In my twenties, I would commute two hours each way to a magazine job, leaving my house-share at 7am with a perfectly imperfect, indie-sleaze-era smudgy eye and artfully pallid skin. The idea of snoozing a little longer and doing my face en route was as foreign to me as the idea of wearing something other than an American Apparel miniskirt to work. I firmly believed in putting my best foot forward — or the 2010s version thereof. Then I had a kid, and the hours I once spent doing my toilette were spent, well, trying to find time alone to go to the toilet. So I adapted and became less of a snob about the whole thing.
I’m not alone in this. The communications strategist and content creator @sommyyah has been filming her make-up routine on the train in New York for the past two years, garnering 2.4 million views for one video alone. “The reactions from other commuters are honestly pretty minimal. People have their headphones in, coffee in hand, trying to mentally prepare for their day ahead,” she tells me. “I have had the occasional curious glance from someone, but for the most part people understand the efficiency. Who hasn’t touched up their make-up when in transit?”
Meanwhile, the make-up brand Saie did a campaign last summer around applying make-up on the subway. “We get ready in cabs, at the gym, at our desk, and in the front seat of our cars,” the brand says. “We focus on making the product application really intuitive to use. It’s all about feeling good with the time that we have.”
Rachael Griffiths, a senior editorial associate at the Business of Beauty, is staunchly in favour. “I’ve got my routine down to a fine-tuned three-stop maximum. It’s not that I lack good time management, necessarily, I just do it for the love of the game.” However, she adds a warning: “You can’t use anything that will bother other passengers. Setting spray or deodorant spritzes — which I have unfortunately witnessed — are an absolute no-go.”
The make-up artist Lisa Potter-Dixon points out how intimate a routine it can be. “For me, make-up isn’t just about how you look, it’s a small moment of TLC, a pause, a chance to check in with yourself before the day really begins,” she says. Likewise, Mary Greenwell, the influential make-up artist who has worked with the likes of Princess Diana, points out: “It’s probably a working woman with a busy life and it’s her one chance to be on her own before she goes to work.” Greenwell isn’t against applying make-up in transit, though. “As long as they don’t make a mess on the Tube or disturb anyone else and they’re just doing their face, why not? Why not just let them do their thing?”
But let’s get this out of the way: looky looks are inevitable. It is the price you pay for looking gorge on the go. I like to reframe these gawps as people admiring my dexterity — yes, madam, I am indeed doing a delicate eyeliner flick while the train shunts us between stations. However, I would be lying if I said that I didn’t have a speech prepared, should I be confronted. The format differs day to day, but the crux of it is as follows: if you’re allowed to eat your lunch en route, I’m allowed to get myself together. And if we’re really going to get into it, even Debrett’s has loosened its stance on applying make-up in public. Its guidance, issued in 2014, basically says “be discreet”.
So, if you want to join in, and add an extra 20 minutes before your alarm clock, here’s some advice: do not spread out. Respect that this is a public space and you’re not in the powder room at Claridge’s. Your kit will need to stay inside your make-up bag, with each utensil coming out one by one. Your range of motion is also limited by the radius of your elbows — a blended contour isn’t worth knocking your seat-mate’s glasses off. This applies to application too: better to dab like an impressionist than swash like a Rothko. Luckily, brands such as Merit, Jones Road, Uoma Beauty and Trinny London are finger-forward.
Indeed, refine your kit so that it contains nothing spillable and nothing too big. Griffiths hoards make-up minis specifically for applying a full face on the Tube. “I find they’re far less fiddly than groping around in a usual make-up bag,” she says.
Lastly — no skincare. Wash your face and brush your teeth before you leave the house. Prime your canvas, so that the commute can be your artist’s studio. I believe in this method so firmly that I even did my make-up for my author photoshoot on the 8am Circle Line Tube to the Barbican.
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The commuter It kit
Merit Flush Blush
£26, meritbeauty.com
A sheer, buildable blush — the dome shape makes application especially easy.
Fenty Beauty Match Stix Contour Skinstick
£26, sephora.co.uk
On days when I forget to fake tan, this is a swipeable bronzer. I also like to use it as a creamy eyeshadow.
Benefit They’re Real! Travel Size Mini Mascara
£15, boots.com
A mini mascara wand is far more convenient in close quarters — Benefit is my preferred brand.
Glossier Boy Brow
£22, sephora.co.uk
I advise using a bit less than usual if you’re applying this in transit — a jolt can leave you looking a little Eugene Levy.
Rare Beauty Perfect Strokes Matte Liquid Liner
£20, spacenk.com
This eyeliner is cleverly weighted — it balances beautifully in your hand, no matter where you hold it.
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