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‘Before the ban I’d wear foundation, mascara and eyeliner, now I don’t wear any,’ Emily Stonehouse, 14, told the Daily Mail. ‘It is a bit unfair. I do believe too much make-up can be a distraction but so too can too little.’

Here we are, Shelley College, a co-ed public school in northern Englad, has created a no-mirror policy.  The policy came in May because some girls were spending too much time touching up their faces.  They were even staying in there to eat lunch, making other girls feel uncomfortable when they had to walk through a crowd, says head teacher John McNally.

Aqua eyeliner, that staple of high school girls’ bathrooms.

We all have memories of the school bathroom; was it a nightmare for you? or a dream?

Girls jockeying for a spot before the mirror, dabbing concealer on that day’s blemish, checking their blue eyeliner for signs of smudging, swiping their lips with another coat of gloss.

I don’t think my high school experience would have been extremely different without those experiences, but can you imagine high school without the bathroom experiences?  So first the British school banned makeup for its 13- to 16-year-old students and then temporarily took down the bathroom mirrors.

The makeup ban followed a month or so later because teachers were daily challenging a small number of students – some wearing heavy mascara and thick foundation – for flouting the school’s vague policy allowing ‘discreet’ makeup, says McNally.

‘The makeup ban is about getting girls to focus on what’s important in school, which is learning and not being distracted with makeup and wanting to check it all the time,’ McNally told TODAY Moms in a phone interview. ‘The mirror ban is to break a cycle where social groups started to emerge in the bathroom.’

With school back in session, school officials check each girl’s face daily, and offer makeup-removing products if necessary, McNally said. Most girls have accepted the policy, though a few back-to-school faces were challenged, he said.

Though the girls who want to wear makeup typically say they need it to feel confident, McNally believes that’s not true for most students.
‘We’ve had quite a few girls say they feel more confident since the ban’s been introduced,’ McNally said, because they don’t feel compelled to compete with other girls in the lipstick and eyeliner department.

And, above all, he feels the school’s rules will lead to better academic performance. ‘We do think it will help,’ he said.

I’m with Emily, too little makeup can cause just as much of a distraction as too much. It may be a little on the extreme side.  I certainly understand that the school is trying to boost academic achievement, but is it a worthwhile restriction?

I know I don’t like going out in public without makeup, and wouldn’t expect my daughter to go without makeup during her high school years. And to make things even more strict, having no mirrors would prevent my little girl from checking for food in her teeth, or making sure her hair didn’t get too out of control in gym class. What do you think?  Is this good or bad?

Thanks to LIsa from TodayMom