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Home › Articles › Body Image › Overboard

Overboard

How Much Makeup Is Too Much for Your Teen?

By Rachel Weingarten

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Define your limits.
Go through teen beauty and grooming rituals, from highlights to lip liner, nail polish – Glitter? Red? French manicure? – waxing, shaving to toughies like piercing and tattoos. Know what the other kids are doing and what you consider to be appropriate for each age group.

Don't be afraid to let your teen know that you consider eyeliner to be inappropriate for a 12-year-old, but that you will allow her to wear it on special occasions when she's 15. As much as teens love to experiment, they need to know that there are boundaries that cannot be crossed. Realize that your teen daughter will test your limits, and that you won't be doing either of you any favors by letting her get away with everything.

I know of one mom who threw a fit when her daughter pierced her belly button. It seems that Mom didn't think it was the biggest deal, but didn't want her daughter to think it was OK to transform her body into a pincushion. Needless to say, Mom and Daughter were both satisfied that they'd succeeded in shaking each other up.

Compromise.
Let her get away with some things. Seriously. Teens need to break free from parental control; it's just the way that they're built. Wouldn't you rather she feel wicked about breaking the eyeliner rule than sneaking out to get a tattoo that says "Justin Forever"?

Show by example.
If you think that there is nothing sleazier looking than a teen with a thong sticking out of the waistband of her jeans, don't flash yours. Enough said.


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