LoveItaly

From what I have read if a traveller is found to be sneaking something aboard a flight they can be fined hundreds of dollars. I think there is a difference between having something in your checkin bag and having something hidden in your clothing and I believe the security people would look at this the same way. I love mascara too but I would never hide anything in my clothing. With my luck I would be the one that "they" would decide to make an example of.

suze

While it's easy enough to say "oops didn't know THAT was in there" to a lipgloss in my purse... I think it would be pretty hard to explain why you had a mascara tucked down your bra by accident!!!

isabellasu

I don't think she "smuggled" anything to begin with. It doesn't sound like she had any lipgloss or any type of liquid make-up to begin with. That is all TSA is saying no to carry-on anyway.
As for bragging about sneaking stuff through security, it's not a laughing matter. This weekend my boyfriend forgot to take his little and I mean little pocketknife out of his jacket, it went through the x-ray and metal detectors at least 3 times and 2 times patdown by a guard until it was found, found it was and no longer in the possession of my boyfriend. The knife would not harm anyone, unless a terrorist tried to poke it into someone's eye..but I'm glad it was found and not allowed on the flight.

suze

Then that's even crazier isn't it? To smuggle mascara in your bra, if it's allowed on the plane.

gail

So picture this, OP was stuffed mascara in her (I am assuming OP is a her) bra. Gets on plane, plane hits turbulence and it is one of those fasten seatbelt extended periods of time. Unable to get to bathroom on plane to remove mascara.

Flying is uncomfortable enough these days without having mascara poking at my chest.

jetset1

Maybe it's you

maybe it's Maybelline

Scarlett

I am picturing the security person frisking someone with their mascara stashed in their bra, and finding it.
Would not the next logical step be to invite the mascara smuggler into the little room with a table and some rubber gloves?
How important is it to have longer lush eyelashes?

wanderluster

Jetset, now THAT is funny!

lynnejoel1015

I just play by the rules and pack it in my checked luggage. I don't see any reason to go out of my way to sneak things on board. I believe in rules.

Cali

We fly a lot and on every recent trip we have been told that mascara is not allowed in carryon luggage. I would really worry about hiding it on my body as that really looks like you are trying to get something by someone rather than just having it in your carryon where you could have accidentally left it. Also, for those who have mentioned buying cosmetics in the airport when you arrive, I have not seen any sold at the airports we have been in since this recent decision. They had taken all the makeup, toothpaste, etc. off the shelves . Has this changed in the last week?

LoveItaly

Suggestion, in your carryone pack some dental floss and a tongue scrapper. I just suggested that to a friend who is flying to Europe tomorrow. Neither of those items are banned to my knowledge (can you choke someone with dental floss?) and that will help keep your mouth fresh when taking a long flight. Also you can pack a toothbrush and just use it with water to brush you teeth while on the flight.

isabellasu

Here is the website with the TSA list.
Liquid mascara is not allowed. I don't see why some people are having such problems with this list, put your "prohibitied" make-up in checked luggage and freshen up after you arrive..it's simple!
http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtrav...d-items.shtm#1

Worktowander

Interesting. The folks (men and women) on various Flyertalk threads are trading tips on how to get toothpaste onto the plane (put it in a pocket and waltz through the metal detector) and smuggle makeup in your bra. The women are also trading intel about which magazines have which kind of cosmetics/toiletries samples this month. Security doesn't seem to care about those.

Personally, I lost faith in the security system in June 2003 when I forgot about the pocketknife I carry in my purse until I discovered it while in a San Francisco hotel room. The knife was entirely made a metal - handle too - and was not hidden in any way. Hmmm. Troubling.

I said to myself "I should mail that home," then promptly forgot about it again until I was cleaning out my purse several weeks after the trip. Hmm.

Frankly, if they can't find that, my lip gloss is the least of our worries.

As someone recently said, "When mascara is outlawed, only outlaws will have mascara."

suze

This person "didn't have time" to check luggage. I suggested that back on her first posting about this stressful situation.
;-)

sylvia3

This week I saw all the usual cosmetics, etc., on sale at the airport with a few signs reading "new TSA rules prohibit..." So, you can buy when you arrive.

tracys2cents

Check the statistics on how many GUNS and KNIVES are still getting through security....this is much scarier than the mascara smuggling. Checked baggage is not even scanned, still, in half of the airports in the USA. Preposterous. We've each been paying 10 and $20 security fees for four years, adding up to billions, and GUNS are still getting through on a daily basis? Meanwhile how much money is spent PUBLICIZING how SAFE this administration has made us?

kamahinaohoku

Worktowander - you reminded me of something. A few years ago I was on an American Airlines cross country flight, window seat. The man sitting in the aisle seat was pleasant, listening to yoga tapes, and then he decided to have a snack. He pulled a few pieces of fruit out of his backpack, and then pulled out a folding knife with a SHARP 6 INCH BLADE. And he proceeded to peel his fruit and then eat it. I got up, asked to get by him (he was accommodating) and proceeded to tell the flight attendant about this. She did nothing. Fortunately for us, when he was finished with the snack, he folded up the knife and put it back in his carry on. When I finally got home, I called AA and then wrote to them about the incident and never heard a word from them. :-<

I'm not happy about tekwriter hiding her mascara in her bra, either. Incidentally, beauty is in the eye of the beholder...and her little "trick" didn't make her look to good IMO.

Curt

Well, there are other "places" she could have stuffed her lipstick and other round containers ... oh my if she keeps that up guess what we will all be doing at the airport ... drop 'em and grab your ankles!

tekwriter

OP here... thank you all for your comments, critical and sympathetic. A few observations about the discussion:

1. I did something wrong. I knew it was wrong. I in no way encourage anyone to do what I did. I did not intend to brag about my exploits, just to inform. Those of you who are angry with me are justified. I explained my reasons, but I do not offer them as "excuses."
2. The TSA security screen is generally a well-meaning but ineffectual method of keeping air travelers safe. The rules are inconsistent and the enforcement incomplete. The only reason terrorists haven't repeated an airline attack is because they haven't chosen to do so, not because they've been caught going through security with contraband in their underwear. The greatest threat to an airplane is what can be loaded into the cargo hold without screening, not what passengers can smuggle aboard. Until that loophole is closed, we all travel at risk.
3. The information supplied by TSA, such as on their website, is vague and incomplete, as well as open to interpretation by underpaid and undertrained personnel. Their power to decide what any particular air traveler can and cannot take on a flight is absolute, without any chance of appeal. I believe they are generally good and hardworking people, but they work under the same vague rules that we are supposed to abide by. I'll bet it's hard for some TSA folks to resist the power inherent in their jobs.

I've never been the type to meekly accept all rules just because someone in authority says so (although I actually do follow most of them!) Every action in life is a personal decision - it's just how this decision affects others that should be your guide. If my decision to smuggle a questionably "liquid" mascara on board affected you, I apologize. I truly won't do it again because my future trips will entail checked luggage. If I got some of you thinking and reacting, then I hope you'll forgive me.

canterbury

Hi tek -

I agree with your summary above. I am not above breaking the rules when I see there is no other way, especially rather erratically enforced and random rules. (Catch me at the right time of month and I certainly feel entitled....)

As my above first post details, I was able to just walk onto an airplane with an open bottle of water and no one even checked the opaque plastic bags of food my husband and I had.

Aside from the forgotten water, I just realized that I had brought fruit and yogurt onboard - I'm guessing that yogurt isn't TSA approved either because of the consistency??

Plus, I just cleaned out my "travel purse" and saw that I actually had a small tube of sunscreen which no one found, either.

So, yes, I do NOT feel safe with the precautions today. There has to be a more comprehensive way to do security. I don't know what it is. I just hope we have the right people in place to come up with this.