Mary Kay: Amway in pink

If you want to get sucked into some good reading, you could do worse than to get acquainted with the various anti-Mary Kay blogs that are out there.

For those outside North America who may not be familiar with Mary Kay, it is basically a multi-level-marketing scheme - aka pyramid scheme - which sells cosmetics and skincare through 'consultants' who are promised seven-figure incomes and pink Cadillacs for hitting their sales targets. The company is named for its founder, the late Mary Kay Ash, pictured at right. As for the products, Paula Begoun writes:

Much of the Mary Kay lineup is a mixed bag of strong and weak points—and the weak points are really weak. The basic Mary Kay skin-care routine is a dated mix of greasy cleansers, irritating toners, and daytime moisturizers with poorly formulated SPFs...Despite Mary Kay's sales force and their fervent belief that the products they sell are undeniably superior, this line still has a lot of catching up to do if it wishes to compete with the best products from Avon, Estee Lauder, Clinique, Neutrogena, and Dove, among others.

There is a Mary Ken for Men line, too, and Paula doesn't think much of that either.

I stumbled upon the amusingly named Mary Kay Sucks this morning, and found both the posts and the comments wonderfully illuminating and downright funny. Apparently one Mary Kay ruse to recruit salesbots is to give away 'free' facials to unsuspecting members of the public; when they arrive for their facial, they have to sit through a sales awards ceremony and a hard sell on becoming Mary Kay 'consultants' themselves. Roxy, a former Mary Kay salesperson, describes in the comments to this post how her director (who was making money from whatever Roxy sold), would hound her about getting people to these sales pitches:

Director:  Hi Rox!!!!!!!!!  How many guests do you have coming tonight?

Me:  None so far, but I’ve made some calls. (knowing these poor gals were trying to think of an excuse not to come with me)

Director: Ok Rox, tonight is going to be so EXCITING!!! You have to bring at least 2 guests tonight. You will be so happy you did. God has laid you on my heart so much lately and I am dedicated to making your dreams come true. (she was actually getting ready to lose her pink Caddy and was in a panic)

Me:  Well I’m really trying but women are really busy with their families at night.

Director: I know you can make this happen. I don’t know a woman out there that wouldn’t like a free facial and hear about this exciting opportunity. You have to reach out and share your heart to these women!! In the next 30 minutes call five women. Tell them you have such an exciting evening planned and you want to share it with someone special….tell them anything Rox just get them there tonight!!

Me:  I’m sorry I can’t.  I’m at work and I can’t do this business at work.

Director:  Step out of the office and use your cell phone!  I’ll call back in 30 minutes to check your progress.

Like I said, it's easy to get sucked into this stuff. If you want to explore further, check out Exposing Mary Kay, My Mary Kay Truth, and UpYourCadillac.com. As a business geek, this is a great illustration for me of why transparency and honesty in business matter, and why going for the short-term dollar over customer loyalty and evangelism - and long-term success - will always fail. Mary Kay has had a pretty good run of business over the years (though not the amount they claim, as a huge majority of their products are returned unopened to corporate HQ by 'consultants' who can't or won't sell them), and I'm sure the powers-that-be thought that their dirty little secrets would remain fairly uncommunicated to the big, wide world.

They were wrong, as are their business practices; correcting things would mean totally changing their MLM-based business model, which won't happen. If you have an ethical bone in your body, consider spreading the word about the true face of Mary Kay.

Comments

[Karina]

As an ex Mary Kay consultant... I can say I totally agree!!!
Your 'unit leaders' are your best friend and continually email/call/text with nice little quotes and emails about how much they believe in your (so much so that I had to ask mine to stop sending me it) but it doesnt take long for one to realise they are just in it to make a buck or two for themselves.
I had a work mate who signed up and wasn't told about the minimum $250 order... so she was lead to believe that if one of her customers wanted to order, say just a foundation, she would be able to just order that as she needs it... which in fact is not that case.

[PC]

these women don't make money on sales - they make money on the ORDERS of their recruits....bid distinction. That's why they pressure them to buy lots of "inventory" on credit cards, etc.
If you don't want to do that, they say you aren't "serious about your business", etc.

They are big pink sharks.

[Kathy C]

I know that in Chicago, there are nefarious Mary Kay women who approach other women on the street and break the ice by complimenting how "well put together" they are, and anyone who is at all receptive is asked to attend a meeting, et cetera. So insidious.

[Shabby]

Everyone needs to know that if you are invited to attend ANYTHING related to Mary Kay you WILL be given the recruiting talk; whether you go to an event, unit meeting or even a seemingly harmless skincare class at your neighbor's house, you will be talked to about the "opportunity". Consumer beware! Besides, like the post suggest, Mary Kay prouducts are outdated and behind the trends so stick with the brands you know and trust (I like MAC, Bare Escentuals, and anything that's BOGO free).

Love this blog... glad to have found you through MaryKaySucks!!

Shabby

[-Kitten-]

Shucks, I hate people like those. Have you encountered a brand Nu Skin? Their products, they claim, are far superior than others too ( but some are really good! ). I buy and use them, but I also don't like how they recruit their members. They invite people as "going to a birthday party." or "business opportunity meeting." or "free facial". My friend who turned into a Nu Skin consultant called some of my friends without asking for my permission, inviting them do to such. It was so embarrassing.

Regarding Mary Kay, in my country , they aren't as active as they are there, I guess. Nu Skin's something like that.

[Brittney Thompson]

you should give tips on how transvestitesand crossdresser's should apply make-up

[Happy w/Mary Kay]

Wow, how one sided of you. Why not do some research with actual consultants and directors in Mary Kay, and then start a post? And, I believe that is a copyrighted photo. As for Paula Begoun, her article is either outdated, or she is misinformed. There has not been a men's line in years. And, many of the products that she describes as too harsh, are not for normal skin. They are alternative products for those with issues and problems outside the realm of the normal skin type. And, they are products that our clients really love, because of their unique nature.

[Janoh]

I believe the quote from Paula Begoun on the MK line is taken from her book written several years ago--however many of the products reviewed at that time are still in the line.

Paula has her own quarterly newsletter to which I subscribe and she rates Mary Kay products on a ongoing basis. As a matter of fact, she placed a MK product as one of the best of 2005, so she weighes the MK line on a product by product basis.

It is not the MK products that are debatable, that is a matter of personal choice. It is the unregulated promugations of some/many of the MK directors that stand in question here. In fact, the entire method of earning money in MK (or various other mlms) based upon commissions earned ordering by consultants promotes sometimes questionable behavior.

[Jackie Danicki]

Actually, I have done research into Mary Kay, and several of my friends (and some family members) were duped by Mary Kay. Thanks for asking.

[Mary Kay Director]

I agree--why don't you do research on both sides of the coin and talk to people who are doing business the correct way and are successful? Why not talk to people at corporate? A "business geek"? I'm not sure exactly what that means, but hopefully it means that you would try to be unbiased before stating falsehoods as facts. Please explore further.

[Jackie Danicki]

I have zero interest in talking to any more Kaybots than I have already had the misfortune to encounter. Multi-level marketing is the work of scumbags, and it's as simple as that. I have not made one falsehood, and I'm afraid that if you want to leave any more comments on this site which allege otherwise, I will have to ask you, N Hopkins, to do so under your own name and not a pseudonym.