Flight attendants have a reputation for always looking their best. They somehow manage to do this while carrying a tough workload that requires both physical and mental toughness. Many people notice that their hair and make-up always seem to look perfect while working.
A lot of people wonder – are female flight attendant required to wear make-up?
No, airlines do not require flight attendants to wear make-up. Instead they require flight attendants always look polished and well groomed.
Although there isn’t typically a requirement to wear make-up, there are still requirements on how to look “polished and well-groomed” as well as best practices recommended.
Let’s take a look at some of the specifics of these policies.
Polished and Well Groomed
Airlines view the role of a flight attendant as a very important one. They are often times the most visible person from the airline to passengers and the person they will remember most from their flight.
Because of this, airlines have long been know to have very specific requirements for flight attendants. This includes things like height, weight, personality, and other characteristics. Along with all these requirements comes a term used by airlines for flight attendants called “polished and well groomed”.
This basically means that since flight attendants are the main thing that passengers see and remember from their flight, the airlines want them to look their best at all times. They expect a high level of professionalism and a clean and uniform look.
This creates a general guideline to always meet this very polished look. The airline might not necessarily have detailed instructions on every aspect of this, but they do expect that you meet this overall goal of polished and well-groomed.
Although this article is specifically about make-up, this term applies to the overall look of the flight attendant as well as make-up. Some of these aspects include:
- Hair
- Nails
- Uniform
- Shoes
All of these things are included in idea of always looking polished and well groomed. Let’s now take a look at suggestions they make for a flight attendant’s make-up.
Make-Up Recommendations
While airlines might not have specific make-up requirements, they often do have suggestions on what you should wear in order to help meet the goal of looking polished and well groomed.
These suggestions and guidelines vary by airline. Some specific examples include wearing mascara and lipstick that compliment your overall look and complexion. The airlines wants flight attendants to “look their best” so putting in effort is required. That being said, there are some flight attendants that do this with little to no make-up while others take the time to apply a full set of make-up.
Outside of the United States
This website is based here in the United States so much of the research we do heavily favors the airlines based here. That includes airlines like Southwest, Delta, United, and American Airlines.
Outside of the United States, these make-up requirements can be quite different. There are still airlines based outside of the US that not only require make-up but have very specific guidelines on what make-up must be worn, how much, and what colors to use.
Following Trends
As you can imagine, these restrictions are loosening over time. In the 1970’s requirements were much more strict than they are now. Times change and with that comes a change in having requirements for flight attendants for things like make-up, shoes, their weight and other appearance based standards.
In 2019 Virgin Airlines made an official policy change to no longer require make-up for flight attendants. This landscape in the market does seem to be changing and I would expect more airlines abroad to make these changes in the coming years.
Conclusion
As you have probably noticed, the appearance of a flight attendant is still very important to airlines. If you plan to become a flight attendant, you can expect to put a lot of effort into your overall look and polish. However, not having to worry about a very specific make-up routine.
It’s up to you to make sure you look your best and passengers know you care about your appearance.
