Elizabeth asks…Hi! I’m new to this site, but was impressed by the thorough analysis done on other products.
My daughter is selling NYR Organic bodycare products and I was wondering if any here have tried it, and would be interested in hearing an analysis from the brains of the group! I’m not a hardcore organic person, but was impressed at how quickly a small 3rd degree burn healed when I used their lavender oil on it, and then I went to a “practice party” that my daughter did, I was able to check out a few more products. As a good mom would, I am scheduled to host a party, but I am more interested in the analysis of the product before I make any kind of investment in it.
Left Brain launches:
So sorry about the delay in answering, Liz, we are working hard on meeting our deadline for our new Beauty Brains book. But I thought I’d take time out to answer this one since enlightening people to the realities of multi-level marketing (e.g. Arbonne) is one of my favorite things to do.
So, your question is basically….Should you invest in NYR Organic?
NYR Organic products
I’ve never used NYR Organic products but you can learn a lot about a product by reviewing the ingredient list. It turns out that they use the same ingredients that everyone else uses. In the cosmetic industry, nearly everyone has access to the same ingredients and ingredient suppliers. Bigger companies will sometimes get exclusive deals, but it’s rare that anyone can gain an advantage by the source of their raw materials. NYR Organic is no different.
As a quick example, look at their Rose Body Cream
You can click the link for the full list but basically the formula is water, emulsifier (glyceryl stearate) and an oil phase (cetearyl alcohol, Lanolin alcohol, Shea butter, etc). It’s probably a fine formula as they no doubt work with some excellent cosmetic chemists. But this formula isn’t any better than something like Burt’s Bees body butter. And at $36 for 5.2 ounces, NYR Organic doesn’t even compare in value to Burt’s Bees product at $13 for 6.6 ounces.
Of course, even Burt’s isn’t even as good a value as something like Neutrogena Body Cream at $7.70 for 6 ounces.
But the point is, there is nothing about NYR Organic formulas that makes them superior to other, less expensive products you can buy. And if you find the natural / organic story compelling, then Burt’s Bees, JASON, or any of the other host of “natural / organic” products you can buy at regular stores will be a better value.
NYR Organic Sales System
I do not know any more about this company than what I’ve read on their website. However, from your description of hosting parties and “investing” in the products, it sounds very much like a system of distribution called Network Marketing or Multi-Level Marketing. In this system, they get “consultants” to buy products, sell them to their friends & family, and then try to get the “consultants” to convert their friends into consultants who will then give them a kickback on every sale.
The whole system is very much like a pyramid scheme in which no one (except the people who started the company) really makes any significant money. Of course, it’s not an illegal pyramid scheme because product is actually produced and sold.
Before you invest any money in this company or any other, be sure to read this information about Multi-level Marketing.
And if the guy at Skeptoid doesn’t make you think twice, read what the FTC has to say about Multilevel Marketing.
Beauty Brains Bottom line
Should you buy into the NYR Organic system and become a consultant? Ultimately, you have to decide this for yourself. But if the reasons are because the products are something special (they aren’t) or that you’ll make a lot of money (you won’t), then you’ll be best served by skipping this “opportunity”.
What do you think about multilevel marketing opportunities? Have you joined and made money? Leave a comment below and let the other Beauty Brains community members know.
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I have been following Beauty brain for a long period of time and because of wanting to know more about the fact’s about the skincare products, I took up a diploma course in Cosmetics Science.
Now, I am a independent distributor in Forever Living Products. This company is the largest grower, manufacturer and distributor of Aloe Vera in the world. I choose this company is because they emphasize a lot of the quality of the products. Forever Living is one of the companies where Aloe Vera is the 1st ingredient in all of their Skincare products.
Forever Living Products have offices in 140 countries and going into our 32 years of operating.
I just want to make known to all that most of the MLM companies are only the top making the most money. However, there are a handful of companies, like Forever Living, are doing their best to educate the public on the right concept of MLM and deliver the best quality of products.
Before joining any MLM company, it is very important to study their company background, their marketing plan and their quality of products. The most important if the MLM company have a education system to guide you how to do business. Not everyone is gifted to do business, however it can be taught.
Learn how to identify a right MLM company, you will benefit much more from it.
Jasmine from Singapore.
Brain – you missed it – on the bottom of the NYL site, you can see a little note “Neal’s Yard”….
Not sure what note you’re talking about. Can you include a link?
Hmm…Neal’s Yard appears to be the parent company. And, unlike Christa, they seem to be a pretty bad parent.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/devon/7385718.stm
http://www.quackometer.net/blog/2008/04/neals-yard-remedies-offers-lethal.html
Hi Christa,
The Beauty Brains is right…. NYR’s products are not totally natural, yet alone organic. Their products include synthetic chemicals or chemically processed naturally derived ingredients like Sodium lauroyl sarcosinate, Cocamidopropyl betaine, which I noticed in the face wash and Coco-glucoside, Ammonium lauryl sulfate and hydroxypropyltrimonium chloride in the Rose Shampoo. As for some of the products that claim to be 95% organic (like the baby lotion), it is probable that they are counting water content, infused with weak “tea bags” of organic herbs which is kind of “cheating the system” in order to get by using organic as a marketing term.
Its so frustrating and confusing to sort through marketing claims used in natural and organic body care products. I understand as I have been there many times myself. Here is a very helpful and informative UTube video on Certified Organic Products created by the founder of Miessence product line with information on how to spot “real organic” vs. “fake organic” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pP68RWCQECM (you can copy and paste this link into your browser)
Since “Natural” and “organic” claims abound with no regulations on those terms, companies are free to use them as they wish. Really the only way to validate these claims is to bring products for personal care up to the standards of organic food.
If you or your daughter are interested in natural and organic products, then be sure to look for products certified to organic food standards. If the product is certified organic by the USDA, ACO (Australia Certified Organic), JAS (Japans Agricultural Standards) or other international government bodies to food grade standards then there is no ingredient allowed that would not be allowed in certified organic food. Literally safe enough to eat! Any certified organic product contains (excluding water and salt) at least 95% organically produced agricultural ingredients. The remaining ingredients (up to 5%) can be non-agricultural substances or non-organically produced agricultural ingredients, with strict processing criteria (eg. absolutely no GMOs or synthetics chemicals).
If your daughter enjoys sharing products with family and friends and working in an MLM structure then have her visit my site and contact me about Miessence. They are an amazing company with products that are CERTIFIED TO ORGANIC FOOD STANDARDS. Truly natural, truly organic and exceptionally effective. In addition, it is also worth mentioning that Miessence certified organic products are 100% bioactive, meaning there is no water added to the formulations as “filler”. You are getting a highly concentrated, highly potent product. Miessence offers a patented cold formulation to protect the integrity of the ingredients with no heating in the processing. So the precious organic nutrients and oils are preserved and shipped off fresh. Products should be used within 6 months since no chemical preservatives are used to make the shelf life years and years.
As for MLMs companies, I completely agree with the post above from Jasmine. If you do your homework on the company, on the product quality and the support offered, there really is no way to lose. Of course there is no such thing as “easy money” – time and effort are the only way to grow a business.
For the products visit:
http://www.organicglow.com
Best to you,
Alison