When to Say “Yes” to Your Daughter’s Beauty Requests?
As the parent of a daughter if there’s one thing you need to be prepared for it’s surely when she comes to you asking about shaving her legs or even dyeing her hair. These monumental milestones will set her on a quest from being your little girl to a grown woman and it can be difficult for you to let her express her femininity. With that being said, knowing when it’s the right time to say “Yes” to any beauty requests will prepare both you and her.
Below are some important things to think about when it comes to figuring out when the right time is for your daughter to start focusing more on beauty.
1. Shaving Her Body Hair
One of the first things your daughter is going to come to you for is when she’s ready to start shaving her body hair. In most circumstances, questions surrounding body hair will start to arise based on the developmental milestones her friends might be reaching. For example, if her best friend has little to no body hair but your daughter does, she might want to start shaving earlier than normal. Also, if shaving is something all of the girls do at school to get boys to like them, it’s quite likely she’ll start asking about shaving.
At the end of the day, the most important thing to think about is your daughter’s physical comfort. If her body hair is causing additional issues such as excessive sweating or body odor, shaving might be the best option for her discomfort. Other than that, you can take this opportunity to teach a valuable lesson about how she needs to be her own person rather than altering her appearance to make other people like her.
There are plenty alternatives to shaving as well, such as taking her to be waxed or buying hair removal creams so she can get an idea of the responsibility that goes into beginning to get rid of body hair.
2. Wearing Makeup
If there’s one thing that plenty of parents argue about (aside from revealing clothing) it’s certainly wearing makeup and much like shaving body hair, deciding when it’s an appropriate time for your daughter to wear makeup is up to your personal preference. Some parents allow their children to start exploring the beauty world as early as 13 whereas others wait until their children are 16 or 17.
Even if your daughter keeps pressing the issue about makeup, there are plenty alternatives that you can offer them so they can understand how to wear makeup appropriately without actually using makeup. For example, if you give them tinted lip balm instead of actual lipstick or a BB cream instead of full coverage foundation. It’s also important that you explain to them the dangers of wearing makeup, such as how their pores can be clogged, which can cause acne.
At the end of the day, the majority of parents find that it’s best to allow their daughters to start experimenting with makeup once they enter high school. It’s a phenomenal way to give your children the ability to explore their individuality.
3. Dyeing Her Hair
If there’s one thing that can be said about girls who venture down a “punk rock” or “gothic” path, it’s surely that they’ll get into dyeing their hair, or the idea of it. There are times when your daughter might come knocking on your bedroom door asking if they can go from beautiful blonde to striking black or even from brown to bright green. As her parent, you need to determine what is appropriate and the best way to do so is to avoid allowing them to venture into absurdly unique colors. At the end of the day, if your daughter has dark hair achieving a bright color is going to require a lot of processing which could literally make her hair fall out.
If you’re going to allow your children to color their hair at any age, it’s important to show them the benefits of visiting an actual hair salon instead of trying to tackle the project at home. There’s a reason as to why colorists and hair stylists have to get a degree in order to work on clients, there’s a lot of science and chemistry involved in coloring hair. The last thing you’ll want to have to deal with is buying your daughter wigs because her natural hair starts to fall out after leaving bleach in for too long.
The Benefits of an Earlier Beauty Regime
It can be very confusing for parents to go through the process of understanding why their daughters want to focus more on their appearance, but it’s certainly a good thing. Of course, makeup and certain types of clothing will make her look older and bring more attention to her. However, it’s also important to remember she’s showing the necessary dedication to learn how to take care of herself in a brand new light.
The idea of caring about one’s appearance is important as it instills phenomenal characteristics that will stick with her for the rest of her life. However, it is important to make sure that maintaining an aesthetically pleasing appearance doesn’t start to overwhelm the more important parts of her life such as her studies.
No matter what type of advice you take under advisement, it is important that you decide on the right time for your daughter to start wearing makeup, otherwise you’ll simply be choosing a developmental milestone that you don’t agree with. It’s also important to take the time to listen to your daughter, is there a specific reason as to why she wants to start shaving, dyeing her hair, or even wearing makeup? Is it a reason that can be rectified or she set on the idea of having complete control over her beauty regime?
There’s no harm in allowing your daughter to experiment, as long as you keep a healthy line of communication open to where she knows what her boundaries are and if she oversteps, she loses the freedom to take care of her own appearance.
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