Photo courtesy of royalteaprincessparties.com

Little girls in Lebanon are headed to the spa as early as age 7 for manicures, pedicures, and facials, which raises my eyebrows and the question: how early is too early when it comes to spa visits? Certainly, lots of people (men and women) love the spa because it’s relaxing and healing – when we stretch ourselves thin every day, an hour or two of indulgence can go an incredibly long way towards our mental and physical wellness by battling stress and illness.

Yet it’s undeniable that many spa treatments – manis, pedis, facials – are geared towards improving our outward appearance. Once girls become aware of their physical appearance in their late pre-teen and early teen years, I can absolutely see why judiciously chosen spa treatments (like facials geared toward beating teenage acne) might help them feel better about themselves and boost their confidence during an emotionally fragile time.

But 7-year-old girls are not necessarily preoccupied with their appearances yet. Wouldn’t bringing them to the spa for facials encourage them to start focusing on outward appearances at a time when it shouldn’t be on their mind? Media images of women are hard enough on adolescents; why make pre-teens deal with it any sooner than they have to?

What’s the youngest age you’d bring your daughter to the spa?