Dear Tazi:
I am 12 years old and will be starting the seventh grade this September. I feel that I am now old enough to wear makeup and have asked my Mom to let me. She has said she would rather I not wear it, but knows that I will probably just spend my allowance money on cheap drugstore brands and hide it from her because that is what she did when she was my age. I told her she was probably right, because I thought being honest with her was the best thing to do at the time.
My Mom has agreed to let me buy all of the cheap drugstore makeup I want if I want to wear makeup now, but she told me if I waited until I was 16 to start wearing makeup she would buy me the expensive, department store makeup that all the fashion models and movie stars wear. It would take me several months and every dollar from my allowance and babysitting money to save enough money to buy a full set of Dior or Estee Lauder makeup, so the offer my Mom has made is tempting, but I won’t be 16 for another four years!!! That’s a long time to wait. How awkward!
My Mom has made this type of agreement with me before; when I was little I had to wait until I was 10 to pierce my ears but got to wear cool stuff instead of lame little studs, so I trust my Mom to make good on her end of the deal if I hold up my end of it. It’s just that a lot of my friends are starting to wear face makeup and I am stuck wearing lip gloss and nail polish. It’s awkward. What would you do if you were me, Tazi? Do you think boys would notice me more if I wore makeup, even if it was Wet and Wild brand instead of Dior?
Signed,
Cindy (but I now spell it Sindi)
Dear Cindy/Sindi:
Your signature tells me that you are growing up quite fast – maybe a little too fast for your Mom, who would like to keep you her little girl Cindy for a little while longer. Permission to wear makeup is a huge milestone in a girl’s life, so I can see why you want to get there as soon as possible; however I am going to tell you a little secret, one my Mommie told me when I showed her your letter: the 8th grade girls laugh at the 6th and 7th grade girls who wear makeup, saying they look like little girls who got into their mother’s makeup drawer! Part of this is because so many of them put too much makeup on or do not apply it correctly, and part of it is because the stuff you can buy for a dollar at the local drugstore really doesn’t wear well. Give your friends an unbiased look the next time they are wearing full makeup and see for yourself!
Once upon a time, my Mommie wore sky blue lipstick to school because she thought it looked cool…and refused to take it off when others made fun of her because she didn’t want to be bullied. She says she wore it because it matched her eyes, but looking back on it, the stuff made her look like a corpse. My point is that teenage girls can make some bad mistakes at the $1.00 lipstick carousel; just one more reason why you might want to take your Mom up on her offer.
If you were to wear makeup, there is a possibility that the boys would notice you more, but it might not be for the right reasons. That would be awkward, right? It has been almost 25 years since my Mommie wore that blue lipstick, but people still remember it. You want boys to notice you for good reasons, not silly ones! Glitter and bright colors will not make you look prettier – they will make you look like you are dressed up for Halloween.
If I were you, I would try to work out a compromise with your Mom. Since you really seem to think wearing makeup will help you fit in with the other girls at school, ask your Mom if tinted moisturizer, tinted lip gloss, and clear mascara will count as makeup. These products will give you the natural glow that wearing makeup gives some people without actually wearing a face full of makeup. Plus, these products are good for your skin. By the time you are 16, you may discover that you don’t really want to wear makeup – it can be time consuming to apply it correctly, and as my Mommie puts it, “a pain in the butt when the cat decides to jump up and help you” [HEY! That wasn’t nice! –T.K.]
Regardless of what you decide to do, remember to always take proper care of your skin; that means moisturizing before you apply makeup and removing your makeup before bed every night and then re-moisturizing to counteract the drying effects of the makeup remover. Moisturizing is the key to maintaining good skin, which is something you will prize as you get older.
Snuggles,
Tazi
Ask Tazi! is ghostwritten by a human with a Bachelors of Arts in Communications. Tazi-Kat is not really a talking feline.
I am 12 years old and will be starting the seventh grade this September. I feel that I am now old enough to wear makeup and have asked my Mom to let me. She has said she would rather I not wear it, but knows that I will probably just spend my allowance money on cheap drugstore brands and hide it from her because that is what she did when she was my age. I told her she was probably right, because I thought being honest with her was the best thing to do at the time.
My Mom has agreed to let me buy all of the cheap drugstore makeup I want if I want to wear makeup now, but she told me if I waited until I was 16 to start wearing makeup she would buy me the expensive, department store makeup that all the fashion models and movie stars wear. It would take me several months and every dollar from my allowance and babysitting money to save enough money to buy a full set of Dior or Estee Lauder makeup, so the offer my Mom has made is tempting, but I won’t be 16 for another four years!!! That’s a long time to wait. How awkward!
My Mom has made this type of agreement with me before; when I was little I had to wait until I was 10 to pierce my ears but got to wear cool stuff instead of lame little studs, so I trust my Mom to make good on her end of the deal if I hold up my end of it. It’s just that a lot of my friends are starting to wear face makeup and I am stuck wearing lip gloss and nail polish. It’s awkward. What would you do if you were me, Tazi? Do you think boys would notice me more if I wore makeup, even if it was Wet and Wild brand instead of Dior?
Signed,
Cindy (but I now spell it Sindi)
Dear Cindy/Sindi:
Your signature tells me that you are growing up quite fast – maybe a little too fast for your Mom, who would like to keep you her little girl Cindy for a little while longer. Permission to wear makeup is a huge milestone in a girl’s life, so I can see why you want to get there as soon as possible; however I am going to tell you a little secret, one my Mommie told me when I showed her your letter: the 8th grade girls laugh at the 6th and 7th grade girls who wear makeup, saying they look like little girls who got into their mother’s makeup drawer! Part of this is because so many of them put too much makeup on or do not apply it correctly, and part of it is because the stuff you can buy for a dollar at the local drugstore really doesn’t wear well. Give your friends an unbiased look the next time they are wearing full makeup and see for yourself!
Once upon a time, my Mommie wore sky blue lipstick to school because she thought it looked cool…and refused to take it off when others made fun of her because she didn’t want to be bullied. She says she wore it because it matched her eyes, but looking back on it, the stuff made her look like a corpse. My point is that teenage girls can make some bad mistakes at the $1.00 lipstick carousel; just one more reason why you might want to take your Mom up on her offer.
If you were to wear makeup, there is a possibility that the boys would notice you more, but it might not be for the right reasons. That would be awkward, right? It has been almost 25 years since my Mommie wore that blue lipstick, but people still remember it. You want boys to notice you for good reasons, not silly ones! Glitter and bright colors will not make you look prettier – they will make you look like you are dressed up for Halloween.
If I were you, I would try to work out a compromise with your Mom. Since you really seem to think wearing makeup will help you fit in with the other girls at school, ask your Mom if tinted moisturizer, tinted lip gloss, and clear mascara will count as makeup. These products will give you the natural glow that wearing makeup gives some people without actually wearing a face full of makeup. Plus, these products are good for your skin. By the time you are 16, you may discover that you don’t really want to wear makeup – it can be time consuming to apply it correctly, and as my Mommie puts it, “a pain in the butt when the cat decides to jump up and help you” [HEY! That wasn’t nice! –T.K.]
Regardless of what you decide to do, remember to always take proper care of your skin; that means moisturizing before you apply makeup and removing your makeup before bed every night and then re-moisturizing to counteract the drying effects of the makeup remover. Moisturizing is the key to maintaining good skin, which is something you will prize as you get older.
Snuggles,
Tazi
Ask Tazi! is ghostwritten by a human with a Bachelors of Arts in Communications. Tazi-Kat is not really a talking feline.
