January 17, 2011

Beauty Most Unusual: Waxing Your Toddler’s Eyebrows

When I was a kid I def had some scary brows going on! I think it was freshman year when I finally hit the tweezers and decided they really needed to be tamed. I’m a woman now and needless to say I keep them as groomed as humanly possible because those bad boys grow like weeds and get a bit scary unibrow-ish if left alone too long.

However, at a tender age my mother NEVER ever decided that it was time to take me to the salon and have my brows waxed!

Take a look, I seen this on Bella Sugar and my mouth was literally hanging open!

This is absolutely appalling. Worst still is the fact that the mother explains the child already had a bad waxing experience and knowing the little girl’s terror decided it was a-ok to do it anyway! The girl proceeds to run and hug her mother after it’s done, I think she should be RUNNING away from her.

Seriously, child services needs to intervene here, some people just don’t deserve to be a mother! By the way the salon that’s doing this and the technician are equally guilty. I’d have said absolutely no if someone walked into my shop asking to wax my young daughter’s brows! Seriously?!

Absolutely Beauty Most Unusual and just terrifying.

What do you think?

69 Comments

About the Muse

Isabella MuseIsabella is just an average everyday geeky girl who doesn’t blend her eyeshadow correctly, wears too much blush, and hopes she never finds her holy grail products because she likes the thrill of the chase so much. Her mission is to bring you super honest reviews on makeup, skincare, fragrance and all things beauty. She’s in no way an expert on the topic and she sure as hell isn’t a super model. But she’s passionate about makeup and is seeking like-minded individuals that like pina coladas, getting caught in the rain, and ones that enjoy spending hundreds of dollars at Sephora without feeling buyer’s remorse. If you’re that person feel free to reach out and leave a comment or follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Bloglovin‘.

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Comments

  • Carrie

    I saw this last week on the show itself (I find it a trainwreck that’s as horrifying as it is fascinating) and was talking with the lady doing my brows and we were just both appalled that anyone would agree to wax a girl that young in the first place.

    • the Muse

      I agree carrie. It’s not only the mother at fault here but the salon itself and the tech doing it. SERIOUSLY!? Who are these people!? That child is CLEARLY in pain! I HOPE that someone reprimands the shop, the mother, and the tech!

      • Carrie

        I strongly suspect it’s a bit of a pageant town where it’s considered ‘normal’ and they don’t see anything wrong with it.

        That poor girl isn’t going to ever want to get waxed when she’s older now, I’m betting you right now!

        • the Muse

          carrie yes it’s from the show toddler’s and tiaras. It’s still VERY sad to watch though. I understand they want to compete and such but this TOO extreme, agreed, she’ll be scarred for life now 🙁

  • katrosado5

    I think it’s ridiculous. I’ve seen this show and in my opinion these “beauty” contests are about the parents living vicariously through their children. Especially Mom’s through their daughters. This particular clip is disturbing. This child clearly does not wish to consent to this elective procedure and the Mom forces her to undergo it. Grrr.

  • Rosie

    This is so sad to watch. Beauty pageant kids break my heart and those who model from a young age. What is wrong with these parents? I saw Portia di Rossi on Ellen when her book came out talking about how photographers were saying she had a wobbly butt at the age of 12 or 13 and how that fueled her anorexia. It’s heart breaking to watch this. And yes, why would a person agree to wax a child’s eyebrows?

    • the Muse

      rosie omg that’s awful, seriously a wobbly butt 🙁 jesus. who in there right mind does that? I do think the tech was just as guilty as the mother!

  • Cj

    Hey at least she gave the kid a lollipop afterwards…

    No but really that mom is crazy, talking about how normally she would just hold her down and rip it off. And how old is the little girl anyway? like 4?! That lady needs to be slapped.

    • the Muse

      she’s 5 but jesus agreed cj. someone should hold her down and rip off chunks of her brows lol jesus!

  • Nunu

    That whole show (Toddlers & Tiaras) is appalling.
    I don’t understand why parents would want to primp their child up, parade them in minuscule clothes and have them do suggestive poses in front of an adult audience.
    I shudder to think what kind of people are in the audience. Can anyone say Pedophiles?
    They pageant parents all say oh it’ll build their confidence, their character blah blah for later on in life. But what are they actually teaching the poor kid? that all they need is to look pretty in life?
    Other than waxing these kids also go for spray tans, massages, mani & pedis, facials. You name it.

    • the Muse

      nunu it’s def strange. I can understand the activity to some extent however waxing? I’d draw the line at that 🙁

  • Nagini

    Awww, I feel so sorry for that cute little girl. How could you do this to your child? This is just abnormal.

  • Sushi Ninja

    OMG, wathing the child crying her heart out broke my heart 🙁 I can’t stand the mum! How can she do that 🙁

  • Becca

    What is WRONG with our society – let that little girl have a freaking childhood, FFS!!!

  • Jessica Allison

    This is so disturbing, I couldn’t even bring myself to watch the video. As a parent, I feel like it’s a vital part of my job to raise my daugter with the confidence of knowing that she is worthy of love, and that she is beautiful just the way she is. What is this mother doing if not teaching her daughter “you’re not good enough”.

    Heartbreaking.

    • the Muse

      jessica I had tears in my eyes too. It was just difficult to watch. Plus the kid was unknowing at first what was happening and than she started crying, “don’t put it don’t put it..” and gosh my heart simply broke 🙁 jesus waxing is not fun for us adults never mind a little baby!

  • Eve

    I work at a tanning salon (don’t worry, I only spray tan myself) and a lady asked if her daughter could tan who looked younger than 10. I of course told her no, and that she’s waaay too young to tan! Then thought to myself why? I did overhear her saying something about a pageant.

    • the Muse

      eve smart choice! absurd for a 10 year old to be sporting a tan! jesus. Use makeup if you’re so desperate to have your kid looking tan!

  • Soo

    wow, wtf. I can’t even wax my own eyebrows because my skin is too sensitive.
    it’s really strange to me seeing a mother seem so cold about something that’s so unnecessary. :/

    • the Muse

      me too soo! lol I hate waxing with a passion! My upper lip is so incredibly sensitive when its done!

  • clementine

    Ugh, I’m not even going to watch the clip, LOL. It’s definitely going to set me off. -_-;;

    You know what’s weird, like… As much as I love make up, the focus of image-oriented industries is so disturbing, especially when it culminates in pageantry. I’ve never understood it, LOL. Is it to celebrate women who are smart, talented, and beautiful???? Because I know plenty of women who are smart(er) and (more) talented and just as gorgeous, so I don’t really… see the point. And kids!! ))))): Why would anyone do that to their children. It’s so depressing.

    • the Muse

      clem don’t, it’ll bring tears to your eyes! I agree 🙁 seems ridiculous in some areas….if it’s something of interest to the child, I’m all for it, but just seems it’s for the mothers

  • mon

    Ugh, I agree, this should be called child abuse. I feel really bad for the poor girl not only for what she has to go through now, but also what she will go through in the future. What kind of message is her mom sending to her? I hope she grows up and has other healthier influences instead of wanting plastic surgery as a teen.

    • the Muse

      mon there has to be SOMEONE watching that called this mother out on it. I HOPE. 🙁

      • she of many names

        I say we send the video to Angelina Jolie. She’d be quite capable of tearing that mother a new one.

  • cheyenne

    nothing fuels my anger more than seeing irresponsible mothers not knowing how to be a good parent!!!!

    seriously i would never instill something like that into my daughter at a young age. nobody should be worrying about how they look at like, what, 4? jesus.

    say hello to future image issues and wearing revealing clothes just to get everybody else’s approval. NICE

  • cait

    This is disgusting. And why WAX anyway??? If they’re really THAT desperate to fix the kid’s eyebrows…at least do threading or something. Much less painful. Regardless though, I don’t think a girl that young need eyebrow shaping at all, pageants or not.

  • Marina

    That is SICK! Seriously, I got made fun of when I was in elementary school for my thicker brows, but I would never have done this…my mother would not have allowed it! It’s way worse that she had a bad experience before. Poor kid.

  • she of many names

    I seriously think that between this and JonBenet and everything else that beauty pagents should be illegal for girls under the age of at least 13. End of story.

    And mothers doing things like this should be sent to fantasy rehab.

    WTF kind of message is she teaching this girl? If it was me I’d pay back by doing something truly obscene during the pagent. Like telling everyone what my mother did while giving her the finger.

    And it was NOT like the girl had massive dark brows either. Mother was just sick and determined to get fame and probably the money. Which is sort of like slavery — illegal or at least totally immoral.

    Mothers are supposed to protect the kids from exploitative managers.

  • Catherine

    I am totally disgusted even when a commercial comes on for toddlers in tiaras. It is absolutely apalling to wax a child’s eyebrows. I think it’s abuse. Think of how that poor child is going to perceive herself. I only started waxing when I was old enough to make beauty decisions about my own body.
    I had this debate with a coworker who played devil’s advocate and said “your parents pierced your ears at a young age, is that not puting a child through pain for beauty?” Now I really don’t know what to think. Piercing a child’s ears is so normal, but was there ever a point when it was as abnormal as waxing their eyebrows?

    • the Muse

      catherine your co worker has a very valid point and the thought never crossed my mind. believe it or not my ears were pierced when I was too young to even talk…..but I dunno waxing…it just seems so wrong? but she def does have a point lol one I never even really thought about until now.

    • she of many names

      I put off my daughter’s ears til she was older and it was her choice. If parents do something like that before the child is old enough to say, I’m not thrilled (ie babies) but this child was old enough to object and the mother ignored it. And there may come a horrible day when not waxing brows is abnormal (god forbid) but it DEFINITELY isn’t today.

      Unless you’re looking to drum up some advertising for your child’s career in porn. Mother disgusts me. Whole kiddieporn pagent thing does. If they took the attention and money out of it, it would all go away. If gambling is illegal this certainly should be.

      I get acting, because movies have roles for children (but normal looking, not like Toddlers Gone Wild), but pageants are unnecessary and sad.

  • LorraineER

    That was horrible to watch. The poor girl screaming not to pull the wax strips off? How could anyone do that to their kid? It’s makes me so sad and angry. I hate that show too, btw. I wish it wasn’t on t.v. & I wish the pageants didn’t exist.

    I used to react like that to getting shots as a kid and my mother would always say ” If I could take your place, I would.” She never would have done something to hurt me if it wasn’t completely necessary.
    I really question these mom’s motives…

    • the Muse

      same lorraine to this day I think my mum would literally place herself in front of a speeding car to save my life. where do mum’s get that kind of unselfish love from!? It’s a true miracle.

      • LorraineER

        Yup- Our moms are awesome and we are lucky to have them.
        I hope this lady sees this post and what everyone is saying….and if so, I wish it’d make her stop and think long enough to realize that what she’s doing is wrong. She’s putting her child in unnecessary pain and causing stress in a life that should be fun and innocent. That little girl should be out playing with her friends, not getting waxed! Grrr..I could go on and on but I’ll try to shut up now.

        • the Muse

          I agree completely Lorraine. It really is insane to think someone is having a five year old’s eyebrows waxed….it’s just surreal!!!!!

  • Storm

    Wow! What kind of woman is that? She was obviously in pain (because..you know..it friggin HURTS) and nobody said anything. I’d like to give women like her a piece of my mind. If you feel the need to shape your kid’s brows…do so with tweezers or threading, not wax. However, that child is only five years old and it is insane to shape brows at that age.

  • Resa

    Anderson Cooper showed this on his TV show. It’s quite terrible. Let the kid be a kid!

  • jac-kie

    terrible! & the mum just talking about it like it was a normal thing =s

    we don’t have kiddie pageants in Australia [not that i know of??] so this kind of thing is really absurd to me.

    & it’s not like the little girl had bad eyebrows, maybe if she had horrendous dark monobrows & she was being teased at school & asked for the middle to be plucked, that would be ok.

    absolutely disgusting.

  • Joice

    Kids’ beauty pageants disgust me! Those little girls look like Chucky with all that makeup and glitter and hairspray. What I like most about children is how adorable and innocent they are, especially at the oh so sweet age of 5 (I miss kindergarten so much). Why would anyone want to steal that innocence? Especially the parents?

  • AnnaFed

    That is just so sick! All my life I have struggled with eating disorders, bdd, and more. I would never wish that kind of self-hate on anyone!

    Makes me so angry to see that there actually are parents who promote it.

    I really hope that the girl will grow up and realize that it is her mother who has a problem, and it has never had anything to do with her self..

  • peri

    if i saw that happening i woulda walked up and punched that mom in the face. thats just not right.

  • Donna

    I work at a salon and we get a bunch of moms coming in trying to get their 4-10 year olds eyebrows waxed for pageants and I refuse myself. I I never bothered with mine till I was almost twenty, and I don’t think its right for little girls that should be playing with dolls be running around getting eyebrows waxed and fake teeth and make up and what not. I think I did it ONE time cause the mom was raising hell in the store because a MUA wouldn’t do her daughters make up unless she got her eyebrows done and I felt horrible. Her face was horrified when I pulled the strip off and she started crying begging me to not do the other one and the mom basically told her to just shut her mouth.

    If you are going to do it, at least tweeze. They are too young to be getting them waxed :/

    • the Muse

      omg donna how horrifying 🙁 that must have been awful. I’d prob have to quit than and there!

  • Layalis

    oh my gosh, that was absolutely appalling!
    what kind of mother would do that to her poor child?!
    The mother and the woman who waxed the girl’s brows both need to be reported.

  • shusheshe

    This reminds me of an article I read a year or so back where an SA at a salon had to talk a mother with a 10-12 year old daughter out of a bikini wax. She quoted the mother saying to the kid who definitely did NOT want to do this: “We’re going to the beach for vacation and you can’t be seen with all that HAIR there!”

    Why would anyone do that do their kids? It’s one thing if you’re an adult and decide to get waxed for your own reasons, but your kid? What hair?

  • Dawn

    OMG thats so traumatising for the poor girl!
    I think thats just going overboard,why put your child through such things..she should be enjoying her childhood and instead of spending her time preping for pageants

  • irini

    due to my mediterranean heritage,i sported big brows and upper lip hair,but you know what?my mother didnt make a fuss about it,because i was a child darn it!i mean it is just ridiculous,a 5 year old kid should be having fun and eating ice cream.but this just shows how obsessed the western world is with looks,leaving kids endure stuff like that.i am so appalled.that mother has some serious psychological issues that she needs to check,otherwise that girl will grow up really messed up.

  • Mary the Muse Militant

    OMG !
    That is sick.
    Where are the Social Services !
    So much I want to say but am utterly speechless.

  • Mary the Muse Militant

    I just can’t imagine doing that to your child.
    The woman is a heartless cow.

  • Alicia

    why MUST the mother bring her to wax her brows? a brow job could be easily done by shaving! at such a young age, forcing her into such things, i wonder how her little heart is going to take it. 🙁
    shaving is quick and pain free! though i prefer plucking myself, that’s a personal choice altogether!

  • Ellie

    I’m with the other comments here… this is absolutely appalling. And as for the whole toddler beauty pageants go? I really don’t care how many people say “Oh, the kids enjoy doing it! It’s just fun! No harm at all!” It’s making children into sexual objects which, by the way, are paraded in front of Lord knows how many pervs. I’m beyond grateful that I actually have a loving mother who would have never even considered doing something like that to me.

  • Jennifer D.

    I saw this the other night on Tiaras and Toddlers. It is crazy what they put their kids through. Honestly girl this is nothing as compared to what I have seem them make their children do. The eyebrow waxing is mild truly. They make them eat pixie sticks to stay awake all day long and wired up, they are made to wear the fake teeth, the hair is pulled and yanked on, made to dance in ways that even the tiny ones have said that they don’t feel comfortable doing. One laid down and opened her little legs like strippers do for one of her Britney Spears routines. I was just horrific. The camera also caught one of the mothers “letting her kid have it” after she didn’t wind Grand Supreme and actually pushed her with both palms of her hands to where the little girl fell backward. It is so so sad. I was in pageants, but that is when they were fun and not so serious. If you won great, if not, nobody even talked about it at school on Monday. Crazy!

  • toni

    its terrible and appalling! at that age waxing the eyebrows of a kid? that is just totally wrong. her mom is crazy. thats all i can say.

  • GlitterWitch

    There is something definitely wrong in the pea brains of the mothers of these poor kids. They need to stop trying to live their youth all over again through their daughters and let them be. For heavens sake, childhood doesn’t last very long so let them enjoy it. Stupid women like these should be slapped with a very wet fish until they realise just how stupid they are. (This could take a long time…)

  • Mia

    What I don’t understand is why she’d do it. First of all the girl’s brows looked light enough where no one could tell. Second of all you can fill the girl’s brows to give them “shape” and no one would be able to tell. There’s basically no need to rip the hairs out of that poor girl’s face! She’s just way too young! I had a brow wax when I was 15 and it was so painful I’ll never go back myself. I can’t imagine being 5(?) and having it done.

  • she of many names

    a sadder thought– will we all be posting our outrage on blogs again in 5 years, when the five year old is objecting to tongue & nipple piercing? because that’s where this whole process is ending & it’s long since gone over the line already

    enough sexualizing babies. we don’t want it & they sure as hell don’t need it. /end

  • RonyaLii

    ive seen few series of kids peagent or what it called on discovery travel channel and i wanted just grab a stick and beat all dullness out of those “mothers ” . kids should be kids , not spraytan monsters with waxed eyebrows and sexy posing in bikini’s ( two pieced) !
    Sad

    thank God, my mom was normal and i had a great childhood 🙂

  • Meee

    It’s not right to make your child do something they don’t want to do that’s totally unnecessary especially if they’re terrified.. but I can’t say the same for a kid who wants it. Like kids that want their eyebrows trimmed or waxed. There’s nothing “wrong” with this, it’s just that people usually dont need their brows trimmed when they’re a kid. It’s not any “wronger” than trimming the hair on their head.

    It’s all about norms. If it was abnormal to have earrings as a kid in a culture, it would be “appalling and unquestionably morally wrong, the kid should be put into foster care” to let a kid wear earrings. Goes for any other example you can think of.

    Questions to pass – Was it painful for the child? Did it do damage to the child?