Tricked Into Going to a Mary Kay Meeting
It’s been the same old song for the last 60+ years that Mary Kay has been in existence: Get women to attend a party where you’ll push skincare and cosmetics on them.
When the company was started in 1963, this was easier. Women had more time, fewer social opportunities, and were looking for excuses to get out of the house. The door-to-door sales method was much more acceptable. And given a lack of choices when it came to cosmetics and skin care, Mary Kay was seen as a leader with great products.
But in this day an age, you can get much better products, often at a lower cost. You can get them online, thereby avoiding harassment about holding a party or signing up to be a consultant. So…. consultants have to use fancy footwork to get women to attend these parties.
Oh sure, there is occasionally a woman who is super excited about having some friends over to try some products. But most times, it’s more a matter of twisting someone’s arm, begging them to invite people, crossing your fingers that they show up. And often, it all feels like trickery.
You’ve heard this story before:
It’s bad enough when they trick you into a “makeover” that’s really a Mary Kay party where you put on your own makeup. But when they trick you into a coming to a recruiting event, calling that a makeover, it’s even worse.
I love it when women talk about these shady tactics publicly. Hopefully fewer women will waste their time.
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When asked to host an MLM party, I wish everyone would reply, “Hey, this is your business. It would be most appropriate for you to host your business events at your house. Let me know the time and I will consider attending.”
I was told once we should tell our prospective guests that we would pay them for their time…in free products…That just got people excited about being paid for their time and then let down in learning it was in product that they wouldn’t know if they liked. Always felt like I was lying and manipulating.
It’s a reasonably common post on the r/anti-MLM sub-reddit that a female poster will ask “I won a make-over through a wedding vendor event/David Bridals/wedding dress shop, is it a scam?”
Yup, it’s generally a Mary Kay fauxpotunity.
As someone who regularly got professional facials before MK, I always felt silly and guilty calling it a facial. And especially when I was told to host them at a local coffee shop or Panera. Near the end of my time as an IBC I started using “instructional facial and skincare class” to try and soften the blow but it still felt so cringe. *face palm*