Skincare has been a popular field for a long time – so the presence of skincare network marketing companies shouldn’t come as any surprise. These companies try to take advantage of all the current skincare trends, while also producing product types that have been popular for many decades.
The field is a powerful one. Estimates suggest that the global skincare market will be worth around $148 billion in 2020 and will continue to grow from there.
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Skincare makes sense for sales too. There is clearly demand and you’re promoting a consumable product. If customers are passionate about the items, they’ll order more time and time again. Skincare is often expensive too, which often allows you to earn more per sale.
In this post, we’re examining key details about the companies that operate in this field. Each section contains important information, including the products that are sold and how you earn money. These areas are a great first step for determining which of the companies (if any) will suit your needs.
If you do join one of these companies, my straightforward advice is to not fall into the typical direct selling pitfalls of hyping a product beyond what it actually accomplishes. Too many network marketers spam their Facebook feeds with unverified results or even more outlandish claims like curing certain skin conditions. Use the stuff yourself first, and be honest about the results.
Skincare is very closely related to cosmetics, so check out our cosmetics network marketing companies list too!
Skincare Network Marketing Companies
- Acti-Labs
- BeautyCounter
- Miessence
- NYR Organic
- Mary Kay
- Jeunesse Global
- Nerium
- Jordan Essentials
- NuCerity
- Nu Skin
- Rodan + Fields
- Avon
- Oriflame
- Kyäni
- LifeVantage
- Mannatech
- Qivana
- It Works
- USANA
- Amway
1. Acti-Labs
- Focus: Skincare and cosmetics
- Minimum Cost: $30 (to join, there is no starter kit)
Product Overview: Acti-Labs is one of many companies that focuses equally on skincare and on cosmetics. They also have a strong focus on marketing, including a French background and the use of science to create their products.
These angles are great for marketing. They make Acti-Labs appear high-quality and simply different than other companies. With all the skincare products out there, an edge like this can be beneficial.
The skincare products are relatively inexpensive for the field. For example, their various corrector creams cost $25, while the day and night cream products cost $28.50 each. In an industry where prices above $50 aren’t uncommon, anything under $30 feels very reasonable.
The product range extends beyond skincare and cosmetics. Acti-Labs also provides some items for health, including supplements, toothpaste, deodorant and even weight loss products. The selection and the low price of products mean that Acti-Labs might appeal to people who wouldn’t purchase from a traditional skincare company.
Commission Quick View: With Acti-Labs, you can earn 20% from sales. This increases up to 25% with bonuses but that’s as high as it goes. The rate is relatively low for the industry, although it’s not horrible. If you could sell the products regularly, 20% would be just fine.
You can also earn from the success of your team. This aspect follows a unilevel design. With a unilevel system, the people you recruit are placed under you in your downline. The people they recruit go under them and so on. This creates a pyramid-like structure with multiple levels. You typically earn percentages of the team’s sales based on their level (and your rank in the company).
Acti-Labs follows this style. But, unlike most companies, they provide the highest commissions for the lower levels. This means that if you have a very large and successful team, the income potential can be higher than normal. The reverse is true for a small team.
There may be other aspects to the plan too, such as bonuses or monthly sales requirements. Acti-Labs doesn’t provide those details.
Final Thoughts: Acti-Labs isn’t a horrible choice and you are making 20% commission on regular sales. Just be sure you check with a distributor or the company about ongoing costs.
2. BeautyCounter
- Focus: Natural products, including skincare
- Minimum Cost: $98 (for a starter kit that includes business tools, website access and a couple of products)
Product Overview: BeautyCounter has the same general product range as many other companies. This includes cosmetics, skincare, bath, body and family products. The most unusual aspect is their angle. They promote themselves as having ‘safer skincare’. To do so, they have a list of 1,500 ingredients that are excluded from all their products. There is an emphasis on transparency too.
This angle does make BeautyCounter feel somewhat unusual. The idea is useful for sales too. Many companies will avoid the same ingredients that BeautyCounter does (or, most of the ingredients). But, other companies don’t use the same marketing approaches.
The products themselves aren’t especially exciting. They include common items, like cleansers, night cream and day cream. But, the selection is larger than normal and there are some less common items too, including lip conditioner and facial masks. The pricing is also reasonable enough. Most of the items are under $100 and many are less than $50. This should allow you to sell to a wider audience.
While the items may not be unique, there is enough of a range to keep people interested – especially as there are other types of products to promote too.
Commission Quick View: BeautyCounter distributors can make sales online or in person, earning a 25% commission each time. There is also a sales bonus of up to 10% for hitting monthly sales targets.
25% isn’t amazingly high but there is still the potential to earn from sales. If you want more, you’d need to work on the team aspect.
This follows a unilevel plan and starts you off at 5% from your first level (anyone you directly recruit). The structure is actually relatively simple, with no need to worry about the structure of your team or ranks of team members. Instead, you just need to increase your own sales and the sales of your team overall.
Finding success is still challenging, of course. You need to build a large and effective team to do so. But, at least the style is more realistic than many other companies.
BeautyCounter has an activity requirement of 1,200 QV (Qualifying Volume) every six months. This is likely to be at least $1,200, although the company doesn’t specify. That sounds like a pretty high target but it’s easier to hit than monthly targets.
If you want to earn from your team, you also need to hit rank-based requirements. These are mostly 250 QV each month. But, for most ranks, you also need at least 250 volume for new clients (not repeat orders). That new client requirement means that you couldn’t just sell to the people you know. Instead, you would need to regularly find new people to promote to.
Final Thoughts: I’m not a fan of the new volume requirement but every other aspect of the BeautyCounter compensation plan is decent. The idea of clean skincare is also an advantage and could help with sales.
3. Miessence
- Focus: Organic beauty, skincare and health
- Minimum Cost: $50 (joining fee, you don’t receive any products)
Product Overview: Miessence doesn’t solely focus on skincare. But, the organic angle is relatively unusual, and they do have a decent range of skincare items to choose from. The general idea is that the products are much healthier and cleaner than conventional skincare products. This should theoretically make them better for your skin – although that effect hasn’t been proven.
The products from Miessence do look high-quality and the selection is decent enough. The biggest limitation is the price. Skincare products are all expensive, of course. But, as an example, After Shave Balm (3.4 fl. oz) costs $43.85 and Balancing Moisturizer (1.7 fl. oz) costs $75.95.
The selection seems to be missing some key areas of skincare too, although there are non-skincare products, like superfoods, cosmetics, home care and hair care. The combination of items might make Miessence a good choice if you have a wide audience.
Commission Quick View: Miessence manages to make its compensation plan surprisingly complicated, right from the beginning. Basically, you earn different compensation amounts in the first 30 days for each customer. The compensation rate is also different for the first order that customers make, versus reorders.
After the first 30 days, you’re getting 5% commission from initial orders (which is a horrible level) and 17% from reorders. Even 17% is low and most MLMs are higher.
The team component flows on from this directly and Miessence doesn’t explain it well. But, the 17% from above applies to orders from your recruits as well. Building a team gives you 11% from the next level (their recruits) and 6% from the level after that (depending on your rank).
The patterns remain the same as always. So, you need to develop a team and progress through various ranks to make money. You also need an autoship of 75 Personal Volume (this will be at least $75, possibly more) to be able to earn.
Final Thoughts: Miessence does have some good points and it might be appealing if you want more than just skincare. The team commissions are also decent, if you don’t mind the complexity. Still, the low commission from sales and the high prices of the products are significant limitations.
4. NYR Organic
- Focus: Organic skincare products
- Minimum Cost: $149 (for a starter kit with tools)
Product Overview: With NYR Organic, the emphasis is on high-quality and natural skincare products, ones that are also certified organic.
Well, most of them are organic anyway. The company mentions that organic isn’t always viable, due to the nature of the products and the ingredients that they contain. Even so, NYR Organic is very clear with their labeling, so customers know exactly what to expect. This emphasis would increase trust in the company.
They’re very effective with marketing too. The products use similar colors and labeling themes, making the items appear like luxury products. Some of the product lines are unusual, while others are more conventional. The prices are roughly what you’d expect for organic skincare. So, they’re certainly not cheap – but many people would be willing to pay the prices.
Commission Quick View: The biggest limitation of NYR Organic is that they use a reselling model. Distributors buy at a 25% discount and then sell at full price. Due to the price of the products and the size of the range, the best approach would be to get customers to tell you what they want before you place any orders.
It is also possible to make sales through a replicated website and the commission seems to be the same if you do so. However, the wholesale angle is clearly the focus and the main way that you’re meant to make money.
NYR Organic doesn’t offer much information about the team side of things, although they do use a unilevel system. This means that you’ll be earning from levels below you, based on who recruited who.
There are also some bonuses available, including ones for hitting sales goals. For the sales aspect, you need at least $400 of sales per month to get the first increase.
Final Thoughts: It’s easy to see how the products from NYR Organic would sell. Still, it would be important to get full details of the compensation plan before getting involved.
5. Mary Kay
- Focus: Beauty and skincare
- Minimum Cost: $100 (for a starter kit that includes various products)
Product Overview: Some of the companies on this list are fairly obscure but Mary Kay isn’t one of them. Mary Kay has a long history in this field. Many of the products are popular as well. Even taking bias into account, most of the product reviews are positive.
As for skincare, Mary Kay does have a decent selection, with 88 distinct products at the time of this review. These range in price considerably, depending on the type of product. Some of them aren’t horrible but they’re still at the high end of this industry. For example, the TimeWise 3-in-1 Cleanser costs $20, which seems reasonable enough, until you realize that you’re getting a 4.5 oz tube for that price.
Still, for the most part, Mary Kay is well-received. The marketing focuses on quality, so the higher prices shouldn’t be a deal breaker for the right audience. The trick is simply finding the right people to promote to.
Mary Kay is well-known with a good reputation, which should be a good thing. But, that’s not entirely the case. The challenge is competition. There are many Mary Kay distributors out there and countless places to buy the products. This makes sales much more difficult.
The same is true for recruiting. Most people who want to be Mary Kay distributors will have already joined. Finding recruits for this company is likely to be much more difficult than normal (and recruitment is no walk in the park at the best of times).
Commission Quick View: Mary Kay follows a purchase-first model of sales. Distributors buy the products themselves and then resell them. The discount can be around 50%, which suggests that you can earn a large amount of money.
But, your profit depends on the price that you can sell the products for. You may find that you need offer discounts in order to get sales – especially if competition is high. Purchase-first is also risky. It’s very easy to end up in debt. Many people have found that they buy products and then can’t resell them, meaning they’re stuck with excess stock.
The other aspect is building a team. There are some impressive rewards if you can get far enough in the company but most people don’t. Regardless, Mary Kay offers few details about the team compensation plan or exactly how you earn from your team.
The typical pattern involves progressing through ranks and increasing team performance along the way. As part of this, your team members need to make sales and recruit themselves. This only works if you and your team can be consistently successful. Otherwise, you’ll find that the people you recruit quickly drop out.
Some people do find success with Mary Kay. But, many more don’t. The MLM model is challenging at the best of times – the whole process just gets worse when you add in that purchase-first aspect.
Final Thoughts: Even if you love the products, I don’t recommend Mary Kay as a way to make money. There are too many other distributors out there already and the purchase-first approach won’t do you any favours.
6. Jeunesse Global
- Focus: Anti-aging products
- Minimum Cost: $249.90 (for a starter kit)
Product Overview: Jeunesse Global focuses on the idea of fighting aging and looking young. To do this, they focus on multiple areas, including an antioxidant fruit blend called Reserve, a detox program and a supplement.
These aspects are all relevant to skincare too, but we’re going to focus on their more traditional skincare products. One of these is called Instantly Ageless. It costs $74.95 for five strips that each contain five small vials. The product is meant to decrease visible signs of aging, like fine lines and wrinkles. It’s short-term only, with the effects lasting six to nine hours.
To me personally, the idea feels gimmicky and expensive. Customers don’t get much product for the price and would probably go through it fast. But, at least, the approach is unusual.
Jeunesse Global also has a product line called Luminesce. This is a more traditional skincare line and is also meant to help fight aging. The marketing suggests that it is dermatologist developed and uses the proprietary APT-200. Jeunesse Global doesn’t explain what this means in detail – and honestly, most of the marketing is just hype, nothing more.
I’m not convinced. There are less expensive products out there that get consistently good reviews. The ones from Jeunesse Global feel more like a gamble. Could you convince customers that these are worth the price and are better than all of the other options?
Commission Quick View: As always, the first way to earn is with sales. Distributors make anywhere from 20% to 45% retail profit, depending on a range of factors. One aspect is simply the price you’re able to sell the products for – as Jeanesse Global makes you buy first and then resell the items.
Some of your customers may order directly from the company, which helps a little. But, when that happens, they’ll often be getting a discount, which cuts into your profit margin.
It’s not entirely clear how you can maximize your discount (and hence, your profit). To do so, you’d probably need to build a team and get promoted through ranks.
The team aspect uses a binary model. This is a pretty uncommon style for a skincare network marketing company. The model means that you’re building two teams underneath you, a left and a right team. You earn based on the performance of those teams.
In this case, you need to hit 300 CV (Commissionable Volume) on one team and 600 CV on the other. Each time that happens, you earn $35. It’s not clear what CV is in terms of money. But regardless, you need two teams that perform well to make a consistent income. That sucks.
One other thing. Jeunesse Global has purchase requirements. Most distributors need an autoship of around $85 each month, just to stay qualified. You can resell the products you buy, so you’re not losing that money. Still, be careful. If you have a few months where sales are difficult, you could easily find that you lose more money than you make.
Final Thoughts: MLMs always have their challenges. But, Jeunesse Global makes this worse by using a purchase-first binary approach. This is one of the worst combinations. Even if the products were amazing (and honestly, they’re not), the income approach makes this a company to avoid.
7. Nerium
- Focus: Anti-aging products
- Minimum Cost: $99.95 (for their smallest starter pack)
Product Overview: Nerium is another company that strongly focuses on the concept of anti-aging. This includes a focus on wellness products and also skincare items. The wellness items are a little less conventional, including a probiotic lotion and a brain formula supplement. These are marketed well and are unusual enough to get people interested.
The skincare product line isn’t large. There are only around eight individual products (including some from their wellness section), along with various combos of them. Some are pretty typical, like an Age-Defying Eye Serum (for $60 a month), while others are more unusual.
Nerium does a fantastic job with marketing. All of the products look high-quality and the branding makes them seem unusual and appealing. There’s still no evidence that the products are better than other brands – but at least they look like they are.
Personally, I think the items are over-hyped and the claims are unrealistic. There are plenty of less expensive skincare products out there. Still, the right audience would probably be interested. If nothing else, Nerium does give distributors plenty of sales angles to work with.
Commission Quick View: Nerium distributors earn a retail profit, regardless of whether sales are made online or in-person. The amount of commission isn’t stated. It will also vary depending on whether the customer is getting a discount.
Distributors can also sell from their personal inventory. But, if they do this, they don’t get any further bonuses on the sales and the sales don’t seem to count towards the team aspect.
There is also a Personal Customer Commissions bonus. This allows distributors to earn between 10% and 25% extra on sales, as long as they hit at least 201 in sales volume each month. There are various rules about which sales fall into this category and how the commissions are calculated.
With this company, the team structure roughly follows a unilevel plan. The design includes various ranks to progress through, with the typical requirements. The residual commissions from the team are pretty decent and go up to 5% for most generations. But, you have to get into the higher ranks to get access to them.
There are also many other aspects. Nerium is one of those companies that has a large number of different bonuses and systems. Each has specific approaches that you need to take, which can get confusing quickly.
Beyond all of this, there are also ongoing requirements, including a monthly autoship and possibly a subscription fee. Details aren’t clear, but you’re likely to be paying $50 or more each month.
Final Thoughts: I suppose Nerium is decent enough and there are certainly many bonuses to choose from. Still, it’s an incredibly complicated way to make money. It would be easy to get lost in all the different requirements. Why bother when the products aren’t even that exciting?
8. Jordan Essentials
- Focus: Healthy skin
- Minimum Cost: $99 (for a basic starter kit with various products)
Product Overview: Jordan Essentials has a strong focus on the skin, which is exactly why it is on this list. But, it isn’t your typical skincare company. Instead, Jordan Essentials has a wide product range, covering many different areas and types of products. This includes items like deodorant, conditioner and shower gel.
They do have a Face Care & Anti-Aging section, which contains some items like Age Defying Serum and Daily Moisturizer. But, even there, the emphasis is different. Most of the products are comparatively inexpensive and the labeling makes them seem almost homemade. It’s certainly a far cry from the professional and expensive skincare items that many other companies produce.
The approach isn’t really bad though – it’s just different. The products here would appeal to people with less money to spare and to those with a more casual interest in skincare. I can see how they would sell.
Plus, Jordan Essentials does try to use relatively few chemicals in their products, that might help you to promote them as well.
Commission Quick View: The base commission rate is 25%, which isn’t horrible. You can increase this to 30% if you make $1,500 in sales per month or 35% if you make $3,000 in sales per month.
Being able to raise the commission rate from sales alone is nice. But honestly, most people won’t meet those goals. They’re pretty extreme, especially as the products tend to be relatively inexpensive.
The team aspect offers between 3% and 12% overrides on your team. Jordan Essentials doesn’t go into more detail but this sounds like a typical unilevel structure. If so, you need to progress through ranks and you would then earn from various levels in your team.
There simply isn’t enough information to show how Jordan Essentials stacks up against other companies.
Jordan Essentials does state that they don’t have any sale quotas. That would be nice – but it’s probably inaccurate. There are no quotas if you just want to sell the products (you just need to make one purchase a year to stay active). But, there are likely to be quotas at various ranks.
One nice thing is that you can make sales online. You have to pay around $10 a month for a website (after the first few months) and it’s only a replicated site. Still, that’s no different than other companies. The ability to sell online is an advantage regardless. It’s much better than having to purchase the products first and then trying to resell them in person.
Final Thoughts: Jordan Essentials isn’t amazing but it isn’t horrible either. The low sales requirements also make it a good choice if you want the chance to earn a little money without too many complexities.
9. NuCerity
- Focus: Skincare
- Minimum Cost: There is a registration fee but NuCerity doesn’t specify the amount
Product Overview: NuCerity is a fairly small entry into the skincare field. There are only seven individual skincare products, along with one antioxidant supplement that’s meant to promote skin health.
Comparing skincare products is always challenging. Most of the time, people end up making purchase decisions based on their emotions, rather than finding the best possible product. NuCerity goes to lengths to make their products sound amazing, which includes interesting titles and various claims. But, none of that means the items are actually any good.
In fact, NuCerity has faced controversy for their products in the past. For example, one of their main products is Skincerity. This is promoted as a ‘nightly breathable masque’. It comes in a 1 fl oz tube, which costs $65!
The site includes many bold claims, yet reviews are mixed. Some customers have found good results, others haven’t. For a product with a price tag like that, you’d expect many more positive reviews. Expert reviews are even less appealing, with many people feeling that the product just isn’t that special.
And remember, loving the products yourself isn’t enough. You have to convince other people to purchase them as well. With such a small product selection and expensive products – it’s hard to imagine that you’d make any sales.
Commission Quick View: NuCerity distributors need to purchase the products first and then resell them. As an indication, the $65 I mentioned earlier was the distributor price for Skincerity. You’re meant to resell it at $129.95 (which is insane for a tiny tube!).
This creates a large profit margin, as long as you can sell the products. Honestly, I’m not convinced. The items are expensive enough at distributor prices. The distributor prices are also the ones listed on NuCerity’s website. How would you ever get customers to pay full price regularly?
The other aspect is the team. NuCerity is another one that uses a binary model, although there is a unilevel component too. Regardless of the model, you earn the most from having a large team that successfully recruits and makes sales. Based on the previous limitations, that seems unlikely.
NuCerity has pretty basic activity requirements. You just need to ‘engage in a business activity’ at least once every six months. This includes simply making a purchase or generating a sale. To earn from your team, you also need to activate an Independent Business Center (IBC). This requires hitting 100 (PV) Personal Volume within a week. Once you do so, the IBC is then active for the next four weeks.
The 100 PV can come from sales and/or from your personal orders. Many distributors would simply order 100 PV each month to avoid having to worry. But, it’s important to be careful about this – you could easily spend more than you’re making.
Final Thoughts: NuCerity doesn’t have many products and those products aren’t too appealing. It also relies on buying and reselling, which is horrible when you consider how expensive the products are.
10. Nu Skin
- Focus: Skincare, nutrition and related fields
- Minimum Cost: $25 (to join, no products provided)
Product Overview: Despite the name, Nu Skin isn’t primarily a skincare company. Instead, it focuses on a range of areas that are somewhat related to the skin.
One of their most significant aspects is what they call a Biophotonic Scanner. This gives a reading that is meant to represent your antioxidant status. According to them, a low score means that you need more antioxidants in your diet, more supplementation, improved lifestyle and possibly weight loss.
Antioxidants are important, sure. But, the scanner idea is pseudoscience – at best. Besides that, antioxidant supplements are highly controversial. Some research suggests that they may even be dangerous.
As for skincare, Nu Skin has various different products. One set is their Nutricentials. These are fairly basic products, like cleansing gel and toner that contain additional nutrients. They are meant to improve skin more than other products – although it’s not clear whether they actually do.
There is also the Nu Skin 180 range. This includes more typical skincare items, with most costing above $50. It is meant to be an anti-aging product line but there isn’t much information provided about what makes it special.
Commission Quick View: At the most basic level, distributors earn 25% on all sales and 5% on the purchases of anyone that they personally recruit. There are no ongoing purchase requirements here, making Nu Skin an easy company to get involved with.
To earn more, you need to get involved in team building. This aspect has a 100 PSV (Personal Sales Volume) requirement. This means you need to buy or sell 100 volume in products every month to stay active.
You earn by building a unilevel team under you. The structure is simply based on who recruits who and you earn from the various levels. Oddly, Nu Skin doesn’t explicitly state how much you earn from each of those levels.
There are other bonuses as well and various requirements for these. One is simply related to your group volume. But, you only get it if you’re of a certain rank and can hit sales goals.
The general pattern is the same as always – the income potential is high but only if you can make enough progress. Most people never get that far.
Final Thoughts: Nu Skin is actually pretty good if you’re focused on sales. You can even earn from personal recruits without needing to commit to the team aspect. Still, the products aren’t that appealing and the Biophotonic Scanner is concerning.
11. Rodan + Fields
- Focus: Personalized skincare
- Minimum Cost: $45 (mostly contains business information rather than products)
Product Overview: Rodan + Fields is similar to many of the other companies on this list. That includes a general emphasis on quality and on products that look amazing. But, Rodan + Fields does have some unusual aspects as well.
One of these is personalized skincare. Rodan + Fields offers a Solution Tool that steps people through their various skincare challenges to provide advice about what products they should purchase. This is simply a marketing tool but that’s not entirely a bad thing.
Many of the products focus on specific problems, particularly clearing up acne. Rodan + Fields is unusual in this sense, as their target audience is adults, not adolescents.
The problem is that reviews are mixed. The entire acne regimen often gets aggregate reviews of around three stars (out of five). That’s not encouraging – especially as the items are expensive. Similar patterns can be seen on Amazon.
I’m sure some people love the products and get great results. But, mixed reviews like this are always problematic. Besides, you’d often be selling to people that you know, including friends and family. I don’t know about you, but I prefer to promote products that I’m certain people will actually be pleased with.
Commission Quick View: Rodan + Fields offers retail profit as compensation. This means you get the difference between what you would pay for a product and what the customer pays. The site gives one example, where the product costs consultants $149. A sale to a Preferred Customer gives a profit of $30 (so, around 20%), while a sale to a regular customer gives $50 profit (around 33%).
The rates aren’t too bad, even for Preferred Customers. It also seems like you’re mostly making sales through customer orders and a website. This should mean that you don’t have to purchase products yourself first.
The team aspect of the company has various ranks. Each of these comes with specific requirements and various ways to earn money. The overall approach is similar to a unilevel plan, where you earn percentages of your team’s sales, based on who recruited who. But, Rodan + Fields uses a more complex system with more groups to consider.
Overall, the design isn’t horrible. You do also earn 10% from the people that you personal recruit, which is better than most companies. You also earn 5% from most of the generations, if you can progress far enough.
One other limitation is promotion requirements. Most are typical but many of the ranks also require a certain number of qualified legs. This means you need to hit goals for people that you recruit and some of those people need to progress in ranks. As such, you must rely on some of your team members getting promoted themselves.
Final Thoughts: There are some good aspects to Rodan + Fields and the company does market itself well. Still, make sure you know what you’re getting involved with before you start trying to build a team.
12. Avon
- Focus: A wide range of products
- Minimum Cost: $25 (for a starter kit that contains some products)
Product Overview: Avon doesn’t focus on any single thing, which has advantages from a sales perspective. Despite this, most of their categories contain a large number of products, in many different styles.
For example, the skincare selection contains more than 70 individual products, not counting all the sets that you can buy. This is a wider selection than most companies – and skincare is only one of their product ranges.
Avon is also notable because of their pricing. Many products are reasonable. There are often sales and clearance items too. For example, most skincare products are less than $50 and some are considerably cheaper. Avon offers trial sizes too, given people the chance to try a product, without investing too much money.
There are multiple ranges in their skincare line, with the most significant being Anew. The line seems to be unique to Avon and there are many individual products to choose from. There isn’t much to prove that this is better than other brands – but it doesn’t need to be either. The pricing alone would be enough to promote sales. Besides, Anew is a popular range, so the products should sell.
Commission Quick View: There are two different commission rates for Avon, depending on the products being sold. The first is for fashion and home items, which give 20% commission. The second is for beauty and jewelry, where the rate is up to 40%. There aren’t any details about where the beauty and jewelry rate starts at or how you increase it.
Avon allows you to make sales in two ways – through a replicated website or in-person. The in-person approach doesn’t rely on parties. Instead, reps tend to distribute physical catalogs. Customers then submit orders to the rep. The style works well, but reps typically need to pay for the catalogs. This adds an extra cost.
There are also ongoing sales requirements. When you first get started, this is just $50 a month, which isn’t horrible. Even so, you have to hit that every month. The goal might be difficult if the catalogs aren’t particularly good some months or if you simply don’t have much time. The requirement increases to $200 per month in later ranks.
The other area to consider is earning from your team. Avon follows a basic unilevel model here, with 12 different ranks. There are various bonuses along the way and the system is easy to follow.
But, as always, rank requirements get challenging fast. You need to hit certain sales targets within your team, along with order numbers in your first generation. The later ranks also require some of your team members to be promoted.
Final Thoughts: Avon remains a pretty good MLM, all things considered. But, the commission rate isn’t amazing and there are some extra costs involved. Beyond this, the competition is significant. Make sure you can realistically sell the products before getting involved.
13. Oriflame
- Focus: A wide range of products
- Minimum Cost: No joining cost
Product Overview: Oriflame doesn’t presently provide an opportunity for people in the United States. But, if you’re living elsewhere, this company could work as a way to earn money. For example, many of their distributors are in the United Kingdom and the company seems to be popular there.
The basic style is very similar to Avon. This includes having an extensive range of products and covering many different categories. They also tend towards inexpensive items, although the prices do range considerably.
One key aspect of Oriflame is their skincare range. This is extensive and contains 182 items at the time of writing. Many of those are typical, like day cream, anti-aging cream, face cream and the like. The range also includes items that would appeal to people who aren’t skincare enthusiasts, like face masks and shaving foam.
Honestly, I like Oriflame. The product selection seems like it would work well, especially as there are so many items to choose from. The main limitation is location, as you can’t be a distributor in the United States. Still, Oriflame is hoping to expand here at some point, so you might have a chance then.
Commission Quick View: Oriflame is an MLM, so you’re making money from sales and through your team. The sales aspect gives you between 23% and 35% commission on individual sales. 23% is the initial rate and you increase your earnings by hitting various sales targets.
Oriflame doesn’t explain its team aspect very well but there is enough information to get the gist of it. As always, the team relies on a rank-based system. As your rank gets higher, the amount you earn from the company increases as well.
What this looks like depends on the rank that you’re in. For example, the Group Manager rank earns 5% on personal & indirect, 9% on direct and 6% on direct groups. I’m not sure what any of those are, as Oriflame doesn’t offer many explanations. Regardless, it’s clearly not the traditional unilevel plan that most other companies follow.
Don’t get me wrong, you could still make money. Going up those ranks basically just involves building a team and getting your team members promoted. That’s possible and some people manage it.
One other thing, there are ongoing requirements. It looks like members need to purchase 40 BP (Business Points, I assume) of products each month to be able to earn. It’s not clear how much that costs – but it will add to your expenses.
Final Thoughts: My biggest problem with Oriflame is the compensation plan. The company doesn’t provide enough details about the processes or requirements. That’s always frustrating. It’s much better to have all of the information in front of you before you make a decision.
14. Kyäni
- Focus: Liquid supplements and skincare
- Minimum Cost: $89 (for a welcome kit that doesn’t seem to contain products)
Product Overview: Kyäni offers two distinct sets of products, which are very different to each other. One of these is liquid supplements, which includes Kyäni Sunrise. The other is Fleuresse, which is a skincare range. We’re mostly interested in the latter products – although, theoretically, antioxidant supplements could improve skin health.
The skincare system consists of just five products, which are a serum, a boosting cleanser, a brightening crème, a night crème and an eye crème. The marketing suggests that each is amazing (of course it does).
The products do rely on some unusual approaches, including cultured plant skin cells, along with ‘naturally occurring botanicals’. Of course, marketing claims don’t always match reality. Kyäni also offers no details about how their products are meant to provide those benefits, which isn’t encouraging at all.
And, of course, the items aren’t cheap either. Instead, customers might be paying around $250 for a kit of four of the products – and they all come in small bottles. For that price, I’d want proof that Fleuresse is better than other brands. Kyäni doesn’t provide any such evidence.
Commission Quick View: Kyäni doesn’t state their percentage commission. Instead, distributors earn the difference between retail and wholesale prices. This is likely to vary depending on the product.
The example that Kyäni gives suggests a profit of $20 from a $140 order, which comes to around 15%. If the rate is similar for all sales, it’s on the low side. The compensation seems to remain consistent too. So, if you want to earn more, you’d have to increase sales and work on developing a strong team.
Kyäni heavily focuses on their team building and the approaches are a little odd. Basically, they have two distinct approaches. One is a Sponsor Tree. This works like a typical unilevel design, where people are placed based on who recruited who. The second is a Placement Tree. With this aspect, you place people in the tree based on where you want them. The design is still unilevel but you have more control.
Each tree contains the same people, they’re just in different positions. You then earn residual income and bonuses from those teams. As always, this partly involves progressing through ranks and meeting various rank requirements.
There are also activity goals. You need to hit 25 Qualification Volume (QV) per month from your purchases and personal sales to be a distributor. You need to reach 100 QV per month to earn from your team too. It’s not clear what this calculates out to in terms of cost. Either way, it’s a monthly goal that you need to consider.
Final Thoughts: Kyäni is more team-heavy than most other MLMs and you have two models to contend with. This puts you at a disadvantage, although it would still be possible to earn.
15. LifeVantage
- Focus: Supplements and skincare
- Minimum Cost: $500 (for a starter kit that contains various products)
Product Overview: LifeVantage is another company that focuses on supplements and on skincare. There is some merit to the idea. Supplements and skincare do have many similar actions – including the potential for antioxidant effects.
In this case, there are six different skincare products, including a facial cleanser, hand cream, anti-aging cream and micro lift serum. They’re primarily sold on autoship, costing from $12.99 (for the hand cream) to $70.99 (for the anti-aging cream) per month.
There is also their TrueScience Beauty System, which combines four of those products for $140.99 per month. Clearly, the products aren’t cheap – although the pricing isn’t so unusual for this field.
Thankfully, LifeVantage does provide some details about what makes their skincare special. They even have some evidence from a scientific study. That study didn’t actually compare skincare products, so it isn’t particularly powerful. But, LifeVantage is still offering more evidence than many other companies. That might give you an edge in the market.
Commission Quick View: LiveVantage has some odd gaps in their compensation plan. They provide details about the initial commission that distributors earn but not about what they make in the long-term.
Basically, you earn between 30% and 40% commission on sales as part of a Smart Start Bonus. This bonus only applies to the first month of purchases for each new Preferred Customer or distributor. It is also just for the first 1,000 CV.
LiveVantage doesn’t state what happens after this. I would assume that you still earn from sales, just at a lower rate. But, that may not be the case. It’s possible that the Smart Start Bonus is all there is.
The next aspect, as always, is earning from your team. LifeVantage uses a unilevel scheme for this component, including the normal ranks that you need to work through. The plan starts off with 2% from your first level and 5% from your second level. The plan goes up to nine levels deep and there are other bonuses as well.
The percentages are decent enough, with one exception – you never earn more than 2% from your first level. Honestly, that sucks. Theory suggests that your first level should be your smallest. But, that’s not always true. Plus, the first level is where people start. A low rate isn’t going to encourage any recruits to stay on.
Finally, you do need to make at least 40 PV in personal purchases every month, regardless of your sales. That’s an extra cost right from the beginning.
Final Thoughts: The skincare line from LiveVantage really doesn’t stand out – and the monthly focus for orders is just odd. When you consider the compensation plan as well, the company just doesn’t seem worth the effort.
16. Mannatech
- Focus: Health and skincare
- Minimum Cost: $10 (this a joining fee and it’s waived entirely if you purchase a product when joining)
Product Overview: Mannatech is another company that focuses on health first and just has a small section on skincare. But honestly, that’s not a bad thing. Skincare has a narrow audience pool and many people simply won’t be interested. A wider product range gives you the chance to target more people.
In this case, Mannatech has five different skincare products. They’re sold individually or as a bundle. They include the typical items, like moisturizing cream, facial cleanser and rejuvenation crème.
Mannatech does market these well. That includes providing plenty of details about the skincare items and what they’re meant to do. The products look good too. Of course, most of the marketing is simply that, marketing. The claims sound good but they apply to most other skincare products.
One exception is that Mannatech does reference a clinical trial. But, they provide few details. The trial was also in-house and probably didn’t compare the products to other brands. So honestly, it doesn’t mean much.
The end result is what you’d expect – fairly expensive skincare products that make bold claims. I’m not into skincare myself but I imagine that the products perform just fine. But, there may be less expensive options on the market that do the same thing.
Commission Quick View: At first glance, Mannatech sounds powerful for income. They boast 18 different ways to earn, although most of these are bonuses rather than distinct methods of earning.
As always, sales are the simplest way to make money. With Mannatech, you need to purchase the products first and then resell them. Mannatech doesn’t actually specify how much you earn by doing so.
The reselling model is always a pain. But, I especially hate it in this industry. Skincare products are expensive. This means you’d have to invest a considerable amount into getting the items initially. You then have to hope that you can sell them.
The rest of the plan is complex to follow, partly because of the many different bonuses. But, the general pattern is the same as always. You’re meant to build a team, get members promoted and increase sales as you go.
One key aspect of this is the different ranks that members progress through. With these, you get the chance to earn residual commissions from your team. How much you earn and who you earn from is partly based on your rank, along with the structure of your team.
Mannatech does mostly follow a typical model. But, their team plan is less predictable than normal. This might make it more difficult to optimize your income. It’s also challenging to determine the income potential from Mannatech – there are simply so many things going on at once.
Final Thoughts: Mannatech doesn’t focus on skincare specifically, has a complex compensation plan and follows a purchase-first model. None of those aspects are encouraging and they’d all impact your ability to earn.
17. Qivana
- Focus: Health and skincare
- Minimum Cost: $45 (this is probably just a joining fee, although Qivana isn’t clear about what you get)
Product Overview: Qivana is a health company, with a relatively small product section. For this post, we’re just interested in their skincare line, which is called Skinshift.
Qivana promotes it as being a breakthrough system, one that offers amazing benefits that can help your skin look and feel much better. Interestingly, Qivana offers a DNA analysis as part of this line. That analysis provides information about specific parts of your genetic profile, which are meant to impact skin health. The company also uses that information to help develop a personalized skincare strategy.
If that idea is as good as it sounds, it could be a unique angle. It might even help you get sales. But, there isn’t very much information about the process or even whether the company follows through on their claims.
As for the skincare products themselves, Qivana’s choices are what you might expect. This includes items like a nourishing cleanser, calming serum and balancing toner. The prices aren’t unusual for the industry (e.g., $38.97 for a cleanser) but they’re not cheap either.
Commission Quick View: Qivana allows distributors to sell via a replicated website (so, you don’t need to keep stock on hand). Distributors earn the difference between the wholesale and retail price. But, it’s not clear what this difference totals to. Qivana doesn’t provide details.
The team aspect operates through a binary plan. The commission rate is simply 10% of the volume in the lesser of the two legs. This percentage is relatively common and it’s not too bad.
But remember, the model means you’re just earning from half of your total downline. This might be fine if both of your teams perform well. But, if one of your teams does much better than the other, your income potential would be limited.
You also need at least 100 PV (Personal Volume) in monthly sales and 500 GV (Group Volume) in your lesser leg to earn from your team. It’s not clear what this totals to financially – but the requirements seem higher than many other companies.
As always, there are various other ways to earn, including generational bonuses. These add to your income potential but each comes with extra complexities.
Final Thoughts: Some aspects of Qivana are appealing but I’m concerned about the ongoing requirements. Hitting requirements like these every month can be very difficult.
18. It Works
- Focus: Wraps, weight loss and health
- Minimum Cost: $99 (for a starter kit with business tools and products)
Product Overview: It Works is another health company. This time, they have a strong emphasis on weight loss and on physical appearance. Their most popular product is a wrap, called the Ultimate Body Application. This is promoted as a way to ‘lose inches’. The wraps are very popular and they’re also incredibly controversial.
The other products are more typical for health and weight loss, including supplements, shakes and essential oils. There are also keto products for weight loss.
As for skincare, there are ten products on offer. Most of these are between $45 and $60 retail (between $25 and $36 for distributors). The prices aren’t excessively high. But, they’re getting up there for a company that doesn’t specialize in skincare.
There are also various claims about their effectiveness. For example, the WOW wipes apparently wipe out wrinkles, using the It Works WOW Proprietary Complex. Of course, there’s no evidence that these skin products are any better than the other ones in this list.
Commission Quick View: It Works operates through a purchase-first system. This means you’re responsible for buying the products and then you sell them on. The difference between wholesale and retail is substantial, so your profits could be high. For example, PreventAge Day Cream Gel costs distributors $25 and has a retail price of $45. That’s a commission rate of more than 50%!
But, that only applies if you can sell at the retail price. Many factors might impact this, including competition and your audience. In fact, both prices are provided on the It Works website. That means your customers can easily find out what you’re paying too.
There is a replicated website and you can make sales that way. This should reduce the need to purchase first. But, It Works doesn’t specify how much you earn this way.
You also earn from your team. This follows a typical unilevel style and isn’t particularly exciting. As always, you earn much more if you can get into the higher ranks. Most people don’t, especially as there are already so many It Works distributors out there.
One final thing – ongoing costs. Distributors need to hit 150 Personal Volume in sales each month (a little over $150) or have an 80 Personal Volume autoship each month. They also need to pay $20 each month for a replicated website. These costs aren’t too bad if you’re reselling the products you buy. But, be aware of them, they can add up fast.
Final Thoughts: The purchase-first aspect of It Works sucks, although the company is popular. It might be interesting if you’re looking for a range of products to promote. But, if you’re just focusing on skincare, their products mightn’t be appealing enough.
19. USANA
- Focus: Nutrition and skincare
- Minimum Cost: $29.95 (gives you access to a business system, you don’t get any products)
Product Overview: Unlike most other nutrition companies, USANA has a strong emphasis on skincare. That’s even the main focus of their homepage. They also include various before and after images to highlight the impacts that their products have.
Despite that, the skincare range of the USANA website is a little odd. It features a collection of roughly related products, including whitening toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner and shower gel. Skincare items are featured too, such as vitalizing serum, perfecting toner and replenishing night cream. But, to be honest, they all feel somewhat generic.
Even once you get into the marketing for the individual skincare items, there is nothing particularly exciting. The claims are roughly the same as other brands and details are scarce. The most interesting part is the use of USANA InCelligence Technology. However, this isn’t explained very well.
The prices are also typical for this industry. So, you’re getting something that’s roughly the same as the other companies on this list.
There is one thing to note here. The success of a skincare line is strongly influenced by the products and the marketing. Neither aspect is entirely clear online. USANA distributors may also have access to much better marketing materials than the website suggests. So, sales are still possible, especially if you see positive results from the skincare items yourself.
But, it would be best to try them first.
Commission Quick View: USANA works through a purchase-first model, which is never great (especially not for skincare). You would need to invest in the items first and then resell them. Unfortunately, USANA never states what the profit margin is, so it’s hard to know how much you earn.
There don’t seem to be many bonuses for making sales but you do also earn through your team.
Here, USANA follows a fairly common binary model, with a left and a right team. You earn 20% from the matching sales volume of those two teams. This effectively means you make 20% of the sales from your lesser team.
As long as both teams perform relatively well, that income level isn’t too bad. Binary plans often sit at around 10%, so 20% is much better than normal. There is a sales requirement too. At the basic level, you need to reach 100 in Personal Sales Volume every four weeks.
You can expand by having multiple Business Centers, each of which involve a left and a right team. Doing this may increase income potential but comes with more ongoing requirements too. It would also be more difficult to optimize multiple sets of teams.
Final Thoughts: For a purchase-first binary company, USANA isn’t too bad. Still, those areas are key limitations and make it much harder to be successful.
20. Amway
- Focus: A wide range of products
- Minimum Cost: $62/year (this is a membership fee and may have increased, Amway isn’t transparent about the details)
Product Overview: Amway is like Avon in that the company offers a wide range of different products. Skincare is one their areas of emphasis, along with nutrition, bath and body, and items for the home (such as air purifiers).
Their skincare range focuses on high-quality items. For example, they have products like Artistry Supreme LX Regenerating Crème, which costs $365 for a 1.7 ounce container. The crème is meant to be enough for six to eight weeks. Many items are less expensive but they’re still on the high end for this industry.
The high prices aren’t necessarily a bad thing. Some people will pay this much for skincare and Amway does have a decent reputation. But, be certain of your audience first. This type of skincare is going to be hit or miss. Plenty of people won’t be able to afford the prices, while others might not see the point.
Commission Quick View: Amway has a frustrating compensation plan, as you need to buy the products first. The amount you earn is based on the difference between what you pay and how much you sell the items for. Amway doesn’t provide percentages, partly because you can set the price yourself.
Of course, you don’t have complete price control. You’ll be competing against other distributors, including anyone that you recruit. You would need to make sure your price is similar to (or less than) what others are selling products for.
Purchase-first is always annoying. You need to try and guess which products will sell and then buy them. There are steps to reduce your risk, like finding out what people want first. But, the process is always more challenging than having customers order directly.
And, let’s be honest, the products from Amway aren’t that exciting. Customers have thousands of places to go to for similar skincare items. Many won’t want to spend $100 or more from a direct sales company. If they’re going to spend that much, they will often prefer a store that they can actually visit instead.
There is also a team aspect to earning. This increases your income, as long as you can build a team that is large enough. Most people won’t get that far but some do seem to. The main team aspect follows a unilevel design, allowing you to earn from different tiers of recruits.
Beyond this, Amway offers various bonuses, all with their own requirements. The number of bonuses is decent, better than many other companies. Still, I imagine that most people would never get far enough to earn them.
Final Thoughts: If you don’t mind the purchase-first design, Amway might be okay. But, it’s still not amazing. Buying the products first also sucks when we’re talking about skincare items that often cost more than $100.
Top Pick
Skincare is an emotionally driven industry. People choose products based on their experiences and often stop searching once they find a brand they like. This means that you don’t need the absolute best product out there. You simply need something that offers what people are looking for, without breaking their budget.
To actually make money, you also need to pick a good company. Look for one with a decent compensation plan that markets their products well. Make sure you’re passionate about their items as well. There’s little worse than trying to sell something you’re not excited about yourself.
Of the various options, one of the most powerful choices is BeautyCounter. The company focuses on a range of product types, rather than just skincare. But, they do have a particularly good marketing angle, emphasizing the idea of safer skincare. The compensation plan is decent as well and there’s no need to buy and then try to resell the products.
You can also promote your company of choice alongside affiliate programs. The more focused you are on a specific audience, the more likely your content will resonate with them and keep them looking to you as an authority.
Affiliate marketing is cheaper, faster, and easier. See for yourself and join millions of other successful affiliates generating income from their blogs!