By Erin Leigh Peck
I don’t know when this happened, but my little girl is turning tween and it’s happening FAST. With her ninth birthday around the corner, she’s stepping up and calling the shots when it comes to clothes, music and activities….or at least trying to. I’m pretty open to letting her explore new territory because so far, she’s earned my trust by being a good kid both at school and at home. I’ve let her enjoy American Idol and a few Broadway Shows not necessarily designed for kids, but draw the line at some of her fashion choices and a recent request to manage her own Facebook account. One of the safer websites she’s discovered is KidzVuz, a completely safe, mom-governed review site where kids can post anonymous videos featuring their honest opinions about the stuff they try. Check out their safety page to see how the moms behind KidzVuz keep the forum safe for kids.
Recently, KidzVuz and The Children’s Place invited us to try out a bunch of products specially chosen for tween-agers. It was seriously, “like”, tween heaven with an extra “like”. There were a lot of great products to try and review, and here are my daughter’s favorites. Like, totally.
TAPEFITTI: The folks at Fashion Angels, a website dedicated to tween girls, are selling 2013’s answer to the duct tape fad. My daughter and her friends spend hours making bags, doll clothes, headbands and even furniture out of duct tape. There are whole websites and books dedicated to the craft, and we typically buy every pattern available. The problem? Once you put duct tape on a wall or (gasp) piece of furniture, the two are mated for life in one way or another. Tapefitti comes off clean, so it’s a no-mess, no-wreck way to get creative.
COLOR ROX HAIR CHOX: Another winner from Fashion Angels, this is a harmless and temporary, as in not permanent way to “go Hollywood” for a day…or at least until bath time. While I’m not letting my daughter streak her hair for school, she had a blast adding a touch of color to her tresses during a recent sleepover, and I was happy to see it all wash away easily with shampoo. The stuff also wiped off my bathroom counter tops with a little Clorox wipe and looked pretty cute on the girls’ heads. Oh, and it didn’t rub off on the pillow
SPARKLE HEARTS YUMMY DEODERANT (yes really!): Recently, my daughter came home from gymnastics club smelling like, well, a man. She’s a well-washed girl (Mommy is a bit obsessed with hygiene), but her maturing glands were no match for a work out inside a city-heated gymnasium. I was hesitant to put regular deodorant on her with all the chemicals and what-have-you listed on the side of the bottle, but thrilled to discover this 100% natural, vanilla-smelling product from the folks at Sparkle Hearts.
Unfortunately, the Fashion Tweenstas event did not feature an age-reversing tablet for mothers to use on their rapidly maturing tweens, but it did give us lots of great ideas and plenty to review on KidzVuz!