4th of July

Heading down the river (on left), getting in position(above), and wow-perfect! Hope everyone enjoyed the night as much as we did! Want to read the whole thing? Click here!

product reviews

I'm on vacation typing on chiclets on this little netbook so forgive if I post all messy.

Let's see here. Soft black brow pencil, Timewise lip primer, rich fig/green tea loofah scrubs and lotions, lip liner, lemongrass eye shadow, amber blaze eyeshadow, espresso eye shadow. Accidentally left sheer lip balm samples at home; will test next week.

The brow pencil is a very deep brown, almost black. like my natural hair color. It's well pigmented yet contains enough wax to stay put and not smudge. This totally beats other brow pencils I have tried.

Lip primer: Good stuff. Feels like a light lip balm; keeps lipstick in place (for those lighter colors that need help staying. I'll keep getting this.

Lip pencil: Not waxy or dry; creamy and pigmented. Better than others I've used.

Eye shadows: All 3 colors great for me. Lemongrass is a pale and wearable green with some shimmer. Amber blaze...just what it sounds like. Has shimmer. Espresso is matte and the same super deep brown as the soft black eye pencil. Can be used as a dry liner or in the outer V for depth. Or as brow powder. It's a multi use color.

I like the loofah scrubs better than the sugar scrub. They do the job well but are not scratchy. They, and the lotions, smell good enough to eat!

All in all an excellent haul. OK y'all have a good fourth! I have a pie to bake! Want to read the whole thing? Click here!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHADES!!

(Sorry, it is a day late :( - I know how old you are now, but I won't tell!
Hope you had an awesome day!
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Holiday Fun!

For you, Luckylawgirl! They are topped with hot peppers, black or green olives, bacon bits, or plain. (We have our annual pepper canning party around September). Want to read the whole thing? Click here!

Balanced Mary Kay add exciting new feature! - Google Voice Call

Hey everybody,

It has been a long time since I have given an update... Not much new to report. Just really busy.

I would like to take this opportunity, however, to express gratitude to the great authors that have kept this site moving along and helping to create an environment that makes it a unique resource for those in Mary Kay, those considering Mary Kay, and those that have decided that Mary Kay is not a good fit for them.

mk4me and Miranda, in particular, THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!

Now, on to the exciting new feature. Google has created a new thing called Google Voice. You can now call and leave a voice message for any of the authors of this blog. It is possible to set this feature up to ring to our phones, but for now it is directed to a message system.

If you have always wondered what my voice sounds like, now is your chance. Click the button at the top right of this site that says "Call Me". You will have to give it your phone number and name. It will call your number first. When you answer, it will ring for a little while and then hit the message system.

Be the first to leave a message for Balance Mary Kay!!!

Thanks


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HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!

BBQ'S, FAMILY, FIREWORKS, AND FRIENDS these are our plans for the weekend! I want to wish everyone a very happy and safe Independence Day!

In the United States, Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain. Independence Day is commonly associated with fireworks, parades, barbecues, carnivals, picnics, concerts, baseball games, political speeches and ceremonies, and various other public and private events celebrating the history, government, and traditions of the United States. Independence Day is the national day of the United States. Want to read the whole thing? Click here!

Similiarities - or is it Personalities??

When I write I do try to be fair and objective, I may not always succeed but I do try. So please take this simply as observation not an outright attack.

The last several days as I have been reading the posts on pt - the one on ethics, the ones on mlms and the newest on cults. Does anyone one else see the irony of many of the comments? I have been moving away from "disagreeing" with their view points as a way to direct our articles but as I read this grouping, I actually had alot of compassion and sympathy for many of them. (no, I haven't lost it - I will explain). As I read and see the character's personality develope, I see what they loved about MK being recreated on pt and then I see everything they accuse MK of being guilty of doing, being down on pt. I don't want to write a whole book but my first point. The thing that got many so financial doomed in MK was their need for recognition and the respect of their peers or the prizes... Now parrallel it to the commenters swooning over the author of the daily posts, oh "prune", so eloquaint, you have such a gift for words, applause, applause, oh my you are the best, you are so awesome, and you can "see" the authors blushing and just eating it up. Most have this insatiable need for kudos and praise. Now they are not getting it from Mk so they have moved on to pt. They speak as strongly about pt now as they did MK, and then when they cross the line on pt, they will then be devasted again and find another "fix".

Cult think, - go ahead and voice a different opinion - just as fresh out of pink and nutmeg did, don't agree or don't word it right, you are going to be slammed into seeing things their way. Of course, it is now not "listen to your director, etc.." It is listen to us and listen to the tough love of tc. Be too dumb to doubt, just believe us. We love you, we are your friends?? friends?? yes over time we can make internet friends (waving to Miranda) but posting anonomously on a blog doesn't equal a friend. They trusted and got hurt in Mary kay, and now they are trusting and many once again will get hurt on pt. Let them deny it but... come on, yes the are anti MK sites, but there are anti - anti Mk sights!These sites are ex members of pt who formed an anti pt site Duh, ptlies, my pink truth read some of their testimonials and stories, there would be no reason for them to make stuff up. As we are accussed of putting Mary Kay on a pedestal, tc is also put up on a pedestal. Seriously if you would like to see my point bop on a read freshoutofpink's first comment... wow by the time you get to her last comment, you would have thought she came in and raped, pilered, and pundered. (Now mind you she is already feeling "lost" because she now "feels" her MK assosciations have abandoned her, now an internet group just slap her, her need to "belong" is so strong, it sounds of if she is down on her hands and knees, kissing butt, apologizing, confessing, groveling, oh my how sad, it just looks like she thought she was going to feel left out and sad and "nobody" wants me all over again.

On to issues that they have with some of the seminar suggestions:
I go to Seminar, I have learned alot when I attend my classes, (off topic sentence) I would like to share if you happen to be in a class and it just isn't "doing it for you", slip out and slip into another one. Get all the information that you can and if you aren't connecting with the speaker , you aren't going to be learning that much. (return to thought)If you take your Mary Kay seriously and take it like a business, why in the world would you want to take your family along? Yikes, could you see a whole bunch of businessmen showing up a board meeting dragging his wife and kids. And the consultant that brings family might love and adore their kids, but I may not, I paid for the conference and i dont want to be distracted by someone else's child. I remember last seminar a group of pters were going to travel to Dallas and "protest" and pass out pt cards to all seminar attendees. lol A non business/non paid trip without the business to use the expenses of the trip as a write off. Are they going to leave their kiddies at home or drag them to Dallas and lock them in the hotel room or plant them in 100+ degree heat in downtown Dallas in July. So they are ready to drop all this money. Hm, see why there could have been money issues while they were in MK?

I have seen more religous manipulation and using scripture to "boost" their opinin than in mK- hey isn't that the pot calling the kettle black? If one is going to cram scripture down others "eyes" don't contradicte youself. Love this sentence by "prune" - "I WILL FOREVER HATE MARY KAY FOR THIS. It Righteous anger!"

Nothing done wrong is ever one's fault now that they are on pt, it was someone else's fault because that is what they were taught. The "model" is flawed..psshhh - but the same as we in MK are always accussed of sounding the same - do you see that everyone is saying "exactly the same thing" on pt -they all sound the same (isn't that what they say about us kaybots?)

Not disclosing the "whole" truth in MK according to pt is lying. Something misspoken - watch out, you may receive the golden boot award. (No -the last couple of years we can not say that "Mary Kay is America's Best Selling Brand of Skin Care and Color in the Us based on the statics and info based on ind. company xyz..because we didn't participate. But there was a time this was a legal statement. It just isn't current. I see pters get very emotional when a consultant says that MK is taught at Harvard. no - not quite there was a marketing case study - but I could see where someone not paying attention could misquote the the message and their is a "seed" of truth in it. And at last years seminar several universities and colleges had people their to study the principales of the Company. My POINT - Mary Kay is always telling us NOT to over sell, not to exaggerate, to make sure we have our wording correct - they don't support misinformation.

Half truths run all the way thru pt... the one thing that always amuses me - the $ amount of product returned to MK. MK reports sales yearly - to report the returns and not note that it is not just the annual offset it is the cummulative fiugre from the beginning of pt could lead people to believe pt has had a far greater impact on MK than it has.

Another point, MK scripts are always being made fun of... Now - author black nova rights her "script" that she uses when she is invited to a direct sales, party, everyone is now going to use her script because the words are so perfect. lol -

Absolutely love this... pro mkers argue, one shouldn't have argued if you didn't need the product... or but the pressure, yada yada yada... but.... if some ask you to attend a party... here is the response: "Be strong - Just Say No" - intersting,huh?
They did make my chuckl because all mlm's are boycotted EXCEPT the newer "pleasure parties with their sex toys" - I guess it is okay to bend the rules if you want huh... pleasure?

See the similiarities? PT is what they had recreated without the product. It is just like a parrallel universe. It was just the grouping of these articles and seeing that common thread that did help me to see how several ended up so "duped".


We get made fun of for wearing MK sweatshirts pins, (advertising) but something that is so stupid in mk is now a great idea to buy a pt t-shirt?? okay spend money to advertise something that is not even going to give you a snowballs chance in H*ll to earn a dime. We are ridiculed for "warm chatting or stalking" when we pass out a business card or offer someone a facial. But isn't passing out a pt card to unexpecting person still intruding on their space and still soliciating? I think it would be more annoying to have some approach me and hand me a business card "warning" me of the dangerous of mk - at least if she gets hand an MK business card, she at least nows what she is saying yes or no too.

What I see is the "birds of a feather, flock together". It isn't the business model. It is the personality type, and they are going to end up "addidicted to whatever is making them feel full in their lives at the time. This is the type of individual that is probably susceptible to cult followings as they are easily lead. Perhaps the personality types that are stonger or more analytical don't end up on pt. The stories sound so similiar because the personalites are so similiar, imho.

In closing, rb, askes this question: "Many of us here were "successful" by Mk standards but not by our own. For example..an ethical statement might be, Suzy, this is the last day of the month, and although our Unit could use the production under today's date, you actually lose one entire month of active status. If you are planning to keep selling weekly, this wont affect you, but if you think you will be struggling with new contacts after your perfect start and intend to go slowly,it would serve you best to put the order in on the 1st of the month to have the entire 90 days of active status. True or not true? And who among us has ever uttered those words? ( maybe no one answered her on pt but I would like to answer her, yes, I have and many of my sister directors, - our theory, care about others and you will be rewarded 10 fold. It has proven to be true over and over again.
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