Hey y’all-Happy Thanksgivng week! I’m looking forward to several days off at the end of this week. Hope y’all get some time to relax as well. If you’ve been reading my blog or following me on Instagram for a bit, then you know that I’m a Beautycounter consultant and extremely passionate about their mission to get safer products in the hands of everyone. I have loved every minute, and my only regret is not becoming a Beautycounter consultant sooner! However, there are a lot of negative stereotypes about directs sales/MLM companies. My biggest struggle as a consultant has been feeling like people lump Beautycounter with everything negative about MLMs, and therefore tune me out when I share on social media. So today I want to take an opportunity to share how Beautycounter differs from other MLMs.
Please note that the point of this post isn’t to bash other MLMs. I’m simply going to share a few things that stick out to me about Beautycounter. Also, I’m not completely familiar with all the ins and outs of all direct sales companies. So when I share positive aspects of Beautycounter, I don’t want to imply that we are the only MLM out there with such qualities. Again, these are simply things that stand out to me based on my positive experience with Beautycounter.
With that being said, if you’ve been skeptical wondering whether Beautycounter differs from other MLMs, then keep reading! Here are some things that come to mind:
Education and Advocacy Is at the Root of Beautycounter
Sure, Beautycounter sells skincare, makeup, and bath & body products. But they are honestly about so much more than that. Their missions is to get safer products in the hands of everyone. Thus, Beautycounter aims to revolutionize the personal care industry not only by formulating products without harmuful ingredients, but educating people about the importance of ingredient safety. Beautycounter also lobbies lawmakers to pass legislation that will protect consumers from harmful ingredients in the personal care products they use everyday. In fact, Beautycounter’s founder/CEO is testifying before Congress on December 4, 2019 to advocate for the FDA to pass such regulations.
Consultants Are Genuinely Passionate
What stuck out to me before I became a Beautycounter consultant is that the consultants I followed weren’t just pushing products to their followers. I could tell they were genuinely passionate about the clean beauty movement. Now that I’ve been a consultant for over seven months, I have experienced this firsthand. I would be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy making a little extra money. However, when I was doing an online Facebook event last night, I realized that I naturally enjoyed educating others about Beautycounter’s mission and clean beauty just as much as I enjoyed sharing our selection of products. Beautycounter consultants want their audience to know better so they can do better.
Beautycounter Has Physical Storefronts
Did you know that you can shop at an actual Beautycounter store in Denver or New York City, and have a similar beauty product shopping experience to visiting an Ulta or Sephora? Beautycounter also has seasonal pop-up physical stores in places like Nantucket during the summer and Boston during the holidays. Although our physical locations are very limited, I don’t think I know of any other MLM that offers customers and in-store shopping experience.
You Don’t Need a Consultant
Beautycounter is an MLM that uses a network of consultants to sell their products. However, you can buy Beautycounter directly from the website without a consultant. This gives Beautycounter a different feel from other MLMs because no one feels obligated to interact with a consultant. While it’s nice for customers to have the freedom to shop with or without a consultant, the products cost the same regardless of how you shop. Also, having a consultant offers an extra notch of customer service. Your consultant can help you pick out the products that will best fit your needs within your budget. Finally, Beautycounter founder and CEO, Gregg Renfrew, feels that Beautycounter’s mission of better beauty is best shared person-to-person. This is why she chose direct sales as part of Beautycounter’s business model.
Consultants Don’t Have to Make Minimum Monthly Purchases
I love that Beautycounter consultants earn full commission on all sales they make every month, regardless of whether they make any personal purchases. I know firsthand this is not the case with all MLMs. Before joining Beautycounter I was a consultant for a different MLM. In order to earn the full commission from our preferred customers every month, we had to either purchase a certain amount of personal product, or have consultant signed up under us who were buying product for themselves. I never had any consultants sign up under me. Therefore I sometimes bought product I didn’t need to replenish that particular month so I wouldn’t miss out on commission.
The only product volume requirement Beautycounter consultants have is spread out over six months. It includes both your personal purchase and any customer purchase. And it’s very doable with even a small customer base, especially if you plan on using lots of Beautycounter products yourself!
You Don’t Have to Have a Team to Make Money
If you have Beautycounter consultants join under you, then you will earn additional commission from their sales. However, you can still make decent money simply by building a customer base. Therefore, there’s not the pressure to DM strangers or people you barely know asking them to “join your team.” When I asked my Instagram followers what they wished direct sales consultants wouldn’t do, this was the biggest complaint!
Beautycounter Is a Certified B3 Corporation
Last but definitely not least, Beautycounter is a certified B3 Corporation. This means they place equal emphasis on people, planet, and profit. In other words, Beautycounter won’t do anything to increase their bottom line if it would harm people or the planet. They are committed to reducing their carbon footprint through switching to more sustainable packaging. The Countertime skincare line is in glass packaging. Beautycounter repackaged their cleansing balm in a glass container this summer as well.
Also, Beautycounter possesses a commitment to ethical sourcing of ingredients. Mica is what makes makeup shimmer. Sadly, child labor is a common practice in mica mining. Beautycounter’s director of sustainability has traveled to the mines where mica in our product is sourced to audit their business practices. Beautycounter isn’t satisfied with a certificate claiming ethical mica mining practices, because these are often false!
[line]
Final Thoughts
I hope that you enjoyed this post and that it shed some light on misconceptions you might have about Beautycounter as an MLM. If you don’t want to buy Beautycounter because it’s not in your budget or you’re not running low on your current skincare and makeup, that’s understandable. (However, I do hope you consider switching to a cleaner beauty brand next time you need to replenish your products). But if you don’t want to buy Beautycounter simply because you’re opposed to supporting MLMs, I hope this post gave you a different perspective. Although I can’t change your mind about MLMs, I hope this post encouraged you to be more open-minded and realize that not all MLMs are the same. If you have any questions about any of this, you can reach out to me via email.
If you enjoyed this post, you can follow me on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter. You can also go to my homepage and subscribe to my blog. Also, if you know someone who would enjoy this blog post, please share with them!
-xoxo Liz
