Airline Bans Dark Lipstick Onboard

by Reena Ganga on

Turkish Airlines has announced it will soon ban its flight attendants from wearing lipstick or nail polish in bright shades while on the job.

The carrier says colors like red or pink don’t match the inflight crew’s uniform, so wearing make up in those shades would “impair the visual integrity” of the outfits.

Instead, the airline says it wants its staff to wear pastel-toned makeup, as that would not only coordinate better with the uniform but also give off a more calming effect.While it’s standard practice for airlines to provide guidelines on how their staff should be groomed, the Turkish Airlines announcement has been met with criticism from some flight attendants, the general public, and even Turkish government officials. A number of Turkish Airlines hostesses have started wearing red lipstick during flights in protest of the ban.

The new makeup rules come in the wake of stricter guidelines implemented last year in which the carrier banned crew from coloring their hair platinum blonde or red, and forbade female staff from wearing silver eye makeup. The latest measure banning bright lipsticks is apparently the result of passenger complaints.

Do you think the ban is out of line? Do you care what makeup shades your flight attendant wears?

[Photo credit: Flickr user jerine]

London Airports Still Slow

by Iva Skoch on

Beware that London airport security is still very tight.

I was flying back from a weekend trip in London today and waited in line–or should I say “queue”–for almost 2 hours. (In a situation like this, one really appreciates the ability of the British to form lines and wait patiently). Flying into London was fine, but any flights from London are closely monitored.

In terms of the current security measures in the UK, people are now allowed to bring on one carry-on, but a very small one (e.g. one woman’s purse, computer bag or small backpack), definitely not the typical wheeled carry-on suitcase. I learned the hard way – they sent me back from security back to check-in, which meant…another line.

I saw a women cry because she really wanted to bring all her cosmetics on board, but the security personnel were less than understanding. They confiscated her perfume, her lipstick, her lip gloss and her hair gel. Which made me realize that this regulation could mean a lot more uglier, smellier, bad-hairdo women roaming around airports.

Thank goodness for those Duty Free shops! Now that travelers can’t really bring on board anything they buy there, at least they can use their make up samples for free. Too bad they don’t do the same with liquor.

Tweaking the Carry On List

by Erik Olsen on

During the frantic no-liquids-on-planes crisis recently we learned that pretty much any kind of liquid or balm was illegal to bring on board a plane. If you happened to be traveling at this time, then chances are you had to dump something, whether it was lipstick or some deodorant or whatever. Well, now we’re all a bit more calmed down the good folks at the FAA have relaxed things a bit, and have loosened the stringent requirements of what can and cannot be brought on board.

According to this CNN report, travelers can now take up to four ounces of non-prescription medicine, glucose gel for diabetics, solid lipstick and baby food. I didn’t read here whether solid lipstick meant chap stick, of serious importance to many of us who are addicted to the stuff, but I hope so. Oh, as and you might imagine, all aerosols are prohibited.