I am interested in hearing any experiences with Mary Kay
Cosmetics. Thanks.

Mary's gotta be clean. Probably a little like amway but how 'cult like' can make-up sales ladies be? Ever see a Pink Cadillac convention?

There were rumors that it was a cult because we sang at sales meetings and Mary Kay's personal philosophy was JOY (Jehovah, Others, Yourself), but this was not pushed down anyone's throat. I had a lot of fun selling the product. There was also money to be made in recruiting - a minimal override on the sales of recruits - something like what happens at the cosmetics counter I work at now. There was no pressure to recruit either.

This was a long time ago. I don't know what goes on now. The product has changed tremendously, and with the internet, I'm sure that has opened other ways to make money. I've heard good things about the product, too.

Anyone heard of Nuskin? Also direct-selling cosmetics, supposedly from the US. It's especially big in Asia because of how our social networks are traditionally structured, and networks are essential if you want to do business or get ahead in life here. So one freind gets it, sells everything off to everyone she know, then someone in that circle is inspired to follow suit and then it ends up that nobody wants to repeat business ...

Anyway, Nuskin have a big swanky corporate set-up in an office tower in Kuala Lumpur, where they hold their little demos. One of these involved lining up a range of commercial skin toners, then pouring one into a petri-dish and seting it on fire. This supposedly proved how much alcohol such products contained, and how drying they would be on your skin. But anyone who pays attention to what they buy and reads ingredients will know that almost ALL skin toners contain some form of alcohol in very limited degrees, but certainly not to the flammable point. I just had to laugh when I heard the story of the flaming toner, what a beautiful sleight of hand it must have been.

As for the quality of Nuskin - I can't attest to its effect, but a mutual friend who bought from a girl trying to flog off a roomful of the stuff said it made her skin worse and she broke out from the chemicals. On the other hand, another friend who tried it out said it worked for him - but this is a guy who normally uses soap as his complete beauty regimen. Now they had him using cleanser, toner and moisturiser. How could anyone's skin NOT improve???

Most cosmetics firms have big swanky offices because they are all about image. There is nothing unusual in the ingredients list, nothing all that different from most upper end cosmetics lines. Since my skin is very sensitive, I've researched many cosmetics companies and their ingredients and am tempted to give Nu-Skin a try.

According to their website, distributorships are available. The company goes out of its way to alert consumers and potential distributors regarding pyramid schemes with good information.

[www.dsa.org]

Mary Kay did not require a large financial investment (back then it was $150 for a suitcase full of testers, facial and make-up supplies, brochures, sales tickets PLUS starter inventory at WHOLESALE.

Recently I looked into a tea distributorship. The financial investment was close to $4000. That included $1200 worth of tea at RETAIL, $450 for online "training", $995 to put my name on page wizard webpage, and several hundred $$ for various odds and ends. A little research revealed that the person "recruiting" me got 20% of the $4000. This company was making money off their recruits. Always read the fine print and do the math.

I went to a Mary Kay home party a couple months ago. Still $150 to get started as a rep!

I bought several items and love every one of them.

The reps sister is a friend of mine, which is how we met. When I was in the midst of my LGAT hell, I went to her house to rant when the sister/rep was over. She said "You know, some people say I'm in cult because I work for Mary Kay". Apparently there is a lot of warm fuzzy pump you up sales meetings that may or may not be creepy.

Lori

I'm a beauty consultant for Mary Kay. I've been doing it for almost a year. I've kinda lost interest but it's a great company. The meetings are funny-totally girlie-a few cheers, and we crown a "queen of sales" with a sash and tierra. You can work your business any way you want to. Skin care classes, one on one, mailings, internet, or just pass out the books. You can sell the items for the retail price, or you can mark your items down for a sale. There's so much support and sharing of ideas. Lots of resources to help you reach your goals. I'm such a tomboy and what I don't like is that they expect you to wear a skirt and close-toed shoes for any Mary Kay activity. Some of the women are a little over the top---they just LOVE Mary Kay sOOoo much. They like us to approach people and offer free facials and talk it up but you have the freedom to do whatever gets you the sales. Definitely gotta be outgoing to keep it up.

I would sell Mary Kay or Avon but I'm just not a salesperson. Let's face it... I'm not a people-person. People close to me joke that I'm anti-social. I would rather chat online or IM / email people than pick up the phone or even meet friends for lunch!
Anyway, I don't think Mary Kay is a cult-thing at all. I've known people who sell it. Mary Kay's done a lot for women (housewives, moms, etc.) who are stay-at-home and couldn't do much else!
Hail to Mary Kay.

Vee,

You are correct when you say MK has done a lot for women. The women I knew who were over-the-top in their enthusiasm for the company were women who had found independence, recognition and sound finances. Most were not doing well at all prior to getting involved with MK.

I also worked for an upper-end department store cosmetics line. The training sessions were very similar to MK meetings - minus the singing. We had contests and won prizes, received gratis, etc. It was all very girlie, too.

MK is in no way like Amway. There is no pressure with MK to recruit, and if you do recruit, the company pays a bonus. The produst sells at it's suggested retail price, or lower, no matter who sells it, recruit or recruiter.

I have just started looking into selling mary kay to make some extra money on the side after my roommate signed up. Turns out its only $100 to get started and thats the only financial commitment. The consultants are not required to keep inventory but if one decides to the company will refund the price if they decide they no one are interested in selling the product. Plus they pay "commissions" out of the company's profits which I find to be interesting!