Lately, I’ve been seeing a lot of people on social media talking about Seint cosmetics. I have to admit, the videos make it look really impressive. I’m not great with contour, so the idea of foundation, contour, blush, and highlight all in one palette is really appealing. I would love to be able to easily apply and blend and suddenly have a full face of makeup. But one little thing in the videos made me suspicious. Is Seint an MLM?
What is Seint?
Seint is a makeup company from Cara Brook. Formerly known as Maskcara, Seint primarily advertises their customized palettes. In a single palette, you have highlight, contour, lip/cheek, and illuminator. Put them all on your face in paint-by-number style and blend, and voila! At least, that’s how they make it seem. They claim that the makeup “enhances skin tone, camouflages blemishes and dark circles, sculpts features, and creates the “perfect lighting” on your face.”
So why was I suspicious of Seint? Because every person showing it says you should reach out to them for a color match. Let’s be honest, who doesn’t want help picking foundation colors? But when someone is immediately trying to get your contact information, that screams MLM to me.
Is Seint an MLM?
Yes. Seint is a multi-level marketing company, or MLM. To buy, you need to purchase through an independent “artist.” (You can currently buy from the Seint website, but that will just link you to an independent artist.) I found a copy of their compensation plan, and as with all of these companies, artists make money based on what they sell and on what the people “beneath” them sell. Classic pyramid scheme.
Screenshot from Seint Compensation Plan, Accessed 4/24/2023.
And the thing is, the product may be great! But by purchasing, you’re supporting a business model that takes advantage of people. And it probably increases the cost of the product unreasonably.
What Can I Use Instead?
There are plenty of great makeup palettes out there. One that is similar to Seint, but that has better reviews and costs less is Salt New York. That is far from the only one. Just remember – if you can only purchase from a consultant, and that consultant tries to get you to sign up under them, that’s a distinct sign that it’s an MLM and you should avoid those at all costs.
Read More:
- Essential Oil MLM: Why they’re even more dangerous
- Five Reasons That Make MLMs Attractive to Women
- Can You Make Money Selling Lipsense?
Megan is a 40-something government employee in the Washington, DC area. She got interested in Personal Finance when she got out of college and realized that her paycheck wasn’t going to go as far as she had hoped. Since starting this blog, she has managed to buy a house and make a solid start on her retirement goals, and hopes to help others do the same. Here is her story:
In 2007, I was a gainfully employed 20-something with no debt but not a lot of knowledge about personal finance. It was a co-worker’s comment about Roth IRAs that sent me to the internet, searching for information. It was then that I realized that I really didn’t know a whole lot about personal finance and that my current financial situation was due a lot to inherent frugal tendencies, generous family members, a fear of debt, and good luck. While that was working for me, clearly I needed a better plan.
While I had no debt, I was also pretty much living paycheck to paycheck and not worrying about going over budget (I say this as if I had a real budget) because I had an emergency fund set aside to cover any overages.
Except that’s not what an emergency fund is for.
So I did a lot of research, read a lot of blogs, and decided that I needed a plan. I needed to budget. I needed to know what I was spending my money on. I needed to prepare for the future.
I decided to create a blog not only to make myself accountable to others but also to share the knowledge that I gained along the way. I’ve learned so much from my fellow bloggers, and I hope that my readers can find something useful in what I have to share as well.
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