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2008.08.09

Pre-teen beauty

Is this too much too young, or just harmless fun? Why do young girls like dressing up and wearing make-up so much? Where should the line be drawn between girls playing dressing up at home and letting their mums take them to beauty salons?

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Comments

niamh

Caitlin is my bestfriend and see tbh, Caitlin isnt as bad as everyone thinks she is, shes a pretty & such a nice person and i think tht yous should just leave her alone! yeah its not right to have spray tans at 10 but youve just got to move on & get over it tbh !

Becky

these comments aren't just about caitlin, they're about erin aswell. many people believe that make up is horrible blah blah blah... but that is their opinion. it may seem like everyone is picking on these kids, but they have a right to express their opinion-the same as what the parents of the kids have done too. there is no right and wrong in this situation, just opinions. so all the comments aren't bullying or whatever. it's just commen sense getting the better of them.

Lori & Sean

Hello, Sean and Myself are Caitlin's best friends. She isn't like she is made out to be, she isn't one of they snobby people who wears make-up, Caitlin is lovely and is always very happy make-up or no make-up. I suggest to stop saying bad things.. to be honest if you have nasty things to say keep them to yourself.
I mean some people disagree and it is just natural but people have different personalities and people should respect that.

Caitlin, we love u xx

Hannah

Hi it's me again if anyone still reads this?!! Little girls aren't ment to be caked with make up and moisturiser! I'm the same age as Caitlin and my parents won't let me wear lip stick! Her parents should be more strict in what she puts on her face. The young children in Africa can't even live as long as Caitlin and yet she wears sevral diffrenet beauty products on her face!!!
I love playing out and getting muddy. When I see little girls like that in the park, I think they're just chavs. I saw beautiful, blonde little girls one time waring blue and pink dresses. They had no make up on because they were 4! Remember this comment and you'll have a beautiful little girl like me!

Hannah

I think little girls look ugly in teenage make up!!! If kids are young they shouldn't wear something 18 year old women wear. If people were mean't to have straight hair or curls ect, they would be born with it! If some one's skin was pale, leave it. There is no need to be tanned or wear blush that turns you orange. You just have to find a way to flaunt it! Look at girls aloud. All of them are tanned, right? Except one. But, she is beautiful in her own way! Hey, in the olden days, kids would be lucky to have a proper bed to sleep on!!!!!!!!! My advice is let kids look beautiful with out cakeing there faces with coulered smudgey stuff.

Lorna Dempster

This was My Niece caitlin dempster who done the Photo Shoot for faboulous magazine. What Harm is she doing? Caitlin comes from a well Balanced Home, very stable parents. Caitlin like's to take care in her appearance, she is doing no harm. caitlin attends drama School, and this is the career path that she wants to follow. In this industry they have to wear make-up and dress up for different parts. if you had read the article you would have seen, that this was in fact her first Spray Tan. caitlin is very pale skin, and the colour actually suited her. I would suggest that you dont judge Caitlin or her parents, as you do not now them, and you have no right.

amy

i think that children should be able to go to salons when their young because they can get to know what its like to be pampered and have a good time being a girl and that if their mums let them go then thats up to them and we cant do anything to stop it .
Girls Are Girls

Sayde

Just putting make up on a child is something i understand, why can't a young kid enjoy things like that? But going to salons and getting spray tans before you have even hit puberty is something that is just plain stupid. That is not pretending.

Jane Harrison

My step-daughter is 9 and wears makeup, high heels and uses hair straighteners. It's interesting that her mum, who has actively encouraged this for the past four years or so, doesn't really have any other interests herself apart from 'Beauty', Shopping, Eating, Telly and Reading tabloid papers that, ironically, seem to obsessed with 'Paedos'. She is happy, even proud, to walk down the street with her 9-year-old daughter looking, as many have commented, '14 or 15' and wearing a T-shirt bearing the cringe-worthy slogan 'When in doubt - pout.' Yet the other day when she caught a passing male motorist looking at her daughter in 'that way', she was horrified! I'm sorry, but I just don't get it - especially as I have a daughter of my own. The Beauty industry, amongst others, nurtures and plays on our (women's) insecurities. Women's bodies are constantly under scrutiny, judged and appraised. Mothers should protect their daughters from this depressing aspect of modern life for as long as possible. There is so much more to little girls than just the way they look.

Hilda Kwafo-Akoto

When I was 3 I played with Barbies and spent hours colouring and playing doctors and nurses. I have always liked dressing up but my mother never let me wear makeup of any sort until teh age of 9 or 10.Why? Children should be allowed to be children and growing up too fast may have dsiastrous consequences. Girls like Erin and Caitlin will undoublty grown up to be vain and superfical as their mothers have willingly indulge their love for make up, pampering and heels way before they have reached puberty.

steph

i think it is just discusting how the mothers of these children can let this happen. little children should be playing with dolls and colouring books not make-up and spray tans!! It is just ridiculous. Mothers shuld be happy to have a little girl and keep her like that until her childs body has fully matured!!

Ann Langford

Was not impressed by Angie Patterson, whos secret of eternal youth is botox and filler,they would make anyone look younger.How dare she say woman with children always look older than those without. We all know a young frumpy spinster, who looks 30 years older than she really is.

Leah

I do know someone, a bit like Erin, who loves sparkly things and would do anything to get her hands on some Lelli Kelly's!
However, personally i think some things they are too young to get done, like fake tanning at salons for example.. but it's all up to their mum's, right? They know if their child wants this done, say if a child wants a bike, maybe Caitlin just prefers to focus on her looks instead of toys, maybe her friends do the same. Maybe its just the cool thing to do and she' just following the crowd. Maybe if you had the chance, you might have dressed up all fancy-like as a child. I don't know, maybe you did. If you disagree with these parents, then thats your problem, they dont think they're doing any wrong; not even i do.
I see a lot of children like Erin in the park, and personally i think they look cute and pretty, there's no reason why she shouldn't be allowed to dress up, it's fun!
She won't be going on any dates anytime soon, so just dressing up is fine, and her mummy allows it, maybe her mom likes to see her all dressed up, i know i like to see my friends little sisters dressed up and happy.. that's all that matters.. right?
However, some parents think they are too young, others think differently. Everyone has their own opinion, even if its a little different to what you had in mind. Respect them for it.. Respect them for not following the crowd, they're not sheep.
Personally, i like seeing them dress up, as for when they grow up, as teenagers, they will like their own styles and won't wear the frilly pretty frocks you get for them. I don't know any teenagers that do like what their mum buys for them. They say it's too "old fashioned" or whatever, so maybe that's why.
So if they want their child like this when they grow up, it's their own choice. You can make the decision for them parents that do what they do.. They might say what YOU do for your child is wrong.. Doing the opposite of dressing them up, wearing make-up, going to the salons, getting their nails done, etc.
Yeah, sometimes they can be over confident and annoying, but it's like being Cinderella.. Let their dreams come true..
Before it's too late.. Time will fly by, and before you know it, you've got grand-kids. Thank you, Leah x

colline

I am very disgusted in reading about these little girls who are have barely reached puberty but are already wearing make up. Especially the story about little Erin seems like its all about the mum ie "i dont like her hair curly". I say let children be children. And its not just pretend its real paying for your 3 year old daughter for salon and nail treatments is not pretending.

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