Want the perfect pout? Need to know how to contour your nose so it looks smaller? How about creating a smoky eye for a night out? Well, there’s a YouTube video for that.
You know the one I’m talking about. It’s a tutorial that usually starts with a barefaced female who transforms herself into someone so overdone that she’s unrecognizable by the end.
These beauty videos have gained momentum over the last couple years. In fact, from 2015 to 2016, views of videos in this category increased 80 percent.
It’s not surprising, considering how social media mavens Kim Kardashian and Kylie Jenner use Snapchat and video tutorials to show you how to give your face a flawless finish – all while building their makeup and beauty empires, of course.
Recently, Kardashian told Women’s Wear Daily that her daughter, North West, was interested in the beauty vlogging business. It was a venture that dad Kanye West reportedly quickly nixed.
But North isn’t the first kid to show interest in having her own YouTube channel of makeup how-tos. In fact, toddler and kid makeup tutorials are already a thing – and I’m completely disturbed by them.
I can’t be the only one, right?
It seems that the days of little girls applying mom’s red lipstick on their lips – which actually ended up smeared over most of their faces – are gone. Today’s young ones can apply lip liner with precision, contour their faces without shading issues and apply eyeliner with ease.
But are these skills they need to know at age 4 or 6? I don’t think so.
Some parents say these videos are just for fun, while others call makeup a form of expression – just like mom Amy Lyn of California, who allows her daughter to wear makeup and dye her hair at the age of 2.
Lyn says her daughter “can rock dyed hair, sparkling lip gloss or eye shadow because she believes that giving her child the freedom to make her own choices now will help her make wiser decisions as an adult,” CafeMom reports.
Really? I’m not sure I agree. Yes, I think it’s great to allow kids to express themselves through dress-up and imaginative play, but this just takes things a bit too far. Hair dye for toddlers?
Why can’t kids just be kids and be taught to find beauty in their natural hair color and their clear complexions – which could easily be irritated by makeup application?
I wasn’t allowed to wear makeup until I was 16. My mom only let me apply it for dance recitals and school dances – otherwise I was au naturel. At the time, I hated that I was the only one of my friends who wasn’t able to wear makeup regularly. But now, I’m happy my mom had that rule because I was able to focus on being a kid. Plus, no makeup equaled no breakouts for young Stacey.
Maybe we need more moms like mine.
What do you think of these kid makeup tutorials? Tell us in comments.
