Middle School Beauty Tips

Keeping Clean

• The bottom line to natural beauty is that it comes directly from being clean. Encourage middle school students to begin showering or bathing daily. Establish a routine with your kids so they keep themselves clean. Buy shampoos and body soaps that they will enjoy using, and keep a tab on the products to make sure that they are being used as they should. The first step toward middle school beauty is good personal hygiene.

Using Products

• Middle school kids will probably think they need all sorts of products. They may not need everything they want, but a good supply of age-appropriate products will help them develop a sense of self-worth and get used to taking care of themselves. Middle school kids should have shampoo and conditioner, body soap and lotion to use on their skin. They should also have a facial soap that they use daily, and cavity-fighting toothpaste. Girls with long hair should have one or two products they can use to keep their hair shiny and healthy. Boys will also enjoy a hair gel from time to time. Lastly, middle school kids should have deodorant. Explain the products and make sure that they use it.

Experimenting

• In middle school, girls will want to start to experiment with makeup. Parents might be hesitant about this change but can set some easy guidelines. Give your daughter some of your old makeup, and tell her that she can experiment all she wants after school and on the weekends. This will allow her to play around with makeup and learn how to use it before you decide she can wear it to school.

Beauty Products

• Girls can experiment with many different beauty products. Sparkly lotion and glitter for hair are two products that middle school girls are drawn to. A light coating of lotion with sparkles is okay for school, but using too much of it, and using hair glitter, are things that should be saved for parties and sleepovers. Other beauty products that girls might want to experiment with include nail polish, which is fun to choose and put on in middle school, and scented lotions and perfumes. These should be used sparingly at school, but can be experimented with liberally at home and with friends.

Makeup

• Makeup becomes popular with girls in middle school. Encourage girls in sixth and seventh grade to start small, with a bit of blush and maybe some eye shadow. As girls get older, into eighth grade, they can experiment with cover-up and foundation. Stress that less is more and teach them to use things like eye shadow, mascara, blush and eyeliner correctly. Sleepovers and parties are great times for middle school girls to get together and teach each other how to put on makeup.