What is Maskcara about? Is it really possible to earn a decent income with their opportunity? What about the quality of the products? Or is it all a pyramid scheme? Let's find out.
Maskcara Review Summary:
Rating: 20/100
Pros: Decent quality products, with beautiful boxes. Wide selection.
The Cons: Typical of MLM companies; expensive products, high cost entry fees, strict monthly requirements, and low commission rates. Not recommended.
The Bottom Line:
If you're looking for ways to make money online, I don't recommend Maskcara. It costs over $200 to join and that doesn't even entitle you to the full compensation plan, only a small portion of it. Instead, I recommend affiliate marketing because it's free and has higher commission rates. Check out my recommended program to learn more.
More...
Wanna watch our Maskcara review? Click the video below...
What is Maskcara About?
Maskcara (not be confused with Mascara) is a network marketing company in the cosmetic industry. The company offers a wide range of products, from hair-care to outfits, and everything in between. Ironically, they don't actually sell Mascara.
Founded in 2013 by a fashion blogger known as Cara Brook, the company is one of the newer network marketing companies to hit the market. Their goal is to empower women by providing them with the tools they need to look their best.
Is Maskcara a MLM? YES!
On the surface, Maskcara looks like any other makeup brand, but it actually operates as a traditional MLM company.
Though this company does do things a little differently than traditional MLM companies, it still falls under the same category, and you should be careful how you proceed.
We'll discuss Maskcara's compensation plan and sign-up requirements in the next section, so don't go anywhere!
Read this for more information on why MLM systems are not a good idea:
Wait a Minute!
Promoting a MLM Company is NOT a good idea.
Since we don't plan to use cosmetic products, instead of reviewing the actual products, we'll review the companies compensation plan and business opportunity.
Making Money with Maskcara:
First things first...
What is a Maskcara Artist?
Instead of calling new members distributors, Maskcara uses their own term which is Maskcara Artist. It's exactly the same concept as a distributor, only the name is a little different. As an artist, your goal is to promote the products, and encourage more people to sign-up under you.
Maskcara's Terms:
Since MLM companies are known for their unnecessarily complicated terms, here is a list of the abbreviates you'll be seeing a lot in Maskcara's compensation plan.
- CV - Commission Volume - commission rate on down-lines sales.
- SV - Sales Volume (1 SV = $1) your sales and personal purchases.
- TGSV - Total Group Sales Volume (Total Volume in your team)
- Active - an account that meets their rank requirements.
- Compression - referrals move up a level when one is inactive.
- Active Leg - a leg that has at least one active ELITE HAC-ER
Requirements:
To start off, here are the list of requirements to participate:
- Purchase an Artist Kit
- $11.95/month Back-Office Fee
- Meet Monthly Sales Requirements
These are the basic requirements for the first level in the compensation plan, called HAC-ER (we'll talk more about the ranks later on).
Kit prices:
- Basic Artist Kit - $199 one time
- Pro Artist Kit - $399 one time
These include enough samples and catalogs to use as promotional materials. Oddly enough, the Pro Artist kit includes some free temporary tattoos, as well as many more brochures, catalogs, and post cards. From the looks of it, the kits include more promotional material than actual product.
As far as requirements are concerned, Maskcara's are straightforward and simple. Commissions are based on your rank in the company, the first rate for every new artist is 20% and the maximum is 40%.
Team Goals:
Naturally, a compensation won't be complete without the team-oriented cash bonuses. These bonuses are tracked using Commission Volume or Sales Volume, and you can earn a percentage of commission volume from everyone under you.
What this means is you can earn commissions from every sale or purchase someone under you makes. So if someone under you buys a new kit or something from the back-office you will earn a percent of that. Commission volume can be five levels deep, though you'll need to advance in rank to unlock deeper levels.
Rank Qualifications:
Click on the image to enlarge it
Of course, each rank in the compensation plan has it's own set of qualifications, and if you fail to meet those requirements you'll lose your status. Losing a rank means you won't be able to earn commissions.
Monthly rank requirements:
- HAC-ER, Purchase kit, complete training period.
- TOP HAC-ER - 300 SV, 2 Active Legs, and 1,000 TGSV
- ARTIST AMBASSADOR, 600 SV, 3 Active Legs, 5,000 TGSV
- TOP AMBASSADOR, 600 SV, 5 Active Legs, 10,000 TGSV
- INFLUENCER, 900 SV, 5 Active Legs, 25,000 TGSV
- TOP INFLUENCER, 900 SV, 7 Active Legs, 100,000 TGSV
- Executive Director - same as above, but with 200,000 TGSV.
These are the monthly requirements for each rank, if you fail to meet the requirements you'll move down a rank or your account will be labeled inactive, and you won't be able to earn commissions.
Remember:
One thing to remember is the TGSV is the total sales volume, including personal purchases. What most people do to increase this number is purchase a bunch of product for themselves, so they can remain at their current rank.
What ends up happening is the same that happens in most MLM companies, the distributors collect way more stock than necessary. As you can imagine, training the average house-wife or stay-at-home mom to reach these sales goals is a challenge. Not many people succeed.
Moving on to the good stuff.
Maskcara Pros:
Here's what we like about the company, even though it is a MLM.
1. Wide Selection of Products:
Whether you want to become an Artist or not, there's no denying Markscara has plenty of products to choose from. Their catalog spans four major categories; Face, Eyes, Skin, and Brush and Tools.
Since Artist can earn a percentage on all direct-affiliate sales, there's the chance to earn some cash here and there. You're not stuck to promoting one product only, there are plenty to promote.
2. High Quality Products:
Despite the MLM system, it looks like Maskcara does produce quality products. Unsurprisingly, most of the reviews I read online about Maskcara products include an affiliate link, but there are some reviews which are honest and unbiased. As far as make-up kits go, these seem to be decent.
The Cons with Maskcara
Unfortunately, it's not all great.
1. No Income Disclosure Statement:
Granted, the company is new, but an annual statement is expected. Currently there's no way to tell if distributors are earning or losing cash. But if I had to guess, they're probably losing it if there anything like every mlm opportunity.
2. Strict Monthly Sales Requirements:
When people are pressured to meet a certain sales quota, they'll resort to unethical methods to make it happen. These people are often extremely pushy, and even when you tell them - politely - that you're not interested, they won't leave you alone. It can be bothersome to say the least.
Reaching the monthly sales requirements is challenging for the average person as well. Who wants to spend $200 + and then lose their chance to earn commissions? Not a great start.
Thanks to the Internet, I'm constantly getting at least 20 new leads per day without doing any cold calling, hard selling or recruiting.
I've already achieved financial independence after working 1 year in affiliate marketing by earning a 4-Figure Passive Income Online.
3. Payments Only Through Paylution:
Paylution is Maskcara's payment portal, where you can sign-up for a Maskcara Debit Card. The card is pre-paid and issued by MetaBank. I don't know much about this card, but if you want to receive payments you need to acquire one, they don't handle payments through PayPal or bank-transfer. That doesn't happen with affiliate marketing.
4. Training Period:
Once you sign-up by buying a kit and paying the monthly back-office fee, you can start promoting the products. The catch here is your account will be in a "Training Period" until you generate a minimum of $800 in sales.
During the training period you won't be able to make commissions on direct-referrals, or people who join under you. Essentially, it's only the most basic affiliate program - 20 % commission rate on sales - but the rest of the compensation plan is unavailable.
In my opinion, $800 is quite a lot. Since most of the money is made by referring new people, it will take a long time to generate $800 in product sales, especially since the commission rate is so low. The upside is you don't have a time period to reach this amount.
Is Maskcara a Scam? NO
Now that you what Maskcara is about, does that mean it's a scam? Doesn't it look like a pyramid scheme?
To be fair, Maskcara is not a scam or a pyramid scheme. They offer legitimate cosmetic products that seem to be of good quality.
Nevertheless, it still is a MLM, and MLM systems rarely work out, for reasons mentioned in the guide we linked to earlier in this review.
If you missed it, here it is again: the Ultimate Network Marketing Vs. Affiliate Marketing Guide.
Summing it Up with Maskcara:
Let's break it down. To start promoting Maskcara you need to pay a minimum of $199 + $11.95/month and that entitles you to only promoting the products as an affiliate, for a 20% commission rate. That's not a great opportunity.
There are affiliate programs out there, which are free to join, and you can earn a much higher commission rate, with no sales requirements or stress. If you could promote something that you like, for free, and earn 50% or more in commission rates, wouldn't you do it?
In my opinion, if you're looking to make extra money online, affiliate marketing is the best option for you. Why? Because it's so easy to start. Plus you can turn an affiliate site into an eCommerce site, membership site, whatever.
But you do need traffic, and my recommended program teaches you all about how to build a website that drives targeted traffic to your affiliate offers.
Hit the link below to learn more.
Thanks for reading our Maskara review. Hopefully now you know what is Maskcara about and how the opportunity works and the requirements you need to meet. I hope you have enough information to make the right choice. Leave a comment if you have any questions.
It seems that you have to work hard to make a short amount of money while others get rich with your hard work. I think that’s what all MLM’s are about, just make people work hard to make them rich.
I really appreciate the time you took to research and write this article as it will help others to avoid this kind of MLM “opportunity”. They just want to take money from you without any recognition. Even if you are a good seller, people prefer to go with trust-able brands over new brands. So it makes this MLM job harder for people that want just to make a little more money.
I liked this post a lot because when I’m looking for this kind of information I want to know real prices and you did a break down as well as the pros and cons of this MLM Maskcara.
Thanks for sharing.
Hi Andres,
Thanks for your feedback on Maskcara. It’s important that people who are new to marketing get a realistic perspective about the MLM opportunity and not just hear all the hype that every mlm uses.
So many unexpected newbie marketers fall trap to these types of systems because they think it’s an easy way to create a business based on someone else’s products. Unfortunately, it usually takes a loss of hundreds if not 1,000’s of dollars for them to realize that systems like Maskcara are outdated and don’t benefit anyone but the people who started the mlm.
hey,
Great post! I had heard of MLM companies before, but didn’t know much about them. Thanks for showing what they really are and that the risks you take financially are not worth the possible outcomes.
I am part of the Wealthy Affiliate network that you suggest as an alternative and I can only confirm it is great in terms of quality and income possibilities (abd simple to understand, too). It definitely seems to make more sense for beginners than joining a network for 200$!
Great points Alex and so true. It’s so easy to start an online business these days and with the right training and support it makes it a no-brainer.
MLM’s like Maskcara are a tough sell when you use the approach that most network marketers use. But if you love the product there’s much better ways to promote Maskcara. Check out free targeted traffic ebook to learn more.
Best,
Todd
I personally do not like MLM companies because I have to spend a lot of money and they don’t know whether I’ll get success or not. I believe affiliate marketing is the best way to earn a sustainable income online.
Thank you for your in-depth information about another MLM company, Maskcara. Normally most of the MLM companies are strict about monthly sales. But what you have said in the next 2 points are not general. It is really bad that they pay only through their payment portal, Paylution. The next one is more worst! You have to be in the training period until you generate a minimum of $800 in sales! Moreover, during the training period, you won’t be able to make commissions on direct-referrals! These are disgusting.
Thank you for letting us know about Maskcara. After reading your Maskcara review, I’d say, maybe Maskcara is not a scam, but close to a scam.
Or at least a really poor opportunity to make money by selling or promoting Maskcara. Most people look over these fine details until their frustrated by not making any sales and most are left with a product that maybe they use, maybe they don’t. But most walk away thinking it’s a scam because they didn’t have success.
The reality is most MLM’s are just an uphill battle to begin with and that’s why 97% of the mlm’s out there make little not no money.
Affiliate marketing is an even field where anyone can find success. No down-lines, just straight up marketing and selling products. It’s like recommending a movie to a friend.
Good Morning Todd,
When I saw the title of your post for a split second I thought it was a mistake.Strange that a company takes on a name which is a misspelled word. Perhaps they did it on purpose as for sure it draws attention?
I know quite a bit about MLM and it seems that Maskcara is not a good one. $200 is quite a big sum to join and they require a high amount of buying/selling. It will be difficult to keep up with it. Looking at the monthly requirements I can see it is a tough system which puts its distributors under a lot of pressure. To not be paid a commission is one thing but to lose your rank is really the limit.
I do not like their payment method and neither this training period. I know an old and well established MLM which is way better than Maskcara. Thank you for the information, this is definitely not for me.
Regards, Taetske
Nice Taetske,
There’s no doubt Maskcara has a number of problems that would make this a pass for most people. If you really want to promote makeup. Better to start your own niche site and then you can recommend the best brands of makeup and use affiliate marketing to get paid. It’s a much better model and no dependency on a company with an mlm reputation.
Thanks,
Todd
Their marketing program looks complicated, besides we already have AVON which is almost the same when it comes to selling. Seriously, we opt for transparency when we put up a business. Maskcara doesn’t provide this for their members. The payout is high too and if you’re not good in the business, you’ll end up loosing your capital and nothing in return for you. It’s also bad if can’t meet the quota. There is no support in Maskcara. Agents must really think hard before joining. Also, it’s a tight competition with the products they are selling.
Excellent points MissusB. It’s a tough sale for most marketers and when you realize the sale is not just makeup, but the opportunity, then it becomes even more different.
MLM’s have such a bad reputation that it would be tough to sell the opportunity.
Thanks for your feedback on Maskcara, much appreciated.
I wish I had happened upon your informative site some years back when I was starting out in learning how to make money online. I happened to buy into a few MLM opportunities and lost valuable time and money.
MLM companies are ever evolving to capture unsuspecting individuals into parting with their hard-earned money. Furthermore, with the initial investment, the amount of time involved for training, plus trying to manage a big enough team to put in the required work to make a passive income online is daunting.
From reading the information you provided, It seems to me that the Affiliate Marketing route would be the best direction to start with in generating an income online.
I have bookmarked this article to come back and later follow up with the information you outlined.
Thnx
MJ
Hey MJ,
Thanks for your feedback on our Maskcara review and you make some great points. Affiliate marketing is an amazing way to start an online business because there’s very little financial risk. And the cool thing about an affiliate marketing based businesses is that they can generate so much income.
So there’s a ton of potential for anybody is willing to work at it. As a matter fact I wrote a really cool post about some recent success stories in affiliate marketing and you can check it out here…
10 awesome affiliate marketing success stories
For me personally, I was able to start making money online within a couple weeks and then it just grew as I continued to grow my business. The great thing about it is that as you start to develop organic traffic, it has kind of a Snowball Effect where all the sudden you’re making commissions 24/7. Plus an online business never sleeps and you can get clients from all over the world. The more you grow your business, the more income you make so it’s pretty straightforward.
Check out some of the success stories, many of these people were able to make 4 figure incomes in a matter of months online.
Thanks,
Todd
A good review of another MLM company called Maskcara that needed ‘unmasking’ that you have provided. I am not a fan of MLMs at all, and this one has all the trappings and reasons I stay away from them and always advise would-be entrepreneurs to stay away as well.
It is true that you can make money with MLMs, but the cost of getting to the table to be eligible to receive and continue to receive commissions are often high, and you are under immediate pressure to get sales to justify shelling out the money to be able to get paid.
The Maskcara compensation plan involves all the normal levels and qualifications plus caveats that you must fulfill to make more commissions, and this is where the recruitment angle comes in that I do not like. There is often more pressure to recruit than to sell the products in such companies.
I agree with you that there are more attractive programs for affiliate marketing that are available and the entry costs are much lower. Most companies do not charge at all to promote their products, but there is a requirement to have a platform to promote and make money from often. Generally, this means having a website and some supporting social accounts.
In any scenario, you also need traffic and leads. That is true whether you are selling offline or online, and there is a process to generate these that can involve money, or better, allows you to draw in organic (free) traffic. Free is good but takes longer.
The platform that you link to will teach you how to get that free traffic and it has a tested and proven path that is taught. It would also work for the Maskcara program actually, but again, why pay a lot of money for the privilege of promoting someone’s product? The Maskcara company is not a scam, but it is a hard and expensive way to make money.
Beautifully stated Dave And some excellent points you make about the mlm Maskcara. And you are 100% right about affiliate marketing, it’s a straightforward and easy process. I like to think of it as giving a referral to a friend. It’s really easy to recommend a product when you know and like it. And making a website these days is super easy. So anybody who’s looking into an MLM opportunity as a way to make money online should take our free training course first before spending any money.
That way you get to see the difference between affiliate marketing and multi-level marketing and see what you think will work best for you. Like most people, once they understand the difference between the two, they prefer affiliate marketing.
For anybody who needs to know the difference of the two Marketing Systems, check out this post about network marketing vs. affiliate marketing.
Thanks,
Todd
I don’t have an experience with this specific company (Maskcara) but plenty with the MLM industry as a whole. In my personal blog, I detailed the reason why I quit doing MLM business and I’d like to share here what it is.
There’s a good part in MLM where it is supposed to be a system for multiplying distributors of products. People are expected to operate their businesses like they are mobile stores for the products and earning from enrolling other store owners would just be a bonus and not the main thing. But unfortunately, upon the purchase of the member kit and initial product inventory, most people get into the “hurry mode”. In a hurry to recover what has been invested, their minds become focused on recruiting others and as we know it, it’s not the easy to recruit. The usual end result is, disillusioned distributors frustrated on how to get even with others.
I don’t want to become an agent of frustration. If I got frustrated with my own business, I don’t want to spread the virus by sharing the opportunity to become frustrated to others. In MLM, there’s a saying that the game needed is duplication but what is being duplicated in most times? Frustrations.
To the idealists, they will argue that I dwell on negative thinking. But let me remind them that I’ve been here for more than decade now and in all of those years doing the business, it’s the reality that I saw. Multiplying frustrations to others, and I no longer happy being an agent of that.
That was really nicely stated Gomer. I think anybody who’s looking into any kind of MLM including mascara should read what you wrote. It makes 100% sense to me and I also have done mlms in the past and I’ve been working online for almost a decade. So I would highly encourage anybody to look into affiliate marketing or e-commerce/drop-shipping before going into an MLM.
Thanks so much for your feedback on our mascara review. Take care, Todd