Mary Kay Invades India — Part 1
Written by L J on August 7, 2008 – 10:36 am -Mary Kay recently announced that they are opening a “beauty center” in Mumbai, India. This new store is just the latest in Mary Kay Inc.’s continuing invasion of India.
Mary Kay Inc. expects to invest about $20 million in the Indian expansion in the next five years.
India’s per capita income, according to the latest figures released by the World Bank, is 40,000 Rupees.
That’s equivalent to $950 U.S.
So I was curious…
In a nation whose per capita income is lower than 159 other nations, how much would it cost the average Indian woman to use Mary Kay makeup?
I took a conservative approach, picking only the basic color cosmetics I thought most Indian women might use regularly.
Here’s what I chose for the average Indian woman’s cosmetic bag:
| Mary Kay Product | Price in Rupees (Rs) |
| Lipstick | 530 Rs |
| Foundation | 620 Rs |
| Mascara | 450 Rs |
| Eyeliner | 440 Rs |
| Eye Color | 620 Rs |
| Total: 2660 Rs |
India’s average monthly income is 3,333 Rupees (40,000 / 12).
That means that for just the basic items listed above, the average Indian woman would be spending 80% of her monthly income.
80%
Forget about that sleek black Mary Kay compact. That would set her back another 750 Rupees.
And she can’t even consider purchasing any Mary Kay skin care.
Am I missing something? Just who is supposed to be buying Mary Kay in India?
Tags: beauty center, indian women, Mary Kay, Mary Kay expansion, Mary Kay India, mumbai india, Rupees
Posted in Articles & Commentary |
Colleen on 
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Sassy_C on
August 7th, 2008 at 11:42 am
LJ, very good information. When you realize that it takes a lot of rupees to make 1 American dollar, it hits you in the gut how greedy this company is!
Imagine what the $100 starter kit does to an already impoverished family, and that doesn’t include the inventory for her “full store”.
Isn’t one of MK’s most often used quotes “If it is to be it’s up to me”? So when the poor women is stuck with inventory and a starter kit full of product that she can’t sell and her family can’t eat, it will all be HER fault!
What about MKC’s basic philospophy of “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”. That MK would enter into one of the nations most impoverished nations all in the name of making a buck is really sick and speaks volumes for what the company is all about…..and it isn’t “enriching” women’s lives!
I am ashamed that I was a part of this company for 8-1/2 years.
August 7th, 2008 at 11:45 am
I meant to say one of the WORLDS’s most impoverished nations.
August 7th, 2008 at 5:41 pm
Are Indian women even allowed to wear make-up? I thought that was against their culture. My former SD stated one time that she had an Indian woman in one of her classes and her husband found out and came and got her or either called and made her come home. Their men do not want their women working or wearing make up, if I’m not mistaken. Am I wrong in thinking that they don’t wear make-up? Don’t they have to wear veils over their faces and walk behind their husbands? I’m not sure. I may be thinking of another country. If they don’t wear make-up because their husbands don’t like it or because of their culture, isn’t it unethical or whatever, for a company to go in and try to force something like that on the people?
August 7th, 2008 at 11:07 pm
Indian women do wear make-up. You’re thinking of Islamic states. India is a democracy - they’ve even had a woman president, which we can’t even claim. The largest religion is Hinduism (though there are large Christian and Muslim populations as well) and there are no rules regarding veils or wearing/not wearing makeup.
This woman in Mumbai runs a nice blog about the city and her family: http://www.mumbai-magic.blogspot.com/
There is a dichotomy between rural India and the large cities, such as Mumbai, which accounts for the low earnings average. Real estate and technology are booming there - industry in general. While there are still large, deplorable slums in the cities, poverty and other problems, there is a large number of professional women in cities like Mumbai that can easily afford the makeup - enough to make MK invest in this venture. There’s plenty of money to make MK sit up and notice.
When I was a director a few years ago, my MIL visited relatives in India and took a large case of MK to give out as gifts. I, of course, had boxes of the crap in my basement. At least they got it for free.
August 7th, 2008 at 11:10 pm
I didn’t point out - I wish MK wasn’t in India. I wish they weren’t anywhere. They won’t do anything but hurt Indian woman, just like they do in the U.S. And they’ll probably hurt some of them even more because they’re not able to absorb the costs that occur due to MK. I just wanted to clear up any misinformation about the country though.
August 8th, 2008 at 7:34 am
Thanks, Baroness vFP. I can’t ever keep all those countries straight sometimes. I agree that more women are going to be hurt by getting really deep into MK and incurring debt that will take years to pay off. I wish I had not gotten involved as far as selling. I don’t really care for the cleansing products, but I hate not to finish using what I have already opened prior to coming out of the pink fog. I don’t like to be so wasteful. So I did feel bad for buying another product when I already had some that I needed to finish. I took the plunge and decided to try a product comparable to Proactive, called Acne Free, but it didn’t work very well. I figured if it didn’t work, I could give that to my son or daughter as I figured it just wasn’t meant to work on my face. Once I finish what I’m using and once I get my money together, I’m going to try the Bare Minerals cleanser and see how that does. Does anyone on here know how that works for oily skin? At least if I get something there that doesn’t work, I can return it and get a refund, and be honest about it…can’t do that as a consultant with MK. I have to do a product replacement under someone else’s name, which I don’t want to do because it is dishonest and because I don’t want to have anything more to get rid of. I am selling down more inventory so that I won’t have as much to contend with trying to send it back.
Thanks again for the info!
August 8th, 2008 at 9:30 am
id girl - I use Proactiv. I actually had to start using it while I was a director! When I got pregnant, my skin went kablooey and never returned to normal. I tried every combo of MK you can imagine and it only got worse. I have been using Proactiv for about 5 years now and have better skin than I ever have in my life.
I couldn’t stand to look at the MK makeup after I quit. It was a daily reminder of all the bad things about MK, and I was very upset then. I got rid of almost everything, even though it was wasteful. I have a couple lipsticks left and Sable eyeliner (which I unfortunately haven’t found a good replacement for).
August 8th, 2008 at 1:37 pm
Baroness,
You have inspired me to take the plunge and get rid of the MK stuff. I’m going to use the Acne Free until I can get back into Proactive. I’ve used it, too and really did like it, but at that time, it was $50 a month. Since the price has come down to $20 for the system, I think I’ll go on and get it. Thanks for being an inspiration!
August 8th, 2008 at 4:12 pm
Some people don’t have a problem using MK after they quit, even still preferring some of the products. It’s not that I thought the products were crappy, I just couldn’t stand to use anything the company made. I’m no longer emotional about it, but I won’t spend any of my money on new MK stuff either. I don’t think it’s wrong to keep it if you like it though. It just didn’t seem like you cared for it much.
If you have stuff you haven’t opened yet, you could try selling it on ebay. I either donated the stuff I couldn’t use (and was too old to ethically sell on ebay), or I sold the newer products I had. Anything really old got trashed (and I had some REALLY old stuff) and the rest got donated. A women’s shelter would be very happy to have anything you want to donate. I packed up all my Section 2 stuff and sold it as a package on ebay, too. I even sold my pins, old director suits - you name it. The only thing I haven’t sold is these old fuzzy bumble bee slippers I got at Seminar. I forgot about them until I cleaned out my closet recently and found them. I figure they’ll fetch a fortune for me, even though they’re worn.
So if you have stuff, you can maybe finance your Proactiv by selling what you can.
August 8th, 2008 at 5:18 pm
Baroness,
Actually, people have been calling me to buy since they now know that everything that I have is half price. So I can use that money to pay for my Bare Minerals. The rest I’m putting back into my savings accout to replace what I used to purcahse inventory. I’ll probably use the Acne Free stuff until it’s gone in order to save my money as much as possible. Then, once it’s all gone, I’ll either go to Proactiv or stay with the Acne Free. However, last year, I found some Bert’s Bees soap for mature skin and it was really good. And it lasted me almost a year. Only $6.00 for a bar of the soap and it did brighten my face really well and did diminish some of the signs of aging.
I do need to figure out what to do with my Section 2 stuff. I don’t have too many samples. I do have the face cases that I need to get rid of, so I may put them up on Ebay or see if I can sell them to someone. Even if someone doesn’t sell MK, they can still use them for traveling or something. Well, thanks for the suggestions and I’ll definitely see what I can do to get rid of the Section 2 stuff. TTYL!
August 17th, 2008 at 4:22 pm
Woohoo Baroness. I use proactiv too. I used it before I started MK and started using MK stuff because it seemed to work better but I started using it again. The only problem I have with proactiv is that it drys me out a little much but I can deal with that as long as my face is clear…
November 5th, 2008 at 3:15 pm
I believe the primary Indian cosmetic is eye kohl. It’s not like our pencils. They have a little tube with a stick applicator. The kohl powder clings to the plastic stick. They close their eyelids upon the stick so it touches the waterlines, and they run the stick back and forth to coat their waterlines (rim of lids) in the kohl.