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Some pediatricians have questioned the safety of kiddie cosmetics, which are loaded with such ominous-sounding chemicals as polysorbate 80, dimethicone and D & C Red No. 27. But the companies dismiss those fears. Says Allan Chernoff, senior vice president of Mego: "We have reams of toxicity studies to show that our cosmetics are safe. We wanted to relieve any parental anxiety on that score."
What most bothers the critics of the kiddie cosmetics, though, is that they prod children to mature much too fast. Says Dr. Francis Palumbo, chairman of the Committee on Children in Television of the Ambulatory Pediatric Association: "It's becoming awfully hard to be a kid any more. I hope that parents have enough sense not to buy these cosmetics for a young child." In response, the toymakers point out that girls have always surreptitiously tried out their mothers' high heels and stockings and dipped into their makeup. Play cosmetics, the companies argue, are safer and easier to remove than the real thing. Says Mego's Chernoff: "We're giving little girls a harmless way to fantasize."