Make-up and nail sets for children are made for play: dressing up, a party, an afternoon at the kitchen table. Choose a set whose own pack says it is for children and gives an age, plan to sit with the child while it is used, and keep a flannel and warm water ready for bedtime. We have grouped our choices by kind of set, with a short reason for each, taken from what each house says about its own pack.
What Should You Look For on the Pack?
Three things, before anything else. First, a stated age: several of the sets below say they are suitable from 3 years. Second, the directions: most ask for adult supervision, and that is worth taking at its word. Third, how it comes off. Some nail polishes are described as water-based or water-soluble, and one make-up kit asks you to remove it with gentle soap and water. Where a pack says nothing about removal, assume a grown-up will need to help.
Presentation matters at this age too. A tin with a handle, a case with a mirror or a set with stickers is part of the fun, and it gives everything a place to go back to when play is over.
Play Make-Up Sets for Dressing Up
A first make-up set is for imaginative play rather than for every day, and a case that keeps every piece together makes tidying up part of the game.
Cartoon’s L.O.L. Surprise Makeup Kit is a 16-piece set in a case with a mirror and star-shaped compartments, made for supervised use by children aged 3 and above; its directions ask you to avoid the eyes and to remove it with gentle soap and water. Martinelia’s Little Unicorn Makeup Gift Set comes in a light blue hard-sided tin with a pink handle and a unicorn lid, holding eleven eye shadows, two glitter nail polishes and two glossy lip colours, for ages 3 and up. Martinelia’s Purple Makeup Gift Set is a compact foldout palette of eye shades, cheek colours and lip glosses with a built-in mirror and a dual-ended applicator brush. Inca’s Heart-Shaped Makeup Gift Set is a heart-shaped palette of colourful compartments under a clear plastic lid.
- L.O.L. Surprise Makeup Kit
- Little Unicorn Makeup Gift Set
- Purple Makeup Gift Set
- Heart-Shaped Makeup Gift Set
Keep colour on the lids, cheeks and lips and well away from the eyes themselves, and let the child choose the colours while you hold the brush.
Children’s Nail Polish: Water-Based Sets
Nail polish is often the part of a set a child loves most. Choose one whose own pack says it is made for children, and follow its directions for drying time before play begins again.
Inca’s Cosmetica Infantil Water Based Nail Polish Set holds small bottles of water-based polish in a clear plastic carry case with a pink cord handle, and is intended for adult-led use: a small amount on clean nails, left to dry fully. Martinelia’s Little Unicorn Nail Polish Set brings four glittery shades in pastel bottles with unicorn illustrations, in a water-based formula; the house suggests a thin coat on clean nails, then a second for extra sparkle, with an adult nearby. Frozen’s Nail Art Set pairs three water-soluble polishes, with character images on the caps, with a sheet of stickers of character faces and snowflakes, for children from 3 years.
- Cosmetica Infantil Water Based Nail Polish Set
- Little Unicorn Nail Polish Set
- Nail Art Set Nail Polish
Lip Gloss Sets
A lip gloss set is a small gift that feels grown-up, and each of the compact sets below carries its own mirror or applicator, so a child can see the colour going on.
Cartoon’s LOL Surprise Lip Gloss Set opens to heart-shaped gloss containers, a built-in mirror and a small lip brush, in a pink round case, and is suitable from 3 years. The Frozen II Lip Gloss Set has a similar layout, with heart-shaped compartments, a mirror and a lip brush in a themed case. Martinelia’s Beauty Basics Lip Gloss Strawberry Makeup Gift Set gathers a lip gloss with coordinating accessories and star-shaped hair clips, in pink and purple with unicorn illustrations, and is for children’s play only, with adult supervision.
Character Beauty Sets
For a child with a favourite character, a mixed set brings a little of everything together: something for the lips, something for the nails and something to keep.
Lorenay’s Disney Junior Minnie Beauty Set includes a lip balm and a nail polish, each with a Minnie Mouse ears cap, a compact mirror with Minnie’s image and a nail file, to be used under adult supervision. Frozen’s Beauty Set combines a nail polish, a lip balm, a make-up palette, hair ties and stickers, for ages 3 and up with supervision. Cartoon’s Barbie Beauty Set brings together a 3.5 ml nail polish, a nail decoration, a 50 ml eau de toilette spray with a citrus and floral scent, and a nail dryer; each piece is used as its own packaging directs. Inca’s Pink Makeup and Nail Kit has heart- and flower-shaped compartments, striped and polka dot nail designs, two small brushes and a soft faux fur trim.
Cartoon asks that nail products are kept away from the eyes and that children are supervised throughout, which is good practice for every set here.
Before the First Go: Patch Test and Supervision
A child’s skin can react to a product that an adult’s does not. Before the first play session, dab a little of each colour on the inside of the child’s forearm and leave it for a day. If the skin turns red, sore or itchy, wash it off and do not use that product again; if the skin does not settle, ask your pharmacist or doctor.
Then sit with them. Keep make-up away from the eyes, keep lip colours on the lips, and put lids back on as you go. Make-up is for one child at a time: brushes and lip glosses are better not shared between friends.
Washing It Off at Bedtime
Make-up from play should not go to bed with a child. A warm, damp flannel and a gentle wash lift most colour from the face and hands; take your time around the eyes and pat the skin dry. For nails, follow the pack: where a polish is described as water-based or water-soluble, read its directions for how it comes off, and where a pack does not say, do the removing yourself rather than leaving it to the child.
Make it the last part of the game: the dressing-up is over, everything goes back into its case, and the face that comes out from under the flannel is the one you know.
If you choose one set, choose one that states an age on its own pack and tells you how it comes off, and keep its directions with it.
