Mary Kay Review Can This MLM Make You Money?

Hello and a very warm welcome to my Mary Kay Review.

This is an iconic lady who had a vision for women working in the corporate world when it was frowned upon in the 1960s.

She started this make-up empire using the multilevel marketing business model. (MLM)

To join Mary Kay will cost you a minimum of $30 at the time of writing this review for a starter kit.

This is a special offer for the tough economic situation we all find ourselves in. The normal cost for a package starts at $130. 

One thing Mary Kay has is longevity it has been around since 1963 and makes an average of 3 Billion Dollars a year.

We are going to discover what products Mary Kay sells, How the company works, where it is based, what the incentives are, the compensation plan and the pro and cons.

Is this skincare and cosmetics company going to be your ideal online business or will you be left in debt wishing you had never started?

Disclaimer: 

I am not a member or an affiliate of Mary Kay. This review has been researched with information and/or testimonials that are available online in the public domain.

Any recommendations and/or conclusions are strictly opinions and they are entirely my own.

This post may contain affiliate links. This means if you click a link and make a purchase I will receive a commission.

The price you pay will not be affected.

I’m certain that you have heard of Mary Kay, haven’t you?

Mary Kay Review-Logo

Mary Kay Review Overview

Company Name: Mary Kay 

Type Of Business: Cosmetics and Skin Care MLM

Founder: Mary Kay Ash

Website: https://www.marykay.com

Cost To Join: $30 for a starter kit special offer normally around $130. + Inventory packages that start at $600 and go up to the Pearl package which is a staggering $4,800!

Is It Recommended? Not for everyone.

Tons of people love makeup and it is bought every day by millions of the population, you can tell this from the annual figures of Mary Kay alone in the billions of dollars.

However, selling it using the direct marketing method is not as simple as you are lead to believe.

You are given a website but how are you going to get eyes on it?

Some training is provided but if you don’t have the drive, positivity and determination then you will not succeed.

Definitely not for complete beginners.

A Simpler Business Model.

Mary Kay Review-Mary Kay Ash

About Mary Kay Ash The Founder

This is a lady who had an abundance of forward-thinking and used it back in 1963 to start her own business.

She did this because she was a top salesperson with world gifts and yet male employees that she had trained got promoted and she didn’t.

Aged 45 Mary had a $5,000 investment and with the help of her son  Richard Rogers, they started a store in Dallas, Texas. The USA and this is where their headquarters are.

In the first year, they sold 1 million dollars worth of products. 

As with many MLMs from that era, business was conducted by “home parties” Today it is mostly sold through a website.

Mary Kay Ash died in 2001 but her company still lives on through her son Richard who still runs it.

As a woman back in the 60s she was treated poorly by men in business but boy did she really show them what women can do!

Not only did she run this Billion dollar company but she also wrote 3 books.

The 1st was her autobiography, called Mary Kay, The 2nd one is Mary Kay on People Management, and it was based on her experiences in business philosophy. 3rd  You Can Have it All.

Wow! What a lady 🙂 I love her quote:

“People sometimes feel insignificant and doubt they can make a difference in the world. Well, believe me, one person can.” – Mary Kay Ash

What Products Does Mary Kay Sell?

  • Skin Care
  • Makeup
  • Body & Sun
  • Fragrance
  • Men’s
  • Gifts
Mary Kay review-Product Range

Some of the Mary Kay Bestsellers include:

Mary Kay Ultimate Mascara costing $16,00

Mary Kay Oil-free Eye Makeup Remover is $18.00

Mary Kay Clinical Solutions Retinol 0.5 is priced at $120,00

Time-wise Repair Volu-Firm Set Costs $215.00

How Much Does It Cost To Join Mary Kay?

You can buy Mary Kay products without making your own online business their prices are competitive with other large makeup companies.

Running Mary Kay as a business means you will be involved in an MLM you will be called an “Independent Beauty Consultant”.

The normal price of the starter kit is $130 and it contains $450 worth of products as well as business supplies also includes access to the website for 1 year.

you can see what is included.

The company also has something called Inventory packages that start at $600 and go up to the Pearl package which costs $4,800!

Your job involves getting others to join and selling the products.

Don’t want to recruit? Try this instead.

Mary Kay Review-Scientist

Are Mary Kay Products Tested?

Yes on people not on animals!

The products from Mary Kay go through independent clinical studies and the skincare products are tested by a team of independent board-certified dermatologists.

They also have a team of Ph.D.-level biochemists, toxicologists, microbiologists, and pharmacologists who work either in the Dallas or Hangzhou, China state of the art facilities.

The company spends millions of dollars each year on product testing, research, performance, and safety.

You cannot say that about many MLM companies!

Related post: Perfectly Posh

How Do You Get Paid (Mary Kay Compensation Plan)

Inside the compensation plan there are many levels that you can aspire to by recruiting new members:

  • Consultant
  • Star Consultant
  • Red Jacket beauty Consultant
  • Star Team Leader
  • Future Director
  • Independent Sales Director
  • Senior Director
  • Future Executive Director
  • There are even more levels which are explained In this post

The basis of the compensation plan is the more people that you recruit the more you will get paid and you can achieve tons of bonuses.

Not only is recruiting important but you also need to maintain an ordering rate of products called personal volume (PV) which is set at $225 every 3 months.

This can be a scary prospect when you are new and don’t have any customer base. More on this in the cons section!

There are hundreds of MLMs around and a great many of them share their yearly figures. Mary Kay isn’t one.

However, active members get to see this page which makes for interesting reading on how much effort is required to move up in the ranks.

Mary Kay Review-Pros and Cons

Related Post: Worst MLM Companies

What I Like About Mary Kay?

  • Earn up to 50% in commissions for the items you sell. That is huge!
  • The Mary Kay brand has been around since 1963, nearly 60 years.
  • You can earn the right to drive a leased car, including the iconic pink Cadillac
  • The ability to win trips, holidays, cash, jewellery and top of the range phones, computers etc.
  • Lots of training tools and a well-established brand website
  • 90 % buy-back package on unused products

What I don’t Like About Mary Kay?

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

  • The products change their ingredients frequently and then you are left with lots of items that nobody wishes to buy.
  • In order to make any serious money you have to recruit, just selling the products just won’t cut it!
  • Lots of pressure from your upline to not only maintain the PV of $225 every three months but for you to also order the inventory packages that begin at $600
  • You can get Mary Kay products on Amazon.
  • Career Car The pink caddy has rules to keep it: 

You have to of reached one of the top levels in the company.

Meaning they won’t give you the keys to a new Caddy until you’ve made at least $75,000-$100,000 in sales volume in a six-month period.

And the car is only leased to you.

For you to keep the car you have to maintain the volume otherwise you have to pay the instalments out of your own pocket.

Don’t maintain the PV for a few months in a row and you lose the car altogether!

Mary Kay Review- Scam or Pyramid Scheme

Is Mary Kay A Scam Or A Pyramid Scheme?

Mary Kay is neither a scam nor a pyramid scheme if it was it would not have survived since 1963 and still be making Billions of Dollars a year.

That does not mean it will work for you!

Even the figures that are available from Mary Kay show that it may have 2.4 Million distributors selling across America, Russia, Mexico, and China.

But only 0.2 % have made it to receive the “Career Car”

Statistics show that 99% of network marketers don’t make any money when their expenses are taken into consideration.

Looking at a Mary Kay Earnings report from 2019 is enough to put off most people!

Only 6% of the active IBCs made $100 in a year.

The company has been in business for over 50 years so some people must make money from returning customers.

Do I Recommend Mary Kay To My Readers?

Stating the facts as they are I personally would not join MK.

I have a sales background that I was very good at but this is not my idea of an even playing field.

You have to have a pushy mindset and don’t take no for an answer to make this work and not many can do it and feel good about themselves.

There is no way I would recommend an MLM to anyone who has no sales and recruiting experience.

Mary Kay Complaints include items not received, being lied to by the upline and burning skin reactions.

Not all products are suitable for everyone.

This is one of the positive reviews.

If you are thinking about joining Mary Kay you can get some brilliant advice from this forum of previous MK Beauty consultants.

Is There An Alternative?

As I have stated above this company has been around for over 55 years so it clearly does work for the 2% out of the hundreds of thousands that apply.

On YouTube, there are videos of ex-members of MLMs with tons of inventory stashed in their houses that they could not sell!

Here is one about Mary Kay:

There are ways to make money online without recruiting, You can make a passive income using a business model called Affiliate Marketing.

There is coaching, training, website building, blog writing and much more available from my number 1 recommendation.

Thanks for staying to the end. If you have a question leave it in the comments and I will get back to you.

Was this valuable then share it using the social media buttons.

Lisa. Founder and CEO of mistakesbloggersmake.com.

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6 thoughts on “Mary Kay Review Can This MLM Make You Money?”

  1. Hi Lisa that is pretty impressive that Mary Kay has been in business for 55 years, but rather depressing that 2% of their workforce achieve significant results. I think it takes a real people person with sales skills to sell the dream of MLM, and in Mary Kay’s case, the dream is in the beauty industry which is saturated with amazing products and new ones coming every day, which would make it a difficult industry for a new person to achieve their goals. I agree that if you are not interested in bugging your friends or family about buying your latest product, then look to affiliate marketing where people come to you for advice – simples 

    Reply
    • MLMs are not a very easy way to make money with.

      Every business takes a lot of work but affiliate marketing has a far better success rate than any multi-level marketing company.

      Have a great week James.

      Reply
  2. Mary Kay has been around for as long as I can remember, which would make one believe that it is a legitimate company. But the multi level marketing (MLM) business model that they use is outdated and there are better alternatives if one wants to sell beauty products. 

    I worked for a MLM company and know that it is almost impossible to make money with them if one is not continuously recruiting new team members and building a downline. Mary Kay is the same and I would not recommend joining them to make money online. 

    Reply
    • Mary Kay has been around for all of my life and most women like make-up, But, trying to earn money through MLM is where the problem lies.

      I worked in an MLM and it is very hard to recruit.

      I would never try this way of making money online again.

      Have a great week.

      Lisa.

      Reply
  3. First of all, thank you very much for this detailed Mary Kay review. But honestly I came to know about this Mary Kay MLM today. I do not recommend any MLM to anyone. Because an MLM can be successful for very small amounts. I actually agree with you. Affiliate marketing is the easiest way to make money instead of MLM. Keep posting reviews like this.

    Reply
    • Thank you for your input on this review.

      Anyway of working online takes actual work but, an MLM is one of the most difficult to do.

      Lisa 🙂

      Reply

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