Pink power fulfills white wishes

I am partial to the month of March, and I have valid reason. For one, it marks the start of summer and for another more important reason, March is International Women’s Month. I kick off my own celebration of womanity by focusing on an admirable woman who has achieved success, both by acquiescing and going beyond female stereotypes.

If we’re talking girl power, entrepreneur Mary Kay Ash is a poster woman at the forefront. Her namesake company is one of the largest direct-selling skincare and color cosmetic companies in the world, spanning 30 international markets with more than $1.8 billion in sales in 2004. Mary Kay Ash’s success is so impressive that her company is one of the 20 profiled in the 1996 book Forbes Greatest Stories of All Time. She is the only woman to have made the list. That same year, she was inducted into the Business Hall of Fame by Fortune magazine. In 2004, she was named one of the 25 most influential business leaders in the last 25 years by PBS and Wharton School of Business.

Mary Kay did all this by taking pride in what she is: a creative, beauty-savvy woman partial to the color pink (a company signature). But she also matched the sugar with some spice: independence, determination, and aggressiveness. Through her accomplishments, Mary Kay, the woman and the company, has inspired women all over the world to be their own beauty-savvy boss. Hundreds of thousands of women worldwide are independent direct-selling beauty consultants for Mary Kay. More than 30,000 of these women sell for Mary Kay Philippines, the 30th subsidiary of Mary Kay, Inc.

It costs as little as P1,795 to start a Mary Kay business. The hours are your own and the benefits are good: Each year, Mary Kay Philippines gives more than P2 million in incentive awards to independent beauty consultants and independent sales directors. Awards include diamond-studded rings and bumblebee pins (the bumblebee is another Mary Kay signature) and trips abroad. Commendable sales force members also get free use of the Mary Kay Honda Civic and Honda City cars. In Pink, of course.

Mary Kay Philippines also offers skincare classes to its beauty consultants to other prospective clients. These classes not only give women a chance to test Mary Kay products pre-purchase, but also teach women to make the most of their facial features and give importance to their skin. Mary Kay’s skincare lines address specific skin types and skin concerns. Their latest product range, PureWhite, answers women’s discernible desire for radiant, fairer skin.

Specially formulated for Asian skin, the PureWhite system protects against damaging UV rays, harmful free radicals, and polluting agents. An exclusive Lucentrix technology features a Triple Layer Action, which targets skin discoloration not just at the surface layer, the stratum corneum, but also at the second and third layers of the skin, the dermis and epidermis, respectively. This whitening effect then works its way to the surface, lightening dark spots and blemishes that have already appeared.

Seven products make up the new PureWhite range – a cleanser, softener, essence, day lotion with SPF 15, night cream, mask, and liquid foundation. Each product contains the Lucentrix technology and features a nourishing and energizing blend of nutrients, vitamins, and natural botanical extracts. All seven products, when used together, promise an overall brightening effect in two weeks, and a decrease in skin discoloration by as much as 50 percent in eight weeks.

Had Mary Kay Ash been alive today (she passed away in November 2001), she probably would have praised the PureWhite System. Just like International Women’s Month, she reveled in celebrating the triumphs, intellect, and individual beauty of women. Only, she’d do it the whole year round.

Mary Kay Philippines has four beauty centers in Makati, Quezon City, Cebu, and Davao. For more information on Mary Kay and the PureWhite System, call 859-6211 or log on to www.marykay.com.ph.

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