The first beauty memory for many girls is playing 'dress up' in Mom's makeup bag; shakily drawing on lipstick and splotches of blush, puckering up in front of the mirror, and then washing off the evidence before anyone could see.

But times are a changin', and today's young girls are taking their first forays into cosmetics a lot more seriously.

In a world where YouTube makeup tutorials and how-to web pages are just a click away, Bonne Bell Lip Smackers are being traded in for the real stuff. And often times, it's the parents who are leading the charge.

Alyssa Pometta -- an 11 year-old who is profiled in today's New York Times -- recently asked her mom if she could start buying lipstick, eyeliner and mascara. Mrs. Pometta consented, and took things a step further by taking her daughter in for a makeover.

"I'm using the choose-your-battles kind of parenting. I figured, better that she's informed and has the right tools than she goes into it blindly with her friends in the bathroom and comes out looking like a clown," the independent publicist from Plainfield, Illinois told The Times.

Pometta's request isn't an unusual one, either. A report from consumer research company NPD Group reveals that the portion of girls aged 8 to 12 who regularly use mascara and eyeliner almost doubled in the past three years, from 10 to 18 percent for mascara, and from 9 to 15 percent for eyeliner. Lipstick usage also saw an increase from 10 to 15 percent.

"They're not sneaking any of this stuff. They're doing the shopping with their moms, they're getting the money from their moms and families. It's becoming almost part of the family exercise," says Karen Grant, senior beauty industry analyst with NPD.

And not surprisingly, cosmetic havens like Sephora and CVS are targeting the younger interest in beauty, with collections marketed to Miley Cyrus fans and lip products with increasingly candy-like names. Dylan's Candy Bar of New York's Upper East Side even has a makeup line based on delectable cupcakes and strawberry licorice, with a tag line on their website that reads, "Lips should always be candy-luscious and sweet to kiss!"

But not all parents are on-board for what they feel is the aggressive social pressure for their little girls to skip over the innocence of childhood and become women long before their time.

When Kris Grande -- a speech pathologist from Apex, North Carolina -- saw her 13 year-old daughter put on mascara before leaving for her fifth grade school day, the mom recoiled and reprimanded. She told The Times of her daughter's makeup, "It immediately ages her. Makes her look too old."

The accelerated aging of young girls who use makeup may not just be physical, but could actually be an internal process too. In a new study from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, girls under 10 who experienced an early puberty were found to have a higher concentration of endocrine disruptors that are often found in nail polishes and other cosmetics.

While different camps have vastly different opinions on whether or not lipstick is a big deal, one thing's for sure: a girl's steps from childhood to womanhood continues to be a minefield of social controversy.