(WGGB/WSHM) -- A growing trend of young girls wearing makeup and using beauty products is sparking debate. Many are asking what impact these products could have on children as they grow up. Western Mass News is getting answers on whether kids in our area are just playing dress-up, or if beauty brands are intentionally marketing to them.

Fourth and fifth graders, only nine and ten years old, are asking for the same high-end beauty products they see online. The same one’s makeup artists, like Liz Walsher, use for work. “I feel like there’s a lot of deliberate marketing done towards children... Experimenting can be fun, but when it’s directing you towards really expensive products with unnecessary ingredients, it feels very unnecessary to me,” Washer explains.

While makeup isn’t new for kids, experts say what’s changed is how polished and persuasive the content is the tutorials, haul, and get ready with me videos, that can feel like a friend giving advice.

Allison Werder, the Assistant Dean of Marketing & Communication and Chief Marketing Officer at the UMass Amherst Isenberg School of Management, tells Western Mass News, “It can feel very organic it can feel very personal one to one but in reality, often times those are paid endorsements and those influencers have other incentives to get those audiences engaged.”

She says that for kids, content from someone just a little older can deeply resonate, especially when the intent is to make them look older and feel prettier.

“A lot of these younger females aspire to be more adult, aspire to be more grown up and when they see these influencers or these YouTube videos of people a little older than but close enough in age and they see by putting these products on their face their looking more mature they are looking more attractive...Showing these get ready with Me’s, showing the routines or even the hauls they go to the stores and get all these products, and they open them up it’s an engaging form of marketing and it really is influential for this younger group in particular,” the Assistant Dean explains.

However, it’s not just videos. Marketing experts say packaging can also do the selling with companies using bright colors, glitter, and mini versions of products to sell more, “The trial sizes, the smaller versions that you can fit into your backpacks, all of those packaging and branding are all sneaky ways brands can make it more appealing.”

Mental health professionals say for some kids, makeup really is play, creativity, experimenting, and even gender expression.

Sarah Babbs Caress, a Clinical Social Worker with The Center for Human Development, tells Western Mass News that creativity can quickly turn into pressure when the goal shifts from fun, to feeling like you have to look older or perfect.

She continues to explain, “The expectation is that the 11, 12, or 13 year old girl is going to look the same as 20-something-year-old woman who is an influencer...When it crosses to that point of I don’t feel like I’m worthy or I don’t feel like I can be attractive or be seen as someone worth looking at if I’m not wearing makeup then it’s maybe crossed into an unhealthy place.”

There are also physical concerns. Pros say some popular skincare products, especially ones with “active” ingredients, aren’t made for younger skin, and can cause irritation or allergic reactions. Makeup Artist Liz Washer says, “It’s very common to be allergic to the ingredients in skincare that has a lot of active ingredients in it which is not really designed for younger skin.”

So, what can parents do? Experts like Caress say start with questions, then set boundaries, “If your child comes to you and sees I’m really interested in makeup, and I want to try it first question is ok what appeals to you about that? What makes you interested in that? And kind of exploring with them why they want to start wearing makeup and figure out what exactly they want to achieve with makeup... Having boundaries around like for example what we do with makeup at home vs how we go to school and that kind of stuff to make sure it’s part of a play and experimenting and growth process and not something that becomes detrimental.”

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