Little girls and make-up: it’s getting to be a problem. When I was small, even a bit of ChapStick on a cold day was considered de trop. Now children as young as seven are piling on the slap, and kiddie salons are springing up, offering fancy hairdos as well as manicures, pedicures and makeovers.

It’s hard to see what can be done. Even setting aside the influence of Bratz, a group of dolls so repulsive they make Barbie look like a feminist icon, pre-teen magazines such as Girl Talk and Go Girl relentlessly lure in “tweenage” readers with tacky pots of eye shadow or lip gloss. My daughter was recently given one (by a well-meaning but misguided godmother) that had a mini powder-puff stuck to the cover. She is five.

So far, my Bea remains mercifully uninterested in such things (the glittery powder ended up, like most things in our house, in the Play-Doh). Right now, she’s far more fascinated by snails than nail polish. But I know it is only a matter of time before she tires of her snail hotel (a shoebox lined with leaves and grass containing six terrified molluscs) and I have to start confiscating little pots of pink goo.

In truth, however much I dislike the idea of children and cosmetics, an outright ban is probably a bad idea; better to permit a small amount of the relatively inoffensive stuff than make it into a massive issue. If allowing your child to have her toenails painted orange at the school fête appeases her desire to wear lipstick, then so be it.

One very inoffensive, even beneficial route to go down is skincare. I recently gave some of the newly launched Amie products to my neighbour’s adorable and notably normal 11-year-old, and she loved them; in particular the Morning Dew Purifying Facial Wash (£4.95) and the Matte-Finish Moisturiser (both £4.95, available from Boots or at www.amieskincare.com). The premise of Amie is to enhance a girl’s “natural beauty” – ie, minimal (or none at all) make-up and a healthy, outdoorsy approach to life. The models on their website are the antithesis of Bratz-style tarty: fresh-faced, smiling, with normal hairstyles and sensible clothes. In short, Amie is a range designed as much for its target market as for their anxious mothers.

Young & Pure is a similar concept, but extends to bath, body and hair. It is staunchly natural, so contains no petrochemicals, sulphates, parabens or synthetic fragrances. Like Amie, it is priced for young pockets. Refreshing Body and Hair Wash with Aloe Vera and Peppermint (£3.50, www.youngandpure.co.uk) works for all ages, and its Soothing Face Mask with Passion Flower and Green Tea (£5.99) is great for troublesome skin. It almost makes me wish I were a teenager again; almost – but not quite.

Times recommends

• Live fashion advice: how to dress for party season
• The A-Z of winter style rules
• Could safe havens prevent teenage stabbings?