Emma Moore first became aware of the craze for children’s makeup when her daughter, then four, was given a compact in a party bag. When they got home Moore threw it in the bin.

Now she and her twin sister Abi, with whom she runs the group Pinkstinks opposing the gender stereotyping of children, have launched a campaign calling for makeup not to be sold as a toy for children under eight.

She said: “We are calling for retailers and manufacturers to start thinking about labelling and get makeup off the pre-school shelves.

“Secondly we are targeting certain products such as Lelli Kelly shoes and magazines that come with free makeup, because that takes away choice. And the third thing is for parents to start thinking more about this.”

Pinkstinks won a Mumsnet award at the House of Commons on Thursday night for promoting body confidence in children with previous campaigns highlighting how toy retailers such as the Early Learning Centre promote gender roles and colour codes (pink for girls, blue for boys).

Pinkstinks has singled out makeup because the group sees it as a new and troubling trend. Abi Moore said: “The way toys are developing, particularly girls’ toys, you can see a shift. Although there are still lots of home toys, girls’ toys are now very much about being in front of a mirror: beauty parlours and leisure, makeup, brushing your hair, having a hairdryer aged two.”

via Pinkstinks campaign for end to sale of makeup toys to under eights | Life and style | The Guardian.