Fake tans for daughter gets beautician mom criticized

With television shows like Toddlers and Tiaras popular on the reality TV market it's not surprising that a British mum is "boosting her daughter's confidence" with a spray tan. The daughter in question is just 4 years old.

Jools Willis, mother of four, is a beautician who takes her youngest three kids to get salon treatments including spray tans. She says the youngsters want to look like the adult clients their mother takes care of. Willis runs two salons in Uckfield and Hailsham, East Sussex. She and her husband have embraced the beauty industry and have passed that love on to their children. The youngest child, Tate, often has her nails done and is sprayed to look like she has a golden tan. Her mother says that she is using the beauty treatments to help her children's confidence reports the Daily Mail. ‘I want her to flourish. I want her to be beautiful, to feel that she’s beautiful, I don’t want her to feel that she’s different from anybody else.’ Child protection activists are against the spray jobs claiming that it turns children into sex objects. ‘Children should not be encouraged to grow up too soon. True confidence and self-esteem come from within, not from without, says Claude Knights, director of Kidscape, ‘I’m sure mothers who do this mean the very best for their children. But they are inadvertently playing into the hands of paedophiles, who treat children as sexualised beings.’ Child psychologist Professor Judy Hutchings told The Sun that children of Tate's age should be spending time with their parents and playing instead of getting fake tans. Fake tans on kids is seen often on the show Toddlers and Tiaras. The show focuses on the kiddie beauty pageant world. The children are decked out to look like mini adults while trying to charm the judges. Winners can make cash along with crowns and titles.