Personally I think it is inappropriate for children to be wearing make-up before their teens. There are of course some grey areas, but as far as wearing obvious make-up like lipstick, eye shadow and mascara out in public, it really is not something that looks at all nice on tweens.

I'm sure we have all seen little girls with sweet childish faces wearing lipstick that looks completely out of place. It's in the same category as little girls wearing pantyhose when they should still be wearing pretty socks. Kids are meant to look like kids, not premature adults.

As well as looking inappropriate, if not even trashy, it sexualizes children. This is a disturbing trend in our society as it is. So make-up is just one part of the issue that needs to be addressed.

I don't have a problem with tween girls having some old make-up given to them by their mothers to play with for dressing up and role play purposes. All kids want to dress up and pretend to be mums and dads. That is just natural, healthy play and part of their overall development.

Nor do I have a problem with them having pretty make-up kits that are made especially for little girls to play with. As long as it's removed before they actually go out anywhere this is also just normal little girl behaviour and there's nothing remotely unhealthy or overtly sexual about it.

There are also some things that are okay for little girls to wear out in public that are very discreet and don't look out of place. For instance they can wear flavoured lip gloss that's either a natural colour or just has the slightest tint to it. They can also wear a bit of glitter on their skin without it looking over-done.

Another thing little girls just love is nail polish and as long as it's a natural or soft pastel colour I really think that's okay for tween girls too. My little girl, who was profoundly disabled, often had her nails done in pamper sessions at her special school. She just loved it and we would always make a big fuss of how pretty her nails looked when she came home. I did indicate to her teachers that I preferred her to have pastel colours and I sent in a few bottles of nail polish in soft pink, mauve or apricot shades.

I well remember the time she came home with some bright red nail polish on. I kind of reeled at first sight of it but managed to just laugh and have a joke about the colour rather than upset her with any kind of negative remark.

Now that my little girl is in heaven

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