From lip gloss to candy-colored nails, teens and tweens are moving into the makeup zone sooner than ever before
She was 13 when she first dabbled in makeup — a lilac mascara.
“It was a little young,” says Bobbi Brown, now 38, a makeup artist known for her line of cosmetics in subtle tones.
Not so, say teens. In fact, by age 10, most girls now are testing out cosmetics — usually lip gloss — says Irma Zandl, president of The Zandl Group, a New York-based market research firm specializing in under-30 consumers. By 13 it can be mascara mania.
The Rand Youth Poll, a New York research group devoted to teen habits, reports that girls invest $4.7 billion annually in beauty products, and increasingly the beauty industry is creating new product lines targeted to girls, such as Jane, Caboodles and Maybelline’s Shades of You.
In a recent survey of 500 teenage girls across the country, Zandl found most teens shop drugstores and chains for mass-market cosmetics brands. Top choice: Cover Girl, followed by Clinique. But nearly one-fifth of respondents aren’t loyal to brands, especially in lipsticks, Zandl says.
Jane, the less-than-2-year-old line by Sassaby Inc., picks up where the basics of Cover Girl leave off.
Borrowing ideas from “professional” makeup lines such as M.A.C., Jane’s products come in sleek black packaging with accompanying accessories. Prices are low: Each item has a $2.99 suggested retail price. Throw in advertising featuring multi-ethnic models, animal-free testing and cause-related promotional tie-ins, and the line is on everyone’s hip list.
“Jane looks terrific,” says Liz Brous, beauty editor of Seventeen magazine, who praises the line’s sophisticated look. Still, she notes that teens also “love the fragrances and fun of Bonne Bell.”
The the hottest trends, says Brous, are irridescence and sparkle, as well as glossy lips and anything in surprising colors, such as Hard Candy’s new pastel nail polishes.
“Nails are a big deal because a lot of young women don’t want an overly madeup face, but they can experiment with their nails,” Brous says.
According to experts, what’s driving the teen beauty product boom is a positive message: enhancing individual looks, not conforming to some impossible standard.
Jane cosmetics, for example, are aimed at teens’ diverse “possibilities, not their insecurities,” says company president Don Pettit. “We say, `You’re expressing yourself, not masking yourself.”‘
A PRO KNOWS: TAKING A NATURAL APPROACH
Makeup artist Bobbi Brown tries to steer young girls — and women — from heavy makeup.
“I get a lot of mothers who bring their daughters in saying, `Please show her how to wear makeup,”‘ says Brown, who thinks girls are more likely to heed the advice of a professional. In seeking expert advice, Brown advises “looking for one of the newer (beauty) companies with a more natural aesthetic.”
Her own suggestions for making up without looking it include:
— Finding colors that complement the skin tone. “White or pink looks fake,” she says, suggesting yellow-based foundations.
— Picking blushes that are rosy on the cheek, matching your post-exercise shade.
— Opting for brown instead of black mascara.
— Using a creamy concealer to hide blemishes. Dot it on (Brown uses brush), then pat until blended. Finish with powder.
“My best advise is to compromise,” Brown says of mother/daughter makeup differences. “Find something fun that’s not offensive.” She suggests white lip gloss as a playful but not too outrageous option.
HOW MUCH IS TOO MUCH? HOW SOON IS TOO SOON? ADVICE FOR PARENTS
It’s an inevitable scene — daughters paint on makeup, parents panic.
“It’s a shock to parents to start thinking of their little girl as a woman at all,” says Steve O’Brien, a Clearwater, Fla., psychologist who specializes in child/family dynamics.
But for teens, makeup is a means of self-expression and testing the adult waters and peer acceptance. O’Brien counsels parents to put it down to normal adolescent experimentation rather than engage in a power struggle.
“I suggest they try not to make appearance an issue with teens,” he says. “Day-to-day you need to bite your tongue and save it for the big stuff,” such as alcohol, truancy, drugs and shirking responsibilities.
But disagreements on how much is too much are common.
“It’s an age-old conflict,” says Jane Pratt, former editor of Sassy magazine and author of “For Real: Uncensored Truth About America’s Teenagers” (Hyperion, $9.95).
“Whereas the parents as teenagers might have experimented with blue eyeshadow, today it’s getting your eyebrows pierced. But parents see it as much more radical.”
With the increase of products marketed to teens, it may be tweens — the 8- to 12-year-olds — who are shocking parents most.
“When you name a product `teen something,’ it appeals to preteens, to people who aspire to teen age,” says Pratt. “Teenagers often are turned off by `teen’ in the title.” But experts such as makeup artist Bobbi Brown say makeup is better left for high school when a little — brown mascara, light eyeshadow, concealer and lip gloss — goes a long way on a youthful face.
Seventeen beauty editor Liz Brous notes that the magazine’s makeovers usually stress a natural look for everyday.
The rush to experiment often leads to overuse.
“They think more is better,” says Sara Fiedelholtz, editor of the Beauty Handbook.
Chicagoan Mike McCafrey is the father of three teenagers, Sara, 17, Lucia, 15, and 13-year-old Dali, who recently started wearing makeup.
“I was complaining that they were going to school with too much makeup and it was inappropriate,” he says, although his comments, directed at the younger two, had little effect.
Their mother, Ruth Varella, says makeup should match the lighting. “They looked like they were going to a nightclub but they were going to school.
Lucia relented but Dali hasn’t quite.
“They don’t like it when I wear dark colors,” says Dali. “But I don’t like bright colors. I like dark things.” She fudges with a light application of darker colors. “I’m in between what they want and what I want,” she says.
But Dali was allowed to dye her hair pink with temporary pigment. Lucia plans to go green for St. Patrick’s Day.
“I thought if this is the worst thing they do, it’s not so bad,” says Varella.”
But even these parents draw the line at permanent dye, tattoos and body piercing. Sara, a drama student at Chicago Academy of the Arts, and Lucia, who attends Lincoln Park High School, considered nose rings. When their father advised them to wait six months, complaining that it was faddish, the girls eventually cooled to the idea, Sara because she thought it would type-cast her in acting roles and Lucia because of the pain and expense.
Body-piercing and the like call for setting limits based on health and safety concerns, says O’Brien. “It’s important to respond, not react,” he says, noting that an emotional reaction will likely trigger a stronger backlash.
Still, Pratt calls piercing and tattooing a fad to which parents should pay attention.
“If someone is wearing extremely heavy makeup, gets lots of piercings and tattoos, it can be a sign that they are abusing their body or using it to convey some trouble that they’re in, so it’s important to talk about it,” she says.
