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Posted August 18, 2009 by Sabrina Weill

Our 5-year-old wears makeup. That may or may not sound shocking, but it's the truth.

Not every day, of course. It's not like she wakes up in the morning and "puts her face on" before camp. That would be shocking.

The makeup fad started a few months ago. I was in the bathroom putting on lipgloss and I noticed LP was staring, rapt.

"Can I put on your pink sparkly lipstick too?" Why yes you can! What a fun idea!

Confession here: I love to say yes to my children. Not in a "yes you can play with the blender" kind of way--no. Of course the answer is no to requests about being mean or teasing or serious mischief... No, no no.  

But when it passes the This Doesn't Matter test, yes.

Can I wear my princess dress to the diner?
Can I fill my bag up with dirt?
Can I sleep with my light on?

Yes, yes yes.

So, the answer to: Can I paint my face with pink sparkly powder? Definitely Yes.

Not realizing, of course, that this "yes" was kind of controversial.

"Can you believe some of the little girls wear makeup to this?" A mom once asked me at LP's drama class. "I think it's wrong to let them."

Hm... well, I let her. Not to camp, not to school, but on the weekends when I wear makeup, she puts some on too. And I'll be honest, it usually looks a little crazy, which is definitely part of the fun.

Recently, we were invited to a pool party, and LP decided to paint blue waves, using sparkly blue eyeshadow, all over her face. "Do I look like a pool?" She asked, grinning big.

"Do you *want* to look like a pool?" I asked cautiously -- having fallen into this trap before.

"Yes!" she said proudly, pointing. "See? Waves!!"

"You DO look just like a pool!" her dad said, scooping her up and tossing her in the car.

"I hope our friends don't mind a few extra waves in their pool today!"

I guess when she gets too good putting the makeup on, we'll know it's time to start saying "no."

Until then, surf's up on our little princess's forehead, and some of her dolls are getting makeup makeovers as well. (We learned the hard way that makeup and stuffed animals are not a great mix.)

And in case others find playing with makeup endearing, from one princess mama to another: Princess powder-based makeup, yes, little kid lipgloss: NO. For some reason the child version of lipgloss is far more sticky and stain-ish than the grown-up version, which is just as likely to leave the cutest little marks when she smooches the letters to her grandparents. Swapk: sealed with a princess kiss!

Sabrina Weill is the founder of the pink and princess-y gift site PrincessLovesPink.com.