How Parents Can Set Beauty Boundaries without Killing the Fun
Because childhood shouldn’t be treated like a before-and-after.
There used to be a time when kids were allowed to look like kids. Do you remember those days, like maybe it was just a few stray hairs doing their own thing, a spot that showed up the night before picture day, and maybe a glitter lip gloss that tasted like bubblegum? Well, at least that’s how it was in the 90s and early 2000s. It might have been the same prior to that. But yeah, that awkward phase was an actual phase, not something to hide or fix. But somehow, things feel a bit different now.
“Makeup should feel like play — not a performance.”
Well, it’s not even a feeling, it’s quite literally how it all is now! So, these days, the beauty world has definitely shifted downward in age. Well, that’s what some people would say. But yeah, nowadays, little ones scroll TikTok and see older influencers with glass skin and contour routines that rival professional makeup artists. There are Gen Alpha influencers who barely hit double digits, creating their own skincare brands (it’s true, just look it up).
Actually, just recently here, Sephora rolled out a skincare section aimed specifically at kids, which is a wild sentence to write out loud. They did it because kids were going there, buying skincare products they didn’t need (that were breaking skin barriers). So if they were going to do skincare, it should at least be safe, right? Like, imagine at eight years old worrying about serums and exfoliation instead of if the tooth fairy will remember to show up. But was it really that different during the Heroine chic times in the 90s and 2000s?
What’s the Problem Here?
Well, the whole point here is that kids like to imitate what they see, be it online from TikTok, be it from their parents, or be it from people they see while they’re just out and about. It makes sense that kids want to be a part of the beauty world. Besides, playing with makeup is fun, even adults have fun with that (remember the 2010s and the YouTube makeup era?).
But with all of this, though, well, it puts parents in a tricky spot. The thing anyone (well, any parent) would want is for Gen Alpha to become stressed about their skin and looks overall, and make that their worth. But at the same time, kids just want to have fun, and they want to experience what other kids their age are experiencing. So where’s the fine line? Where are the boundaries here?
It’s Okay for Tweens to Explore Beauty
Well, within reason, of course. But yeah, the idea is not to say no to everything and forbid every product. That usually leads to hiding things in backpacks and doing makeup in the school toilets before anyone notices. But a little beauty exploration can feel exciting and help kids express themselves. It's part of growing up. The difference between now and the 90s or early 2000s is that the trends have matured way faster than the children following them.
Back then, it was glitter everywhere, fruity body sprays, and maybe a sparkly eyeliner pencil that barely showed up unless the light hit it perfectly. The point was to feel cute and have fun. It was not about trying to erase signs of being young. So, in a way, it’s not too much different; it’s just evolved.
Safety Should Always Come First (But its Not Fun)
Feel free to Google it if you want, but some products absolutely cannot go on your kid's face, your kid has a skin barrier, and some makeup and skincare and penetrate and damage it. There’s plenty of stories and even social media posts about this, too. So yeah, adult products can genuinely harm a child’s skin. So it makes sense to check ingredient lists and avoid anything too strong or too grown-up.
Now, there are some products out there that are bridging that gap so kids can still have fun, still feel grown-up, but of course, it’s safe items (well, affordable too, and not those overpriced influencer brands that are being sold to kids on TikTok). Basically, there are things designed for healthy skin and playful self-expression rather than anti-aging. There is makeup out there so kids can imitate their parents and older siblings without actually putting their skin at risk.
You could look into something like tween makeup kits, since that gives children a fun starting point without throwing them into the deep end of adult beauty standards. And again, it helps that it’s affordable too.
Make Beauty Feel Like Expression
So what does this even mean, though? Well, the problem here is that makeup and skincare are now seen as ways to correct and hide imperfections rather than just being an expression. Your hairstyle and your clothes shouldn’t be the only things that show off expression; it goes far beyond that. That’s how it used to be. But nowadays, at least on social media (and who knows what kids are talking about nowadays, well, Gen A).
Now, to sum it all up here, makeup should feel like part of play. It should be experimentation, like drawing, but on the face. Skincare should just be hygiene, not securing a perfect look. It helps to talk about why they want a product, not just what the product is. But that’s the thing here, it’s about having a talk with your kid.
Focus On Confidence that Comes from Being a Kid
For a lot of kids, being young, well, a kid is peak. Like you get yout own personal chef (your parents), you get naps, you’re filled with energy, you don’t deal with backaches, you have long lashes, you have your own private driver (your parents), you’re being serviced all the time, and you have no debt. Okay, but jokes aside here, being young is great, and kids always would rather be a grown-up, while the grown-ups, well, most of the time, look back on their childhood and wish they could relive it.
But anyway, when it comes to confidence for your kid, it needs to start in childhood, start out young by flooding them with compliments. They need high self-esteem so they don’t fall into the mindset that they need to be perfect or else they’re not enough.
