The username is the grooming standard: five years at Emirates from Manila, and what I actually know about the red lipstick, the hair and the rules
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#1 I joined this forum a while ago and have been replying in other people's threads without ever introducing myself, and my username gets questions in the DMs, so here it is.
Filipina, from Manila, five years at Emirates, mostly upper deck now. The username is a joke and it is not: the Emirates grooming standard is famous for the red lipstick and the hat and the bun, and I have spent five years being very good at it, so I might as well own it.
What people get wrong about the grooming standard
They think it is about looking like a doll. It is about looking identical. The standard exists so that a crew of 22 from 15 countries look like one crew. The red is a specific range of reds. The hair is a specific set of styles. The nails are a specific length and a specific palette. The hat sits at a specific angle. None of it is arbitrary once you understand that the goal is a cabin where the crew read as one uniform, and the uniform includes the face.
What it costs, honestly
About 45 minutes before a flight if you are fast, more at the start. Money: the specific lipsticks, the hair products, the nail appointments, the tights. The company provides some and you provide the rest. Emotionally: some days you do not want to be the standard and you have to be anyway. Most days, five years in, I put it on and I am at work, and it is a switch that helps.
The rules that surprise people
The lipstick must be the red, but the exact red has a range and there is a whole underground of crew knowledge about which brands hold on a 14 hour sector. Hair must be up and cannot touch the collar, and the bun has a size. No visible tattoos means none, including the small one on the wrist, and cover ups are checked. Nails must all be the same colour and length, which sounds obvious and is the one that gets people at the grooming check. The hat is worn from the crew bus to the aircraft and in the terminal, not on board.
The Manila part
There are a lot of us. Filipinos are one of the largest nationalities at the airline and the community in Dubai is huge and very organised. If you are applying from Manila: the open days are big, the competition is fierce, the service background from the Philippines is exactly what they want, and the family separation is the part to prepare for, because sending money home is expected by everyone including yourself and it shapes the whole experience. I send money home every month. So does everyone I know. It is not a complaint. It is the arrangement.
Why I am here
Because I looked for a forum like this five years ago and found Facebook groups and Instagram accounts. This one has real numbers and real crew. I will answer grooming questions (nobody else seems to want to) and upper deck questions and Manila questions. Ask.
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#2 Kababayan. Filipino, different carrier, and everything you say about the Manila open days and the sending money home is exactly the experience of every Filipino crew I know. The 'it is the arrangement' line is perfect. Welcome properly.
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#3 Also from Manila, at a Gulf carrier, and I have grooming check stories that would make this forum weep. The nails one is real. Same colour, same length, checked with a ruler once in my first year. Not a joke.
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#4 Emirates, UK, three years, and I want to say that the 'identical, not doll' explanation is the best I have heard and I am going to use it the next time someone from home asks why I look like that.
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#5 @hollyflies the 'why do you look like that' from family is universal across nationalities, I have decided.
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#6 Korean Air, and the Korean grooming standard is at least as strict with different specifics (the hair is more prescribed, the makeup palette narrower). The purpose is the same: one crew. Good introduction.
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#7 Emirates training, and the grooming module last week had a slide that could have been written from your post. The bun has a size. I now know the size. Thank you for existing on this forum.
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#8 Lyon, hotel school, applying next year, and I have a question I have been afraid to ask: do they check the lipstick shade at the assessment day, or only once you are hired?
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#9 @parisgirl at the open day they want you groomed to a professional standard and a red or a neutral lip is fine. The specific range is a hired crew standard. Do not buy the specific red before the golden call, it is expensive and you might end up at Qatar with a different specific red.