Every so often, my former area in Mary Kay would get on this kick about pretending Mary Kay was a prestigious product and that the consultant’s time at a skin care class was a rare and valuable thing. We were supposed to make women WANT to have a party or buy products or become a recruit by pretending this was such a special chance for them!

I don’t disagree that my time is valuable, but I’m not interested in pretending that it’s a big privilege to be around me. Especially if the way you get to be with me is if you agree to listen to me blather about Mary Kay. I’d rather not pretend that I have only two openings next week (when I really have the entire week free) so that I can sound busy and ask you which is better for you.

We discuss this topic from time to time, because it’s important to debunk one of the common myths Mary Kay directors and recruiters use to suck people into the pink cult. In their world, anyone with skin is a potential customer.

UPDATE: The product repurchase policy has changed as of March 2013. Read about the new rules here.

One of the “selling points” used to lure recruits into Mary Kay is the promise of being able to get 90% of your money back on your inventory. Indeed, a recent commenter touted this “benefit” of Mary Kay:

A smart person will not invest more than 60% of their sales. How hard is that? Tracy angry. Gloria Mayfield Banks,she did it,why cant you? Oh yeah,she is an MBA Harvard Grad. And you guys do know that you get back 90% of money invested in all products sent back to the company right?? Take advantage. Please!!

Is the 90% buyback guarantee really all it’s cracked up to be? Of course not.

This weekend, Chrissy at My Cosmetic Bag (a site for all things makeup!) posted a review of her experience with a Mary Kay “facial.”  One of the common criticisms of Mary Kay here at Pink Truth is that the facials aren’t really facials at all. And that the “facial” is simply an opportunity to try to recruit you into the scheme. Chrissy’s review fully supports those criticisms, and is from an “outsider,” …. someone with no skin in the game on either side of the Mary Kay argument.

You can read the whole piece at “Bamboozled by Mary Kay,” but a few of the more interesting snippets are here:

The following changes will be made to the Mary Kay product line starting June 16, 2012.

Mary Kay Lash & Brow Building Serum ($38 suggested retail) – Let lashes and brows live up to their fullest potential. Turn lash envy into lashes that look fuller, look thicker and have more volume. Turn problem brows into the healthy, natural looking brows you want. In fact, a consumer study showed that 7 out of 10  women said lashes appeared fuller. All it takes is just seconds a night – and in just 30 days you’ll see the results that women are already talking about!

This is the Mary Kay botanical line sold overseas.

Hold onto your hats, ladies! Mary Kay Cosmetics is making another huge change to its product line. We’ve talked here about frequent product changes (see here, here, here, and here). These changes are not for the benefit of the consultants, nor are they for the benefit of the customers. They are for the benefit of Mary Kay Inc., which makes tons of money each time a product is changed.

Botanical Skin Care Replaces Classic Basic

First up, botanical skin care is in, classic basic skin care line is out. Formulas 1 and 2 of Mary Kay’s Classic Basic Skin Care will go away at the end of 2012. Formula 3 of Classic Basic Skin Care will stay. The company is considering offering Formulas 1 and 2 for sale once a year, starting in 2013.

Written by PinkPunch

When I first decided to chronicle Mary Kay’s constant massive product changes, I dove right into my Look Books. The problem was that once I started looking, I didn’t even know where the heck to begin! The confusion of product packaging changes, brand new products, Limited Edition products, free gift with purchase, hostess gifts and discontinued products… my head was just spinning!

This research could have gone into so many directions but I’ve decided to stick to product packaging changes(products that already existed that changed including the BIG black and pink package change). These packaging changes are such a huge money maker for Mary Kay Cosmetics because it forces every consultant to buy larger amounts of products in order to stay up to date (current) with the company that they are “trying” to become successful in. This always leaves many consultants with outdated items (that they either won’t sell or will have to sell at substantial discounts) and it keeps the buying/ordering on a constant.

Written by PinkPunch

Check out the changes Mary Kay Cosmetics has made to Satin Hands through the years!

Written by PinkPunch

Here are Mary Kay's formula and packaging changes to the Miracle Set from Winter 2003 through June 2009.

Written by PinkPunch

Question: Does MK constantly change product packaging, colors and formulas etc… to:

1. stay on the cutting edge and look up-to-date
2. or because they know you'll be stuck with the old and forced to buy the new, which keeps ordering stats higher???

You decide!

I was in MK for 4 years so here's the many changes just within this short time.