Can you believe it’s almost time for the holiday season? I know it’s early November, but I wanted to share these holiday bundles with you early because they’ll likely sell out. And, if you’re like me, I do my shopping mostly in November and try to avoid malls at all costs in December. Many of the gifts are under $50, and you can split up the sets for teacher or co-worker gifts. The smaller sized products are also a great way to sample things for yourself.
[Not sure what Beautycounter is or why I’m into it? Read this post].
So without further ado, here are some of the things I’m eyeing:
1. The Jellies, $39. Raspberry, Butterscotch, Orange Cream, Peppermint, and Sorbet – all sweetened with stevia and in universally flattering hints of color.
2. Glow & Go Mini Oils, $34. Travel or trial sizes of the brightening, plumping, and balancing oils. I got these last year and loved being able to sample all three.
3. Counterman Carry-On, $45. This set includes the Purifying Shampoo, Energizing Body Wash, Daily Exfoliating Cleanser, & Oil-Free Face Lotion. Men are hard to shop for. This is a no-brainer.
4. Starlight Eyeshadow
5. Bright Eyes Treatment Set, $89. Also known as the postpartum survival kit. This set includes my favorite Countertime Ultra Renewal Eye Cream and 6 sets of Eye Revive Cooling Masks that soothe puffiness and awaken eyes.
6. Hand Cream Trio, $34. Fresh Petal, Mandarin Violet, and Soft Neroli scents and perfect to split up as little holiday thank you gifts.
7. Counter+ Skin Care Favorites, $89. If I could recommend one thing from the holiday collection, it would be this. These products (along with Countertime) are the stars of Beautycounter, as they really make a difference in skin’s appearance. Set includes Lotus Glow Cleansing Stick (this is the cleansing balm in stick form), Overnight Resurfacing Peel, Charcoal Facial Mask, and the No. 1 Brightening Facial Oil.
Shop the entire holiday collection here.
Want to hear about special offers and the details of the Black Friday sale? Sign up for the Beautycounter newsletter here.
Lastly, if you plan to order anything in the month of November, you can get the Overnight Resurfacing Peel ($63) for free when you join the Band of Beauty loyalty program (kinda like Amazon Prime).
Jane
November 6, 2019 at 11:04 pmIt’s “without further ado” and not “adieu” — “adieu” is French for good-bye. Mid-level marketing is so, so, so beneath someone with your education.
Laura
November 7, 2019 at 3:07 amMy writer mom would be embarrassed, as she has taught me the difference!
BC is not a multi level marketing company – they use a direct sales model but customers can shop directly on the website or at brick and mortar stores; and consultants are not required to purchase any products whatsoever or recruit others. Someone with my education believes in B Corporations and spreading awareness about safer ingredients. BC is committed to advocacy, giving back, and sustainability – values central to my Davidson education. Staying home with my girls is what makes the most sense for me right now and there’s no shame in a fun side hustle!
Kelly
November 13, 2019 at 2:39 pmMulti level marketing (MLM) does not mean that you cannot purchase products online directly on a company website, nor does it mean that the “consultant” is required to buy product or recruit. MLM simply means that if you do recruit consultants, these recruits are structured under you (and their recruits under them then under you, and so on and so on, creating a “downline” structure of “multiple levels”) and you receive a % of the sales of all the consultants in your “downline”.
BeautyCounter is indeed an MLM. If someone has told you otherwise, they are either ill-informed or possibly trying to mislead you. I think you would enjoy the podcast “The Dream” and also the documentary “Betting on Zero”. Both of these are extremely informing on what the downsides of MLMs can be, and how and when an MLM shifts into a pure pyramid scheme – not saying that BC has these qualities, but you will be better informed on what kind of red flags to watch out for when looking at any MLM, and you will better understand what makes many people wary of MLMs.
Enjoy reading your blog and know that you hold your values in high regard. I do not think for a minute that you are predatory or anything of the like. I think you are doing exactly what many many many women who want to stay home with their families are doing. I would be very interested in your thoughts on some of the very predatory MLMs after viewing BoZ or listening to The Dream, and also interested in how BC MLM is different from some of these other MLMs. I think your readers and your BC customers would also find it interesting!
Kelly
November 13, 2019 at 4:52 pmhttps://www.finance-guy.net/streetonomic/money-beautycounter-review
This is a pretty good write-up of the BC MLM plan, using the company compensation structure data and their annual earnings sheet (from 2017). While it’s not a direct comparison of BC to other MLMs, it is a detailed review of the structure which qualifies BC as an MLM, as also a fairly informative inquiry into BC.
Anne
November 7, 2019 at 8:28 amYou know what’s predatory towards women? Comments like this.
Vanessa
November 7, 2019 at 11:10 amMid level marketing has it’s issues for sure, but this comment is 100% mean spirited. Also, to imply that a high level of education elevates their place in society over everyday folks is just generally a gross thing to do. Hope your day (life?) gets better!
Jane
November 7, 2019 at 5:31 pmWhat’s mean is recruiting women to lose their money. And “hope your day (life) gets better” is the kind of passive aggressive comment that belies your condemnation of my alleged meanness.
Kelly
November 13, 2019 at 12:58 pmMulti level marketing (MLM) does not mean that you cannot purchase products online directly on a company website, nor does it mean that the “consultant” is required to buy product or recruit. MLM simply means that if you do recruit consultants, these recruits are structured under you (and their recruits under them then under you, and so on and so on, creating a “downline” structure of “multiple levels”) and you receive a % of the sales of all the consultants in your “downline”.
BeautyCounter is indeed an MLM.
Laura
November 13, 2019 at 2:47 pmYes, consultants do earn a small percentage (5-9%) from those under them if they choose to recruit others, but not all of the company’s sales are structured this way (which is why the whole company is not considered a traditional MLM.) Regardless of how you want to label the model, it’s no different from bonuses or profit sharing at a large corporation – if your team performs well because of your leadership or guidance, you are rewarded as well. There’s nothing wrong with that. What’s wrong is when some unachievable reward is promised and you are asked to turn around and trick others into thinking they can get said unachievable reward. Rather than judging BC based on their sales model, I’d encourage you to take a look at the Social Mission Report (found at the bottom of this page: https://www.beautycounter.com/our-mission) and use that information to determine if the company is respectable and honest.
Kelly
November 14, 2019 at 8:46 pmI didn’t say that the compensation structure was “wrong” or that BC was in any way not respectable or honest. I just said that the publicly documented compensation structure of BC qualifies it as an MLM, according to the defintion of an MLM. So to claim it is not an MLM is not accurate. I didn’t even say there was anything necessarily wrong with an MLM, just that some MLMs are known for shady practices, and people are wary of that. You can counter that by reporting that BC does not use those shady practices, but countering by saying that BC is not an MLM is, again, inaccurate.
Kelly
November 14, 2019 at 8:50 pmI think it is somewhat of an uphill battle these days when selling for an MLM, due to the very negative press and shady practices of some very high profile MLMs like Herbalife, Amway, Lularoe, and some others. Do all MLMs operate this way? I think definitely not, but people are very wary.
Grace
November 14, 2019 at 10:14 pmFellow BC consultant here. I tried my best to bite my tongue and see if Laura would respond, but I can’t have that random review be the last of this discussion.
So, while there’s a good chance that this goes unread, out of principle, I have to weigh in.
To start, yes, I am biased. There’s no way around it. And the definition of a MLM is really fuzzy, so I’m not here to debate whether or not BC is ’technically’ a MLM.
Instead, let me simply point out a few problems with the “finance guy” article
Rationale for joining – Folks don’t become BC consultants “to get rich”. Most (if not all…everyone that I’ve ever encountered at least) choose BC due to the flexibility and the mission (or b/c of the discount!). Completely agree that if you’re joining BC to replace a “full time income” (whatever that means), then you could be in trouble.
Margins / Downline – His explanation/ breakdown was very confusing, and if I’m reading it correctly, quite misleading. He mentions how “all the commissions are included in the price charged by BC to consultants”. There are no charges to consultants. He says “if you are a new consultant, then 22.75% of what you pay to BC goes to your upline as commission.” False. Again, if you’re a new consultant, you’re not paying anything to BC. Your “up line” does not take away from your commission. Instead, they eat into the profit margin from the parent company. For example, If I’m a consultant with someone above me, I make 25% of the sale and then he/she makes an incremental 5% of the price of the product (after my commission)
Cost of production – Yes, there’s margin baked into the price of product, but instead of it going towards traditional operating expenses like corporate functions (e.g., SG&A, marketing, operations, etc.) or real estate (e.g., brick and mortar), it goes to the consultants. Kind of nice, right?
Consultant earnings – Yup, close to half of folks that register as consultants do it for the discount (25% off). In other words, they already believe in the products and are regular users. They pay the $98 (or if they’re already loyalty member at cost of $29/yr, they pay an incremental $69), and if you buy $400 or more in product in a year, you’re saving more money than if you didn’t join. This certainly skews the average earnings the finance guy posted. In fact, if you believe that the inactive folks are there for the discount, then you can basically double his math ($2,600 / year spread evenly across all BC consultants).
Income vs. Profit – Beyond the $98 fee, there’s really no incremental costs. In most cases, after a month or two, consultants make the joining fee back. From then on, unless they want to try products for themselves, there are no other ‘sales costs’. Majority of active consultants (including myself) are making modest sums … a couple hundred bucks… on a monthly basis
To sum it up, unlike many MLMs referenced (and dissected) by the Finance Guy, consultants make $$. Not FU money, but what I’d call ‘fun money’. And better yet, we’re spreading awareness about a really important topic, and most are having fun while doing it!