Written by MommyMindi

At a loss for what to tell the woman who joined your Mom’s group, church, or organization just to sell Mary Kay?

Dear New Independent Beauty Consultant:

Thank you for your interest in joining our club…. but we don’t want you here.

I know that you are excited about your new business. I know that your Director has told you that joining a playgroup or group for stay-at-home-moms is a sure-fire way to get new customers. Your Director is wrong.

Written by FortunateSon

As a family member of a disillusioned former director, who has spent ten years in the presence of all that nauseating pink optimism (“It’s only a flesh wound!”), I learned of this blog and relished the opportunity to repudiate some of the perfunctory platitudes that are given as explanations for why you’re a worthless, miserable failure. Let’s begin.

Written by Raisinberry

When I stepped away from Mary Kay, it was mostly due to reading Pink Truth, and a validation of finally seeing in print, what I thought I alone suspected, all along. The words we were never able to utter, were plastered all over the comments and articles on these pages. I felt naked and exposed. I was looking at my screen, and seeing “me”, in all my denial.

I have always loved the women in my unit. I think the world of them. And walking away would mean I would be leaving them defenseless. I had already stopped the frontloading and stopped recruiting guest/customers out from under my unit members who hadn’t even made a sale from them yet.

Written by Raisinberry

One lie leads to another, leads to another, leads to another… Kind of like Mary Kay boiling a frog without the frog noticing.

Back in the day, my earth science teacher told us that the way a frog is wired, being a reptile and all, you could toss him into a boiling pot of water and he would sense the differential in water temp to body temp and spring out without getting burned.

But then there was this other method for cooking a frog. Just place him in a room temperature pot of water and slowly turn up the heat. Because his body adjusts to the rising temperature slowly, he never notices he is beginning to boil. Voila! Fresh frog legs.

Have you wondered what those codes like A1 and I3 mean? How do they relate to your orders and your recruits? Here are the details.

N0 – New Consultant, no order.
N1 – New Consultant, no order, showcase shipped.
N2 – New Consultant, second month without order.
N3 – New Consultant, third month without order.

This has always been one of my favorites. Mary Kay recruiters and sales directors rave about the “benefits” of being a part of Mary Kay Cosmetics.

How the items on this list can possibly be compared to paid sick leave, a 401(k) or tuition assistance is beyond me. I was also not aware that the ladder of success pin is “THE most coveted piece of jewelry in ALL of Mary Kay.” Anyone can get one, all you need is a $1800 or available credit. What is so special about that?

Let’s take a look at one sales director’s take on the benefits…

Written by Raisinberry

Many years back, I stepped through the doors of my first Mary Kay event, completely uncomfortable by what I saw. I thought it was me, since they appeared to be so close and having so much fun. I must have had “issues”. They were so happy and warm and huggy and supportive. I lived outside their world, and some part of me wanted what they had, while at the same time, I distrusted what I saw.

As a child, I learned not to trust my own instincts. When you grow up in a crazy dysfunctional home, you pick whatever coping skill works for you, and denial and humor were working for me. By the end of the event, I was interested in the ca$h these gals were making, but the huggy stuff still freaked me out. Something just wasn’t right.

Written by Lazy Gardens

Just for fun, I analyzed a bunch of Court of Sales data that I collected. My collected data contained the estimated retail sales for 26,279 consultants in 519 units, mostly for July, August, September, October of 2006, with some data from the full 2005-2006 Seminar year.

What did I find? First, there is no evidence that anyone is regularly having $300 parties, $1,000 days, or any of the types of results shown in Mary Kay propaganda.

Written by So Lost In Wisconsin

So, I signed up for Mary Kay. I only wanted to be a “personal use” consultant. What that meant to me was fifty percent off my skin care and cosmetics, and maybe a little Christmas shopping for friends, too. It isn’t that simple, is it? My recruiter says it is!

First of all, it cost a hundred dollars, plus tax and shipping, to get a starter kit. I was told that there was over three hundred dollars in product in that kit! How exciting! For a mere one hundred dollars, I get that much stuff! That’s great!

Written by So Lost In Wisconsin

No matter what they tell you, you’re not independent in Mary Kay. Not at all. You must follow the company line all the way.

Mary Kay Ash once said, “People like to be able to live their lives as they feel they should. So we employ the Golden Rule, and we do all those things that make our company great.” . . . And it’s my great pleasure to tell them, “If you treat people like you want to be treated, your company will succeed.”

Take a minute. Really read that. Absorb each and every delicious lie. Never in my entire life was I more censored than I was working in Mary Kay.