As a kid, this writer’s introduction to makeup was through a teacher who applied rouge lipstick before school annual day performances. So when we saw an Instagram Reel by a seven-year-old “fashionista”, where she put on concealer, using a sponge to blend it, we were curious to know what was happening. And lo behold, we found some answers. According to the Global Children’s Cosmetics Market Research Report—Forecast till 2026, published in 2021, the kids makeup market is expected to grow annually at 6.79 per cent and surpass $1,795.15 million during the review period. “The rising use of cosmetics by children, coupled with growing consciousness about beauty thanks to social media and proliferation of organised retail stores in emerging economies is expected to propel the growth of the global children’s market during the study period. However, the rising awareness of toxic ingredients in cosmetics is expected to restrain the growth of the children’s market during the assessment period,” the report stated.

India is also not far behind in the kids makeup revolution. The past few years have seen many players enter the market—Whimsy Beauty started a month ago, Elitty Beauty launched in 2021 and RENEE Cosmetics also introduced a kids makeup line called Princess. “Young adults and pre-teens watch their moms, who are also applying more makeup than they ever did, so this has piqued their curiosity. Today, the average woman in India uses upto 3.4 more products than women did 20 years ago. This shift has influenced young girls to also want to experiment and try out products on themselves,” says colour cosmetics nerd Sarvangi Shah, who is also founder of Noya Beauty Works, a D2C brand builder.