New research from the NPD Group show that the number of girls between the ages of 8 – 12 (tweens) are wearing mascara. The number doubled between 2007 and 2009. About 18% are wearing mascara, with about 15% wearing eyeshadow and/or lipstick. WOW! Are parents buying these products, or are they wearing them on the sly? Actually, 66% of the girls polled said their moms were the source of either acquiring the products or showing them how to use them.
Since I’m not in charge of who wears what, or at what age, I do have something to address. We need to make sure we are teaching girls, young women, or anyone new to using cosmetics how to use them. Not only their application techniques, but we need to make sure we are keeping our cosmetics a clean as possible, and know when they need to be replaced.
Here are some things to keep in mind:
- Don’t share cosmetics. Have your own – especially eye and lip products.
- Mascara should be replaced every 3 – 6 months, as anything touching your eyes is at risk for bacterial contamination.
- If you develop any kind of eye infection, replace your mascara, and liquid eyeliner.
- Remove eye makeup (and all makeup) every night. By using something specifically made to remove eye makeup, it should help dissolve and loosen so that you can wipe it off without harsh rubbing. Here’s a favorite oil free eye makeup remover.
- It’s good to know the shelf life of a product, but if it looks bad, or smells bad, it is bad!
