Most girls start off wearing makeup only on special occasions. Gradually, it can get to the point where girls feel insecure without makeup like they need to wear it daily. Generation Z is so connected with social media that there is pressure to start wearing makeup at a young age.
A survey was sent out to 67 female students aged 14-18 at the school. They were asked various questions about their experiences with makeup and beauty standards. 78% of the respondents said that they do wear makeup. Of that 78%, 40% wear it every day, and 34% wear it almost every day.
An anonymous response from a senior said, “I feel like makeup makes me feel better, if I look good, I feel good.”
This ties right back into the big question: why do girls wear makeup? According to the data, 39% of girls who wear makeup wear it due to insecurities.
“I just feel so plain and boring without makeup, I can’t be pretty unless my lashes are curled,” said sophomore Hana Kinnard.
While many girls use makeup to hide their flaws, some girls do the exact opposite. In fact, the survey found that 33% of respondents wear makeup for fun.
Makeup can be considered a form of art, as displayed on social media, where influencers take their creativity to the next level.
The influence of social media on beauty standards is also apparent. In fact, 48% of respondents said that social media was why they started wearing makeup. A wide variety of makeup trends are present on platforms such as Tiktok and Instagram. On these apps, new trends are born, such as the “clean girl” trend or “latte makeup.” With these trends, people try out different kinds of makeup and force them onto their audience. A few big influencers will make videos doing “clean girl makeup,” and then all of the sudden, it takes teen girls by storm.
It is not only the trends that pull young girls in but a rise in what many refer to as “Sephora girls.” Sephora girls are young girls, typically in middle school. They spend a lot of money on expensive and unnecessary skincare and makeup products.
People see a lot of “Sephora girls” online, but how many young girls really do this? According to the data, 19% of respondents said that they started wearing makeup regularly from ages 8-11. To put that into perspective, that is grades three through six.
However, the majority of respondents (60%) said that they started wearing makeup regularly from ages 13-15, or grades eight through ten.
Beauty standards tend to push maturing on young children and make them more insecure. However, out of everyone who does and doesn’t wear makeup, 57% said that they feel pretty without any makeup. Confidence may seem like it is an issue in young girls, but in reality, the majority of them still feel pretty without being done up.
“You should feel pretty without makeup,” said one anonymous respondent. “Everyone is beautiful, it can just be hard for you to see it in yourself.”
