Do you think you're high-maintenance? Wait until you read the two-hour grooming routine of Bethany Conheeny:
After washing her naturally wavy hair, she spritzes, sprays and straightens it with £120 [around $240] designer ceramic straighteners. If there's so much as a kink left, she starts again. She's rigorous in her cleansing, toning and moisturing routine, and before leaving the house, applies a slick of lip-gloss. At the weekends, it takes longer. Bethany — who has £70 [around $140] worth of beauty treatments each week, including a spray tan, pedicure, manicure and eyebrow wax — applies St Tropez blusher, pink eye shadow and mascara.
The catch? Bethany is nine years old. To get my take on this situation, read more
Frankly, when I saw this mentioned on Jezebel, I was flabbergasted. Obviously, I love makeup, hair, spa treatments and the like—and lots of little girls are interested in playing dress-up. But this level of primping and maintenance seems unhealthy, particularly when these girls seem to be buying into the idea that they can't be pretty without spending two hours getting ready. Really, does any little girl need to have her eyebrows waxed? I can't imagine that even the prepubescent Frida Kahlo needed that!
Don't get me wrong: I think there are age-appropriate ways to enter the world of beauty, like painting toenails with Mom or wearing Bonne Bell lip balm. But some of these girls are getting leg waxes, tanning-booth sessions, and begging to wear Chanel foundation—all before they've turned 12 years old. It doesn't seem like healthy curiosity; instead, it seems like an obsession that breeds insecurity at a time when these girls need to believe they're smart, talented and pretty just as they are.
I know what you're thinking: Where are the parents? You'll be shocked—shocked!—to find out that many of them are actively encouraging these beauty routines. Catherine Conheeney, mom of high-maintenance Bethany, is hoping that her daughter's looks can help her become successful. "Bethany will need to be slim to be a model," she says. "But I'm working hard to explain that she needs the right balance of food to make sure she's healthy. I've just entered her for a modeling competition to find the next Kate Moss."
Like I said, I'm flabbergasted. Are you? Or is this merely a sign of the times?
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Wow..I am shocked. Children have beautiful skin so they don't really need all the high level of treatment yet, except for good sun protection of course.
1This makes me sick.
Children should grow up naturally and not have to worry about all this kind of stuff until they get older.
2I pity today's children---helpless victims of popular culture---trying to manipulate and control their naive minds and turn them into "materialist" freaks at an early age.
3i blame paris hilton
4This is sad to see. Little girls should not worry about being beautiful.. there are more important things: an education.
5this is crazy. i look back at pictures of me when i was this age....and my hair was never perfectly straight, and my outfits sometimes didn't really match....and i was happy. kids need to be kids, not mini-adults.
6The mother is encouraging this? This is taking that whole "beauty-pageant-mother" to a whole new and sickening level.
7this is ridiculous. what valid reason would there be for all this? also, the next kate-moss? underweight, unhealthy, drug-abuser is who this child is trying to emulate? and the mother encourages this?
8this is really alarming and crazy. If they keep this rate up could you imagine how they would they looklike when their 21? I swear kids nowdays are growing up too much. I'm going to make sure when I have kids, they won't have their first taste of makeup, no cell phones/blackberry till their 16 or 18. know, I know I'm going to be one strict mother.
9I swear "innocence of a child" is getting more of an oxymoron.
10This makes me so sad...I wish these young girls could appreciate the simple things in life.
11This is absurdly disgusting...anything other than lip gloss on a girl this age is just wrong.
12Flabbergasted hardly begins to cover it.
Man, I get kind of disturbed when people put lipstick on their nine year old daughters once a year for Christmas photos or something. This is just obscene. Way to teach your daughter that looks are the only thing she should value. And that she'll only *be* valued if she's beautiful. And all sorts of other *wonderful* messages to send to your little girl.
Not to mention the cost of all this. o_O Clearly they're rich enough to afford this sort of craziness (at least one hopes they are!) but if they can spend that kind of money on the girl every week, they could also have her donate it to charity and do some good in the world. Or, hell, even invest it somewhere and learn all sorts of useful lessons about how to make money and manage it wisely *on her own,* instead of expecting some prince to rescue her from all that because she's beautiful.
&*%$@#*
The world is a sick place.
13ridiculous! i read a story about little girl in england the other day who was just like this one..
14Girls grow up REALLY FAST in the UK.... it's just the culture. Scary.
15I agree i didn't wear makeup until i was 13. There were girls in my grade tho who wore makeup since the 5th grade shopping at Victorias secret and wearing tube tops under mesh clothing. I never really got into it.
16i kind of want to punch that little girl's mom ha
17i think the only "beauty" regimine that should be taught to any child under 14 is the importance of sunscreen- because that is not only a beauty thing but a health thing! i had a play make up kit when i was like 9- but i stress- it was play make up! not let me get made up so i can leave the house. its sad that mothers are encouraging it. i can see encouraging being active- sports and dance and stuff, but not toning and "Staying slim" that will come naturally if you feed your kids healthy foods and encourage normal activities. i feel bad for these little girls
18Wow. When I was younger I just played with my moms lotions and lipstick occasionally and played dress up. If you look back on the pictures I was always in little Toto's with the occasional spills from the snack before ha.
19Oh yeah and the girl on the far left looks a little bit slutty for a 9 yr old. agree?
20this makes me sick. the fashion industry is just as bad. the beauty/fashion industry practically promotes child molestation. kids should be climbing trees, scraping their knees, getting dirty, and having fun and NOT worrying incesently about their appearance.
21this is horrible. a nine year old should own maybe a lip gloss and thats it. this is way too much. i cant believe this
22unfit parents much?????
23I remember my mom not allowing me to wear make-up until a certain age. This reminds me of those beauty pagent girls who look like three foot adults.
24Wow, that's really insane for a 9 year old!
25thats terrible. i never even wore makeup until I was fourteen, and I still haven't had my eyebrows shaped or been to a tanning salon! i don't think little girls should get these kinds of treatments and they DEFINITELY shouldn't be worried if they will be the next Kate Moss or not.
26"Hoping her daughter's looks will help her become successful"? Wha? Proper grooming is important, but all that for a 9 year old? What happened to Bonne Bell lip glosses and cheap nail polish? This girl is going to have horrible ideas of self image when she hits puberty, which will probably stay with her for the rest of her life. I think her mother should be more interested in her daughter's education and her being happy with who she is, instead of the next super model.
27And that picture kinda creeps me out to top it all off.
28definitely CREEPY
29This makes me very sad. And they look ridiculous. Pretty soon embryos will be putting on lipstick in the womb and asking
30"Does this make my ass look fat?"
Scary; I'm 7yrs older than her and I don't even go through all of that. I'm lucky if I paint my nails twice a month and I rarely straighten my hair(when I feel like looking pretty,lol.)
31Oh, I know. These girls do more primping than I do!
32That child's hair is going to fall out by the time she's 16. Mercy.
33I had already read about this somewhere else I think. And I think they posted a picture or video of her and let me tell you it is sad, sad, sad SAD!.
34Somebody should slap every one of their mothers. Hard enough to smudge their makeup.
35I have a friend like this, and the sad part is she is one of the smartes people I know. Instead she spends her time worrying about boys and hair, she always has a brush in her purse and seems to brush her hair everytime we go to the bathroom. She used to be a size 5 or 6, (as am i) I remeber after one summer we both came back to school with a little extra weight and we were obsessed to find a way to loose it, She went from a size 6 to a size 2 in months. And she looks scary it doesn't suit her but yet she obsesses about ti even if she gains one pound. I swear she asked me if sushi would make her fat once, because it has rice in it.
36oh no.
37she won't have enough brain cells to even know what 2 + 2 is when she goes into university.
somebody cry for her.
That is absolutley ridiculous, but even moreso since she is 9. Her parents need to teach her that looks aren't everything, and make her do something more worthwhile with her time.
38I am shocked that her mom would actually encourage such behavior. It's like Jon Benet all over again. Parents, stop sexualizing your VERY YOUNG daughters! It's absolutely ridiculous. No wonder there are a bunch of teenagers nowadays with eating disorders and insecurities...geez.
39That's quite disgusting. Children seem to be growing up faster & faster. Let her be a kid! At 9 years old, I was still climbing trees with the neighboring kids.
40I don't even spend 2 hours getting ready... and I look beautiful. If I want to go all out, it takes me about 10 minutes or less to shower, shampoo, and shave (if I take my time). It takes about 5 minutes or less to moisturize my body and face. It takes me about 5 minutes or less to put on a full face of makeup. The thing that takes the longest is my hair. If I decide I want to blowdry it and style it... then it'll take about 20 - 30 minutes... but usually it air-dries beautifully.
So 20 minutes to do everything except my hair. If I want to do my hair too, then we're looking at 40 - 50 minutes.
Plus, picking out the perfect outfit, jewelry, etc... it doesn't take long to do that...
So if I air-dry my hair, I can look gorgeous in 30 minutes or less. If I blow-dry my hair, I can look gorgeous in 60 minutes or less...
Why in the world does a 9-year old need 2 hours?
41Honestly, I'm not shocked in the least. Parents are actively encouraging this kind of behaviour in many cases. It's partially why (in my opinion) we're going to be in deep, DEEP trouble in another 10-odd years when that generation is running our country.
42It is sick and twisted to encourage a nine year old to primp and preen in this obsessive fashion. It can't be a healthy way for them to enter those emotionaly imbalanced teen years. Honestly, can't kids just be kids anymore? These girls should be out earing grass stains at the park not obsissing about lip stains at the boutique.
43You can't blame celebrities here, the blame lies with the parents who splash out all the money for this. It's really silly the parents need educating here the kids need to be kids.
44yikers. get those girls and easy bake oven and fast!
45Horrified, like all of you. Kids need to be kids. One day these girls are going to grow up and realize they have no self-esteem and no use to anyone that isn't linked to their looks, and not every child raised this way is going to turn into a beauty, and even those who do will lose their looks someday. And that is going to be one very bad day. No doubt in my mind this is child abuse. Maybe the parents will wake up when their little girl dies of a drug overdose trying to be 100 lbs. Or maybe these awful parents will just be glad their little meal ticket made as much money as she did for as long as she did.
46Who are these little girls trying to impress? That's so sad that their parents are willingly paying for all this. I'll admit, I'm crazy about my hair being straight, I paid about the same for my straighner and I tan quite a bit but I'm 16 and pay for most of it myself, my parents won't pay for things like that for me. I don't think I started wearing makeup till I was 12 not 9 and even then my parents hated it and now I see why. When you're that young it look unnatural, it's so pointless.
47outrageous...
48speechless! i must admit though that things arent quite the same as they were when each of us were growing up. for some reason, kids have seemed to grow at warp speed and have transformed themselves into adults! no preteen or anything in btw. in addition to all the media, glitz, and glamour the parents need to be parenting their children on what's age appropriate and not. this shall significantly impact how the child views themselves amongst others and even more so when they actually grow up. unfortunate...
49Wow, that is seriously ridiculous. She should be running around in the park instead of spending 2 hours getting "pretty".
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