Acceptable Beauty Habits On Planes?
Today I was reminded of what I must sometimes look like to fellow travelers, and I will definitely be paying more attention to my actions.
I had female passengers on either side of me and I watched, slightly startled, as the woman across the aisle pulled out hand lotion and engaged in a very thorough application of it to her hands. Not just applying, no, actively rubbing it in and holding her hands at chest level doing that intertwined hand motion that looks more like an advertisement for you’re  supposed to wash your hands. She then fluffed her hair repeatedly before abruptly and loudly brushing herself off.
20 minutes later my seatmate pulls out her iPad, but not to play. Nope. To use it as a mirror to very carefully re-do her hair and then to check several spots on her face. The seats are tight so there was no way for me to not be a part of the process.
Then the woman across the aisle pulls out her iPhone and starts checking her face and applying lip gloss. Then pulls out her compact and starts powdering her face. Not a quick refresher, but a very careful dabbing process. It was not attractive!
Now do I have problems with people doing personal grooming on planes? Not at all. And I don’t even have a problem with it happening at the seat, but I think there’s degrees of appropriateness. I’m guilty all the time of running a brush through my hair or reapplying lip gloss, but those are mostly quick actions that my seatmate can easily ignore if they wish.
To me, there’s a difference between filing a hangnail and shaping all ten at your seat (fortunately I’ve never seen toenails being trimmed in-flight like other bloggers have had to). A difference between a quick brushing of hair and an elaborate re-arrangement. The same with checking how your face looks and removing an offensive ear/nose hair. All these things can happen on a plane, but some are best saved for the restroom rather than your seat.
Related to that on the flight out the person in front of my (who was not deaf) was actively signing a song to herself, arms outstretched, bouncing slightly in her chair. It was distracting, and to me, not the most considerate choice. I don’t think people should sing out loud on a plane, nor for that matter should they talk to themselves, and signing a song vigorously seems to me to fall into the same category.
Watching those passengers in action made me realize how some of my past habits might make me distasteful to my fellow travelers and I’ve resolved to get better about chewing on the occasional hangnail or giving my hair undue attention.
What do others think? Am I being too harsh, should I reconsider what I think is acceptable?
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Flossing. Having your seat mate flossing is right there on the too of the No list too.
oh my gosh. People do that!?
I wouldn’t be so hard on yourself. As a guy it’s hard to related but I’ll list things that would bug me and things that don’t.
Would bug me:
Applying perfume (of course).
Hair brushing, playing, etc. more than 20 seconds.
Nail work of any kind more than 20 seconds.
Smelly hand lotion application (get some that doesn’t smell if you must).
Reclining your seat into my lap (well not a beauty item but it bugs me).
Talking a lot to seat mates (can’t imagine how bad it would be if phones are allowed during the flight).
Listening to your Ipod when I can hear your music.
Doesn’t bother me:
Fixing makeup
Applying lip gloss or lip stick, etc.
Nail polish would be ok but it smells and can’t be done on a plane
Taking your shoes off (unless they smell of course)
Reading quietly
Perfume is the worst! I have random allergies, and then I can’t stop sneezing (and my nose, er, can’t stop leaking) on a 6 hour flight…
I had someone biting off their nails and spitting them out onto the floor. This was years ago, before I developed enough attitude to speak up about it.