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Business News/ Opinion / When a six-year-old tells you what to wear
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When a six-year-old tells you what to wear

Children are not only trying to influence their parents' personal grooming choices but are also actively consuming these services and products themselves

Children as young as five and six years are becoming some of the biggest advocates of beauty and lifestyle. Photo: iStockphotoPremium
Children as young as five and six years are becoming some of the biggest advocates of beauty and lifestyle. Photo: iStockphoto

Six-year-old Zarah insists that her mother wear gel nail polish in bright colours when they go out. She would also like to see her mother sport a tattoo (a real one); she has been told she can’t get one herself until she is 18. Her mother doesn’t heed all her demands, but once in a while does apply a coat of gel nail paint.

Another girl, 11 years old, told her father not to come for the parent-teacher meeting at her school as his “pot belly is larger than that of a pregnant woman carrying twins". The man in question hit the gym immediately.

Children as young as five and six years are becoming some of the biggest advocates of beauty and lifestyle. They are not only trying to influence their parents’ personal grooming choices but are also actively consuming these services and products themselves.

Toy makers like US-based Alex Brands and Funskool India Ltd have seized the opportunity to come up with various options of make-up, nail art kits, do-it-yourself beaded jewellery and hair accessory sets to cater to this young market.

At Dolled and Dapper, a plush salon and spa for kids below 14 in Bandra, Mumbai, some of the most popular services after a haircut are manicure and pedicure. It is not unusual to see a father and daughter getting a manicure and pedicure together on a Sunday afternoon.

Dolled and Dapper is also popular with parents for the salon and spa-themed birthday parties it organizes for children. On average, the salon hosts about 25-30 birthday parties a month. At these parties, kids come with their friends—a motley group of 20-30 boys and girls—and are pampered in a spa-like environment. For girls, this includes changing into a bathrobe with furry footwear and getting a manicure, pedicure, nail art and hair styling. Boys can trade the nail art for spiked and gelled hairstyles and colours.

“Kids are more aware these days. They know what they want," says Pratik Kumar, who started the salon along with his wife a year ago. The duo are now in the midst of raising funds to open five more branches in the next three years.

The awareness is a result of exposure. Exposure to the Internet, smartphones and multiple screens. Children under the age of five spend over four hours a day in front of a screen, according to a November study by Ofcom, a communications regulator in the UK.

Kids aged 3 and 4 are online for over an hour every day and for about eight hours and 15 minutes in a week. Kids aged between 5 and 15 years spend up to 15 hours a week online.

Ruchi Seksaria, mother of an eight-year-old boy and nine-year-old girl from Kandivali, says that her children are more frequent users and better versed with apps like Snapchat than her. Her children also use Google for researching their homework assignments.

Children are not just using the Internet for their homework and watching either their favourite fairytales or nursery rhymes. They are also watching YouTube videos on baking cupcakes and Cinderella applying make-up.

“Their basic source of information is the Internet," says Shikha Salaria, Zarah’s mother.

A Disney Cinderella make-up tutorial released online a year ago has over 45 million views. A search for Disney and make-up throws up 8.8 million that are a mix of tutorials for fashion makeovers, hairstyles, nail art classes and application of make-up featuring popular characters like Rapunzel, Elsa and Anna of Frozen, and Beauty and the Beast.

It’s not just Zarah, says her mother. “I have seen it with her friends as well. They are all very well put together. They take interest in dressing up and get happy when we compliment them," says Salaria.

Also, they are very curious and observant. Zarah is always asking questions and complimenting. “She notices when a friend of mine has changed her handbag, wears new glasses or gets nail extensions," Salaria adds.

The flip side, for parents, is that some of the things the kids observe they tend to emulate.

Shop Talk will take a weekly look at consumer trends, behaviour and insights.

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Published: 28 Apr 2017, 01:39 AM IST
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