At what age is it OK for girls to wear make-up?

I was discussing this yesterday with some friends, who are both mothers of girls.  We know girls as young as 10 years old who have started wearing nail varnish, lipstick and eye shadow.  When they become teenagers, some girls are wearing full make up regularly.

How did it all start?  Why do women wear make-up at all?

Shakespeare’s Hamlet told Ophelia: “I’ve heard all about you women and your cosmetics too. God gives you one face, but you paint another on top of it. You dance and prance and lisp; you call God’s creations by pet names, and you excuse your sexpot ploys by pleading ignorance.”

Whether women should wear make-up at all is a discussion for another day.  The question today is what age should girls start to wear make-up?

In a survey carried out by online retailer Escentual.com, more girls than ever are starting to wear make-up from the age of 11 – three years younger than it was a decade ago.  89% of women surveyed would prefer girls to wait until they were at least 12 before wearing lipgloss, 13 before wearing eye make-up and 14 before wearing foundation.

Emma Leslie from Escentual said  “Women are mostly concerned that these pre-teen girls might develop an unhealthy obsession with their appearance – over 62.6 per cent thought this was the biggest risk from younger girls starting to use make-up.”

What do you think?  Is it an issue if young girls wear make up?