Everyone knows someone who knows someone who sells Mary Kay. It’s the more expensive Avon. Plus, well, to be real, those who sell MK get a bigger commission, and they know and love the product they sell. I actually ran into a convention of MK reps in an airport and after an eye-opening conversation, discovered that they do indeed still give out the pink Cadillacs, and that amused me. I actually don’t sell MK myself (though I am thinking about it – have been for awhile), so this review has the benefit of being unbiased in that I’m not linking everything back to my sales page.
Predominantly, the things I get from MK are skin care products. Their Velocity line has the medicated acne-treatment skin care, but I’m not a huge fan when I can use a combination of Clean & Clear and St. Ives products to get the same result. However, I do enjoy and utilise their TimeWise line of skin care products.
TimeWise is their anti-aging line, and while I wasn’t too concerned with those products at 19, I started trying a few of them anyway and in general, despite my excessive sun exposure, I’m seeing a fewer tiny lines and discolorations than others my age (which would be 26, while we’re disclosing to prove the usefulness of a product). My favorite is their TimeWise Moisturizer (for oily/combination skin) - it’s a very light moisturizer that you’re supposed to use day and night, but I never put anything on my face at night – that’s when my pores get to breathe. I’ve used over-the-counter moisturizers that feel greasy and make me break out, but this is the first one that’s passed all the tests. Oil of Olay is generally a recommended moisturizer because they are department-store quality (think the gals at Macy’s who are hawking brand names few can realistically afford) at over-the-counter prices. In my experience, even their formula for oily/combination skin made me break out a little. Your skin changes as your hormones change and you age, so this could very well no longer be the case, but at 19/20/21, I still had very angry skin, and Oil of Olay was not cutting it. I simply have not gone back and retried it, I’ve become an MK brand whore, as it were. I use a very tiny amount and it goes a long way, so my single 3 fl. oz. is worth the money to me ($22).
MK Oil-Free Eye Makeup Remover: As Cyn already showed us, there are plenty of options for eye makeup removal. Since we’re talking Mary Kay, I thought I’d share my one of my favorite products, which is a fantastic eye makeup remover. It’s oil-free, and gentle on the skin in the eye area. Another plus, I accidentally poked myself in the eye with a Q-Tip removing eyeliner with the product, and I only suffered a poke in the eye, not a situation that required EMERGENCY EYE WASH from one of those goggle-sinks. So it seems to be gentle enough you can be a klutz and not blind yourself. Well, unless you poke yourself really hard with that Q-Tip. That could do some damage. ANYWAY, back to the product. It looks like it should be oily, because it separates in the bottle, but wonderfully, it’s not. I shake up the bottle, and drip the product (which is about the consistency of water) onto a Q-Tip for eyeliner and most eyeshadow removal. For mascara (even waterproof! I almost don’t want to know what magic is in this stuff – I just know it won’t give me cancer and isn’t tested on animals, so that’s enough for me right now) and sometimes with eyeshadow where I’ve done more than a quick swath with my Victoria Secret EyeShadow Wand, I use a cotton pad. You don’t need a lot of product, and while it doesn’t leave any residue behind, I do usually wash my face afterwards just in case anything is left behind. The big plus here? You just gently wipe. No scrubbing, no rubbing, just a gentle swish and it takes off everything I’ve thrown at it so far. Easily, simply, without irritation, residue, or hassle. Aside from the moisturizer, this has quickly become a favorite product now that I have to be all girly-professional for work.
Satin Lips Set: I’ll admit up front, I hate that the balm no longer comes in a little pot. I kept my little pot, and tend to buy it in the tube, squeeze it all into the little pot, and stick it in the fridge to set it before I use it. Through some weird magic of chemistry (yes, it IS magic…leave me alone), it doesn’t go back to being all gooey unless it gets REALLY warm. At which point, back into the fridge overnight it goes! But back to the usefulness aspect of this duet. Wearing a lot of chapstick in general, inevitably you’ll get dead skin on your lips. Most of it comes off with a good regular scrub, but sometimes I just want to do this with my lips – and most facial scrubs are going to be a little harsher than you want on your lips. This isn’t called a scrub for that reason – it’s a buffing agent. It removes dead skin cells with a gentle, tiny-beaded (okay, so I’m going to do it anyway) scrub. After washing it off and patting your lips dry, putting on the balm is fantastic. It sinks right into your lips and, I know this might be funny to say, but it makes my lips feel refreshed. Even though there isn’t a minty tingle I usually associate with the word “refreshed”. And did I mention soft? I actually really like touching my lips after this process. I use the balm more often than the buffing agent, but I’ve found that if there is a build-up of dead skin cells on your lips it doesn’t absorb as well and can feel a bit waxy sitting on top of your lips. I don’t use this exclusively – more like when I’m feelin’ sassy. It has no scent, flavor, or color, and doesn’t in general play well with others (the no-smear lipstick from MK lives up to its name, but smeared when I put the balm on top…curious?), but is a useful product to keep your lips healthy.
Next time I’ll sing the praises of varying makeup products themselves, but these three are products that I keep myself supplied with on a regular basis and still haven’t gone out of style for me seven years after I bought my first “dose”.
