Why I bought my four-year-old a make-up kit

If I'm honest, the key and very practical reason I bought it was because by the time Bodhi was 3 I'd lost count of the number of occasions I'd discovered she'd gone into my handbag, fished out one of my lippies and broken or squashed it beyond repair.

Or dug her nails into a blusher so hard the contents cracked out onto the living room floor and it was rendered totally unusable.

And the thing is - my make-up is pricey (though it lasts). I buy clothes on the cheap as I tend to get them secondhand, but the older I've got the more I've found that the cheaper end stuff doesn't cut it for me when it comes to cosmetics.

So when a lipstick that cost the better half of £20 ends up smeared all over your toddler's face - it's a teensy bit devastating.

I know lots of people might say none of this is an excuse to get my daughter into make up at such a young age. It's just that little ones often copy what their mums do, and I love doing my make-up. It's like a 15-minute therapy session every morning, so I guess she's caught onto that and wants to mimic it.

And if she does insist on doing it... and enjoys it - well, I'd rather it was with her own set that she can mash up as much as she likes.

Let's be clear: I don't try and force my daughter to wear make-up. But if she grabs her set - which she often will on occasion - and decides she wants to put some slap on at the weekends, I let her do it. And I'll instruct her on what goes where.

Eyeshadow below your eyebrows darling, that's lipgloss not blusher ?

The biggest disaster we've had since buying Bodhi her own kit was when she gave Daddy a "make-over", and I forgot to tell him to wipe it off when he went to pick up a takeaway. Oops

If we're going out and she's covered herself in the stuff I'll usually wipe as much off as I can. And I certainly won't be encouraging her to wear make-up "proper" until she's much, much older.

But I guess we'll have to see how that goes...

What do you think?

What age (if at all) do you think it's OK for children to start wearing make-up? Tell us in the comments below or over on Facebook.

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