'Take the pressure off children and ban fake beauty in schools'

17 May 2023 , 17:44

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'Take the pressure off children and ban fake beauty in schools'

It’s a truth universally acknowledged that ­teenage girls will always try to look older than they are and push ­boundaries with their appearance in school.

It happened in my secondary. Makeup was banned but that didn’t stop my friends applying eyeliner, mascara and lipstick in an attempt to look older and more mature. I lost count of the number of times our late headteacher Mr King would send someone to the toilets to wash it all off.

I get it.

But there’s a new trend I am seeing on teenage girls that is out of control and just makes them look – and there’s no polite way to say this – terrible.

I’m talking about the craze for huge fake eyelashes.

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It seems that every teenage girl from about Year 8 (second year) is sporting extensions, some long enough that if they blink they could sweep the floor. And when there’s a bunch of them together, it looks so weird.

I’ve seen children on the way to school looking like their faces are being attacked by a couple of spiders.

Some of the lashes are applied so thickly that I’m surprised they can even see the classroom white board or read a book.

Eyelash extensions are big business and now a multi-million pound industry. While the stick-on strips can cost around £5-£10, extensions can range from, on average, £30-£100.

I tried extensions myself once at Christmas – thought I’d give myself a treat. I hated them. I was promised they would look natural. Instead they were irritating, heavy and made me look like I was a bad drag act. I kept rubbing and pulling at them until I ­eventually got them all out.

There’s no doubt thicker eyelashes can drastically change your appearance.

They certainly look cute in pics on social media, which is why I suspect most kids have them done in the first place.

But there is so much pressure on young people, especially girls, to grow up fast, that I think schools would be doing them a favour if they issued an outright ban on false eyelashes, and while they’re at it, false nails, in the classroom.

In addition, salons shouldn’t be allowed to carry out these treatments on anyone under the age of 18 and shops shouldn’t be selling these beauty products to ­children. We all have a part to play in helping kids stay kids as long as possible.

Eva Simpson