The rules for etiquette are never set in stone.Just like asking your mother about the best style of make-up,her answer for make-up etiquette may be not suitable for your generation.Nowadays it may be not so bad to put some lip gloss on at the train station.
The ancient Greeks had a habit of recording a code of expected behavior for any controllable circumstance,which they called protókollon.In fact,this was useful to make crystal clear accurately what could and could not be done,and was generally a perfect way of running things...but it turned to be imperfect when they began mixing with other cultures with different opinions.Therefore,written rules could never actually suit everything,so could make-up.Things are changing with time going.
The common rule for the time and the place applying or removing make-up is,“Never in public.” This would convincingly rule out touching-up around a restaurant table,in church,on a crowded street,in a movie theater,in the class room,and at almost any kind of social gathering.These guiding principles look simple,but we still have difficulties to determine the definition of “public”.With pressed schedules and roomier public scenes that permit to have more privacy out of home,social lines begin to blur.
The anonymity of a crowded street gives people some kind of privacy.In case a woman stops at an empty deli window to clean some peeling mascara from her lower lid,will she actually mind if a stranger passing by dislikes? Many people from any background would have the same opinion that it would be unpleasant for her to squint at her reflection in a spoon and do the same thing at the dinner table in the presence of her date.The difference is,she cares about her date’s opinion.Taking this into consideration,the common rule about make-up can be adapted to say,“Never in front of anyone important,in public.”
When people have little time to make-up in the restroom,they often need to do with improvising for privacy.For example,you can duck beneath the booth at the café and get away being seen while you pencil your lips,your own judgment decides whether or not your actions worth the risk of being caught.Foremost,the person handling the consequences of impolite make-up application is the person who applies it.However,if you are afraid of that you might make the group you’re with look bad,you’d better have top-quality manners: any personal grooming should go to the restroom.