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Thursday, November 8, 2012

Mary Kay Makeup: I'm Not A Fan

I went to a Mary Kay party tonight. It was the first one I've been to since I was a really little kid and my mom had them. I am just not a big fan of Mary Kay. I believe their makeup is overpriced. They try WAY too hard to make you buy things. When they're not trying to sell you a skincare kit for $135, they're trying to convince you to become one of them.

They'll talk you into thinking that selling Mary Kay will make you beautiful and popular. They boast that they can give you self-esteem, a new outlook on life, and a pink Cadillac. It's for bored housewives who have nothing better to do. They sucked my mom into it. She suffers from depression and has generally low self-esteem. They made her think selling Mary Kay would make her more confident and empowered. She spent a ton of money buying the starter kit or whatever you want to call it, and then she ended up not selling anything. Why? For one, my mom is a bit shy as it is, and she's not gonna push unwilling people to buy makeup they don't want. Also, we live in rural WV. The majority of people you run into look like they haven't even brushed their hair that morning, let alone went through their $135 skin care regimen.

Also, at the Mary Kay party they handed out a form. If you fill out the form entirely, you get a prize or something. One of the questions on the form was "What type of payment method will you be using today?" and you could check "cash" "credit" etc. The last option on the list was something like "Husband Plan" and she explained that you could use a combination of cash and credit so your husband/spouse didn't have to know how much you spent. That made me a little sick to my stomach. It reminded me of when I was a kid, I wanted a laptop really bad. I'm not even sure why I wanted my own laptop that badly. But finally I talked my mom into taking me to the store to look at them, and of course, we left the store with one that was like $700. I already felt incredibly guilty at that point, and she told me not to tell my dad about it yet. She said she would tell him. I knew she wasn't going to that day, and I felt like I had done something horrible. Dad was going to be so angry at us and it was all my fault because I had to have that laptop so bad. Of course he would notice a brand new laptop lying around. He found out a day or 2 later, and was beyond angry, just like I thought. I still feel guilty right now, as I'm writing this. What I'm getting at is that it's not right to hide financial decisions from your spouse. If you don't have the income to buy things, don't do it. Any company that encourages keeping secrets from your own husband/boyfriend is not a company I'd want to buy from, and especially not somewhere I'd like to work.

To me, Mary Kay seems very materialistic. I mean, I guess that makes sense because it's a makeup company and all, but they really try to drill it into your head that buying and selling Mary Kay can improve you. It's all about more, more, more. If you throw a party, you get a bracelet. If you work your way up high enough, you drive a pink Cadillac. When I think of Mary Kay, I think of spoiled women wearing too much makeup promising you a pink car, too. I think of women whose entire lives revolve around themselves, justified by feminist reasoning.

Wow, when I started writing this I didn't intend for it to be a long, angry rant. I meant to say how I didn't think Mary Kay was right for many people, even though they'll do everything to convince you it's The Thing For You. I also didn't even get around to telling you that I don't even think their products are that great. I've disliked everything I've ever tried (and believe me, I've tried a lot of them). To me, a good makeup company hands out samples, not job applications. The right type of person can succeed in this business, but not everyone. My aunt and uncle actually divorced because my aunt was trying to be a Mary Kay consultant, along with a few other similar businesses, and she just kept losing money. For me, I'll stick to medical lab science. I am not the business-woman type, no matter what Mary Kay has to say about it.

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