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Dad Livid After The Makeup His Wife Puts On Their 2-Year-Old Horribly Irritates Her Skin

Ronnie Kaufman/Getty Images

Make-up is something people have been wearing for millennia.

But is there an age that is too young for make-up?

Should parents not put make-up on their children until they reach a certain age?

The parents of a 2-year-old clashed over this question. So the father turned to the “Am I The A**hole” (AITA) subReddit for feedback.

Redditor AITAMUA asked:

“AITA for calling my wife irresponsible?”

The Original Poster (OP) explained:

“My wife (25) and I (26, male) have a baby girl that just turned 2 who we’ll call ‘Z’.”

“My wife loves cosmetics. She’ll practice a lot and says she’s even thinking about starting a MUA [make-up artist] business.”

“However, she lately has been wanting to practice makeup on Z which I was cautious about but didn’t mind as long as it wasn’t a full face nor could she do it every day. She agreed to that.”

“The next day I heard Z whimpering in her room so I decided to check on her and I saw that her skin was terrible.”

“She had a really bad rash and blistering in her face, her left eye was swollen, her skin was very irritated, and she kept scratching making it more irritated.”

“I quickly got us both dressed and rushed to the doctor’s office and it ended up being ‘contact dermatitis’.”

“1 hour after the appointment my wife came home excited saying she can’t wait to do another makeover on Z and that she bought new products for her to try.”

“I confronted her and demanded that she tells me what did she put on Z’s face.”

“She admits to me that it was a full face of makeup while I was at work and that they even went out to the park so others can see her talent.”

“I called her crazy and irresponsible because now our daughter has contact dermatitis and that she broke our agreement.”

“She got upset with me calling her irresponsible and lashed out at me saying she was only trying to make her look pretty and that she wanted Z to have a passion for makeup like she does since she doesn’t even pay attention to it.”

“So now I’m wondering, Am I The Asshole for calling my wife irresponsible?”

Redditors weighed in by declaring:

  • NTA – Not The A**hole
  • YTA – You’re The A**hole
  • NAH – No A**holes Here
  • ESH – Everyone Sucks Here

Redditors decided OP was not the a**hole.

“NTA, your daughter is not a doll. Calling your wife irresponsible is an insult to irresponsible people.” ~ GracenandGracen

“No fan of make-up on babies, but as a dermatologist I suspect the main cause of the rash was the cleaning it off—if she used a lot of make-up, the soaps in the make up remover will have stripped her skin causing an irritant dermatitis.”

“She COULD have a contact allergy but from make-up this is less likely. Babies’ skin can’t tolerate irritants like soap as well as adults as their skin is thinner and only reaches full thickness by 8 or 9.” ~ DazzleLove

“I don’t think it matters too much personally: to wear make up, you need to be able to take it off again.”

“Precisely what within that process hurts her skin isn’t important. It shouldn’t be happening.” ~ queenofthera

“I have 3 kids who love makeup/dress up/nail stuff. The most I usually put on them(youngest is 4) is some blush, eye shadow and lipstick, not even once a month.”

“A couple times I’ve let the almost 8yo use mascara because she feels left out not getting shadow/blush because of her sensitive skin. We are very careful taking it off to avoid her eyes.”

“A full face of makeup on a 2yo?? Wtf is wrong with her!?” ~ Redditor

“Yeah my parents both kept me away from it until I was in middle school, and then my mom taught me how to use just basic things like lipstick, blush, and mascara.”

“The weirdest part of this imo is this sentence:”

“‘…she was only trying to make her look pretty and that she wanted Z to have a passion for makeup like she does’.”

“How is a child going to get a passion for makeup when she’s 2 years old?”

“I don’t even have any memories from before I was 4, and I didn’t even care about makeup until I was 12 or 13.”

“OP was definitely right in calling her irresponsible.” ~ Culture-Critic

“The ‘she was only trying to make her look pretty’ part makes me see red. This woman thinks her baby is ugly and put makeup on her to make her more attractive.”

“That’s messed up. Her daughter is going to end up with so many body image issues thanks to her shallow mother.” ~ thistleandpeony

“The emotional damage of being made ‘pretty’ is so long lasting.”

“If your wife needs a model so bad why doesn’t she volunteer at an old folks home or work with a charity like look good feel better.”

“Your daughter is not a toy for your wife to use for her own pleasure.” ~ coconutville

“NTA. I’m pretty sure your wife can buy a mannequin head to practice on.”

“I am someone who was inadvertently body shamed at 10-years-old once and as an adult woman I’m still dealing with the shame and not liking/loving my body.”

“Please do not let her plant the seed in your daughter’s head that she’s only pretty with makeup. It’s so damaging.” ~ Fetchezlavache10

“Absolutely! As a developmental specialist, I’m absolutely appalled by the situation.”

“The only thing that should be going on that little face is sunscreen and chapstick! At 2 years old, the only interest this poor baby would naturally have for makeup is to apply onto the walls.”

“Her visual perception skills are developmentally not at a level to ‘appreciate’ makeup on the face, let alone the capacity to even understand the purpose of makeup. OP’s wife is beyond irresponsible.”

“Such an early exposure could potentially make product usage later in life more… problematic for the child.”

“With repeated exposures this early on sensitive skin, she could have the potential to develop more sensitivities and allergies to the products, limiting what she could use later in life when the child is old enough to appreciate and understand makeup.” ~ SpiritualMouth

“Additionally I’m wondering how tf the mom gets a 2-year-old to stay still long enough to do a full face. That bit also seems… suspect regarding the mom’s behavior.” ~ OpossumJesusHasRisen

“I once put makeup on my almost 2 year old so she could be a ‘zombie’ for a community project we were in. It was hypoallergenic.”

“I tested a small spot on her skin first to see if she would have a reaction.”

“But, man, getting her to sit still was a feat. And it wasn’t even that much makeup.”

“I can’t imagine how she gets a 2 year old to put on eyeshadow and such… wtf?” ~ Suspicious_West1161

“Most cosmetics, even the ‘clean’ ones contain ingredients that are too harsh for a child’s skin.”

“At this stage, the most the child should be noticing is that a particular color is pretty. She doesn’t need to know about eyeshadow and lipstick.” ~ PanamaViejo

“The part that has me hung up is the part where she took her out and about so ‘others could see [mom’s] talent’.”

“The vanity in this comment alone makes me highly uncomfortable. This little girl is a child, not a doll or an Instagram model to be used to show off.” ~ TheClockReads2113

“If I went to the park and saw a kid with a full face of makeup, I’d wonder what was wrong with her caregiver!”

“Not ask who did that dope contouring.” ~ memily11

Redditors across the board had issues with mom’s comments. Maybe her child will love make-up, but putting a full face on a 2-year-old is probably not going to help with that goal.

Written by Amelia Mavis Christnot

Amelia Christnot is an Oglala Lakota, Kanien'kehá:ka Haudenosaunee and Metís Navy brat who settled in the wilds of Northern Maine. A member of the Indigenous Journalists Association, she considers herself another proud Maineiac.