tell your child that makeup is not safe at all for their skin. Although it sounds a little silly, it is important to ensure that they are taking care of their face and keeping things hygienic. Besides, teach them some basic rules about make-up.
Age restriction
Explain to them that if they make up at an early age it could lead to negative attention in public. It will give them a feeling that they aren’t enough without such heavy makeup. You can also convince them of the simple fact that not all schools allow visible makeup.
Set rules if needed
Do you feel that makeup has become a bit of a debate in the house? And you have a concern about your child taking it a bit too far. If yes, then it would be wise to set certain rules and boundaries for the makeup. Rules can be “no makeup at school” or “colorful makeup is for the weekends only.”
Explain the unwanted attention they might get
if one kid arrives at school one day with a full face of makeup, her peers will notice. They may do the same on the next day. If this happens to your child, tell her not to follow the peers. Try to convince the kid that as a parent you won’t like this. Ask them whether they are ready for the attention that they might attain due to wearing makeup.
Find a compromise
Though you should not allow your kids to wear make-up every now and then, make little compromises sometimes. To prevent the kids wearing makeup frequently, you can make some compromise deals with the kid. For instance, sometimes allow them to make-up especially when they are going to a party. This will encourage the kids to do something for you like cooking a meal. Thus, the kids will be inspired to listen to you.
Besides, as a parent you need to make sure that you shop for makeup and cosmetic products containing the fewest chemical ingredients. Thus, you can make sure that those makeups won’t harm the sensitive skin of your kid.
Teach them to care for their skin
Children don’t know how and why they need to care for their skin. So, let them know that they can care for their skin by not using cosmetics frequently and it is necessary to get a bright shin in the future when they will be grown up.
Bottom Line
Undoubtedly the parents should allow their children the space needed to explore themselves and to grow. However, the parents need to make sure that the children aren’t pushing themselves into growing up too fast. Although it is not easy to prevent your child from wearing makeup, some effective steps can stop your child from using cosmetics frequently.
So far, we have discussed the risks of children wearing makeup. We have also suggested some tips to prevent your kid from wearing makeup. Hope it helps!
Source: United News of Bangladesh