Celebrity Make-Up Artist Hannah Martin On How To Tackle Conversations With Your Kids About Makeup

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Celebrity make-up artist Hannah Martin has two children - three and eight years old. Here she gives her advice on how to talk to children about make-up.

Don’t be afraid to talk about and play with make-up from an early age

I’ve always encouraged make-up play. Some people I’ve met have grown up thinking make-up is taboo or vain or frivolous and I don’t want them to grow up with and negative connotations towards make-up.

My son was five before my daughter came along and from the age of two he was playing with whatever make-up he found lying around, and instead of chastising him for that, I actively encouraged it. I didn’t want him to grow up with any gender stereotypical, ‘I’m a boy, therefore I mustn’t like make-up’. If he wanted to grow up wearing make-up, I’d be ok with that.

My daughter loves it, she’s got a wooden playset, a few old bits of mine and she enjoys putting it on herself and me. But I make it really clear this is playtime – I don’t want to instill in her an idea that she (or mummy) has to wear make-up to beautiful, I spend a lot of time make-up free. But I make it fun if we’re playing, it’s creative, escapism time when we’re doing it.

Make sure children understand that they are beautiful no matter what…

The only area where I’m torn is the very few times I made it to shopping centres last year, I was shocked and devastated by the amount of make-up really really young girls were wearing. That’s where I felt a bit of internal conflict. I have no problem with children wanting to play with make-up as an extension of creativity and art, however, my sadness comes at seeing 11 or 12-year-olds in more make-up than I would’ve ever worn clubbing at 18 because they have a wealth of exposure to tutorials online. The young women they maybe look up to – in our day it might’ve been Pussycat Dolls, now it might be Little Mix – it’s full Bratz Doll make-up. As a make-up artist I appreciate that look, but I don’t want my daughter to think at 10, 11, 12 that’s the make-up she wants to wear just to go shopping at Bluewater.

I think the conversation from parents, teachers, aunties, mentors, needs to be anchored in, ‘You are beautiful no matter what – you are enough no matter what’. By all means, use make-up as a form of expression but you don’t have to conform. Where I am in the southeast, it seems like the vast majority of young girls have thick foundation, heavy contour, fake lashes, all very intense. I think as long as we’re telling young people they’re beautiful and they are enough, and teaching them the basics of skincare, we’re doing the right thing.

Help them understand skincare is important too…

What worries me is these young people slather themselves in thick make-up, but maybe don’t know how best to remove it. Which can lead to problematic skin, because their hormones are changing and I can’t help but think a lot of heavy make-up won’t help with that.

Talk and teach them about cleansing really efficiently, not using face wipes. There are ranges like The Inkey List, The Ordinary, Simple… all brands that aren’t too expensive and don’t have too many ingredients, that can get your skin clean. I think we need to tell our young people to let their skin breathe. Give your skin rest days. Brands like La Roche-Posay do some great stuff for those encountering slightly problematic skin.

Let them know that it’s not all about the expensive brands…

There might be peer pressure for girls to be seen to wear the right make-up, whether it’s Kylie Cosmetics, or Huda or Charlotte Tilbury, things at a slightly higher price point. But we’re living in age where Primark Beauty, Revolution, Collection, CYO at Boots and Revolution Pro – these companies have been really savvy. You can get great palettes for a few pounds now. There’s a resurgence of reasonably priced make-up brands. So for those who don’t earn much or aren’t from high-income families, they potentially have other options than to spend on expensive label brands. It’s tough though, there’s always peer pressure.

Help them realise that full Instagram make-up isn’t necessarily always the coolest or only option…

I’ve spoken to young people and shown them how to do various bits of make-up in a way I feel is more flattering. Often, young people are copying what they’ve seen online, but they don’t necessarily recognize it’s not as flattering on them as the person they saw do it. So I think it can be helpful if you can teach and coach there’s a way to do things that’s still impactful and cool, but maybe look a bit more natural.

Often I’ll show young people photos and say, ‘Look at Jennifer Lawrence and how glowing and fresh her skin is and how natural her brows are’.

Parents have a bit of responsibility where make-up is a debate - have a look what’s out there. If you’re worried about the styles your children are emulating, maybe look on social media and see if there’s someone’s style you like and direct them that way, rather than just telling them you don’t like what they’re doing, or what they’re doing is wrong.

Help boys interested in make up by introducing them to some of the biggest male make-up stars around

When you think of some of the biggest influencers in beauty at the moment, like James Charles and Mmmmitchell, these are young men saying to other guys and girls you can do whatever you want. Society is so much more accepting of that. Look at someone like Mario Dedivanovic, he’s been so open about his journey and how he walked into Sephora and couldn’t recognize what that feeling was, but he recognized it as being inspiration. He’s now one of the world’s leading make-up artists with his own line. So there are a lot of male, aspirational make-up artists who I think are really encouraging those who want to explore make-up and they will feel like they can because there are other people out there who are doing it. For young guys now who love make up, thankfully there are loads of people out there to aspire to and be trained by virtually.

Take them to the beauty counter

If you’re concerned, take your child to a department store where they can get some advice. Throughout my career at Bobbi Brown I met loads of people who said, ‘I first started using Bobbi Brown when my mum brought me to the make-up counter at 15’. That can be great at diffusing a situation – rather than saying, ‘Your eyeliner’s too heavy! Your foundation’s too dark!’ Take them to the place they love the most, the beauty hall, and get the make-up artist to speak to them. Most make-up artists are clued in that if a parent brings a child in, it’s probably because they want some advice. I think sometimes young people would take it better coming from a make-up artist, rather than a parent. Take yourself out of the equation.

You can follow Hannah Martin for makeup tutorials and tips on Instagram @hannahmartinmakeup

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