Beauty routines on public transport – where do you draw the line?

We all been there. Those mornings when you’re running late/have a hangover/need ten more minutes in bed and have to do an emergency makeup session on the bus/tube/train. Or a quick touch up on the way home before an evening out. I don’t think anyone begrudges a bit of makeup application on public transport so long as you’re not flicking your powder onto the person sitting next to you, but where should we be drawing the line?

I commute to work every day via public transport and on my trains recently I’ve been seeing things I really wish I could block out of my mind. There’s been the woman who has spent the entire 40 minute train journey meticulously filing every single one of her nails, another who did a full-on eye brow pluck and possibly worst of all, the spot squeezer. Vom.

Commuting isn’t exactly what you’d call a fun process, but it only gets worse when you’re stuck in a train carriage breathing in other people’s nail dust (which let’s face it, is actually a part of their body that we’re all having to inhale) or watching them flick their unwanted brow hairs onto the floor after they pluck them out.

For me, there are some clear lines that really don’t need crossing – yes, pop a bit of slap on if you have to, but filing, plucking, and the rest should be kept to your bathroom. Not on a packed train with hundreds of other people who are sat there giving you evils. Surely it’s a slippery slope to be on – one day you’re filing down your nails and before you know it, you’re sat there with a face mask on in your pyjamas.

In these situations I’m never quite sure what to do – do you ask that person to stop? Give them some serious evil eye from across the aisle? I’m sure they must be able to sense people glaring at them but just choose to ignore it. I was recently sat next to someone who got out nail polish and started painting their nails – I’m all for beautification, but the smell of nail polish in an enclosed space is suffocating. I had to move carriages because I just couldn’t take it anymore.

Public transport is just that – public. And as such, I feel like we need to be a bit more considerate of the other people in the train. You’re not at home, or in a toilet somewhere. Chances are, if you spray half a can of dry shampoo in your hair (I have also seen this), other people are going to be stuck inhaling it. So maybe keep that kind of stuff for when you’re alone. Or at least in a situation where it’s not affecting other people.

What do you think? Is there a line you wouldn’t cross when it comes to doing your beauty treatments in public? What’s the worst thing you’ve seen people doing on public transport?