I Had a Mary Kay Experience

I Had a Mary Kay Experience

A few days ago I get this message from a friend Elisa and she asked if I wouldn't mind being a model for this Mary Kay thing she's doing.

 I was like, "I get to play around with free makeup? Uh yeah, I'm in." 

She says, "Cool, bring a friend!" 

To which I immediately thought of Crystal.

So the event basically seemed more like a training for the consultants than anything. I think it was more of a deal to help them get confident and comfortable talking to us about products and generally getting into the grove of things. There were a handful of ladies who had been selling for 10+ years and some that were fresh off the boat so it was pretty interesting to watch.

I was too scared to take pictures because it didn't feel appropriate, so here's basically what ha-happened.

Each guest had a little tray with a mirror attached in front of them and in the tray there were wells to apply product in. Elisa (our consultant) would ask us our skin types and stuff like that to properly identify what skin care products we needed.

It was all very start to finish- with the makeup remover and a mini facial, which lead into a makeup look that supposedly was to look good on everyone.

So the look was called "Evening Sparkle" and was allegedly a night time party look.

You know me, I'm nothing if not good for a review. So I made notes in the catalog they gave me and here's basically the stuff that either really sucked or was amazing:

What completely sucked aka I would never buy this in a million years:

The Mineral Eye Colors- ($7, each) Holy crap. I have never in a million years looked so much like a disco ball.

We took pictures in the car for reference, but even these don't give it justice. 

The color payoff is pretty bad, like horrible bad. As you can see in the pictures there's pretty much no definition from color to color, and really the only thing that paid off was the glitter. If you like glitter, I mean, go for it- but it took forever to get it off and it kind of just ended up getting all over my face. I did not like this at all.

I think what bummed me out about this one is that I've tried OTHER Mary Kay shadows that were awesome and the colors were really great- WITH NO GLITTER. So what I think happened was they used all of the "shimmering" shadows and not the cream or mattes. Ehhhh, someone needs to talk to the Mary Kay company and tell them that doing a whole model look around glitter is how a room full of ladies end up looking like hookers.

What we ended up loving aka I bought it the minute we left:

The Oil Mattifier- ($15) This was such a nice primer. I normally really hate the silky, silicone, clear gel looking stuff but this was actually quite nice. The consistency was great and when I went to wipe off my makeup that night it actually still clung on for a second. I had to wipe it off twice. I could see this being a really great option for brides or girls going to prom, or just if you have a long day and need your makeup to last.

The Time Wise Matte-wear Liquid Foundation-  ($20)You would not believe how much this surprised me. I'm normally on the boat of a dewy look, or something generally without the "matte" title. I'm like, look, I have dry skin, I'm not going to make it worse. HOWEVER, this looked really amazing on every single lady there- and there were 20 of us with all different skin types and colors. 

For reference, Crystal and I are both wearing Ivory 6, but she has oily skin and I have dry skin. Same color, same method of application, and they both look amazing. The coverage was, I would say, maybe medium to full and I doubled up and used it as concealer for my problem areas. It just looks so damn natural, and it's very easy to work with and apply. My favorite part about it? I don't need a powder to set it- it's done. So basically with a liquid foundation, I eliminated the concealer and powder step. 

Both Crystal and I kinda went in there like, "If they try to sell us something just be polite, say no, and get out of there" and on the way out we said, "I kind of hate how much I love this foundation".

Although honestly, with only a $20 price tag, I'm thinking it's actually going to be a good purchase for me. It's basically $5 more than the foundation I'm using from the drugstore and about a million times better. 

Side notes: The blush, the mascara, lipstick, and skin care stuff was actually pretty nice too... buuuuut I've also used better. Plus, I'm that guy that when it comes to skin care my motto is, "Don't go fixin' what ain't broke". 

So of course once we were all made up and looking like flawless skinned disco balls, they gave us a soft pitch about how to sell Mary Kay. To be honest, I am such a Debbie Downer when it comes to stuff like this. I think they're all a bit pyramid-schemed and I just hate the idea of a bunch of nice ladies selling stuff to make kind of a lousy commission and letting the CEO's of the company grow into fat cats.  

However, I guess with Mary Kay, they at least offer to buy back whatever you bought at 90% so it's not a total loss, and somehow if you're a good seller, they offer you a company car that they pay for. In the grand scheme of things, Mary Kay isn't a bad way to go- but I guess when you're a cosmetologist it's kind of pointless. I can buy my products with my discount and then get paid to put it on people. Plus I don't owe anyone anything when the day is done. 

So I guess long story short- I will absolutely try out Mary Kay products because I do think a large part of them are very nice, and I like Elisa- but I'm definitely not going to be selling it anytime soon. 

To be fair though, my skin has never looked better.

-SamanthaK