Creating Your Own Make-Up

If your child's begging to wear make-up, but you don't want her to get caught up in the superficial, then “Creative Cosmetics: The Science of Skin Care” (Thames & Kosmos 2005) is for you! It combines a healthy attitude about skin care, a quick lesson in biology, and contents to create your own makeup.

This is for kids ages 12 and up, but even a sullen teen might get a thrill in creating a unique perfumed and colored lotion. And a child of any age would enjoy facts like, “The modern lipstick was introduced at the Word Fair in Amsterdam (Holland) in 1883. This 'little red stick' consisted of wax, whale fat, cattle tallow and colored almond oil...”

Although the experiments aren't rooted in much chemistry (they provide a base and your child adds the color and/or smell) the experiment “book” does explain the basics of biology and chemistry both with skin and cosmetics. So even if your child's dying to jump right into making make-up, have her read the short book first. Not only does it explain how to do the experiments, it gives tips on how to keep your skin healthy, and simple explanations of why some ingredients are used.

“Creative Cosmetics” also encourages a healthy attitude on appearances by encouraging teens to concentrate on maintaining skin health, not just dramatic eye shadow and pink cheeks. So even if your child's using way too much glitter when creating her own lip gloss, she'll still be leaning (a little) about science and health.