Nope, it wasn’t Mary Kay… Arbonne was my introduction to the world of MLMs. It’s not surprising, with my love for nutrition and taking care of my body.
But I don’t support Arbonne after years of buying their nutrition products and even being an independent consultant. The reasons might not be what you expect, so I’ll spell them out below.
Let me explain what led to my decision to stop purchasing products from Arbonne.
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*Disclaimer: I am human. I write from the heart and from experience: not to suit any algorithm or perfectly curated feed. I have chosen to continue to write a blog in the days of Reddit and Substack because it means that I OWN my articles and ability to finance my writing. I am in the process of removing all affiliate links from my site and minimizing ads so that you may focus on the article itself. Enjoy!
Problems with Arbonne as a Company
Just to be clear, I’m not going to remove my previous posts about Arbonne products. I did enjoy using them and there are many things about the company itself which are great!
But I find the method of sales to be problematic (which I’ll go in depth into in this article). My aim is not to take away sales from Arbonne or to disparage the company or anyone associated with it, only to educate people about the problematic nature of MLMs in general.
Because I’m certain people will want to attack me for saying this, I want to clarify:
I’m not saying not to purchase supplements or makeup from Arbonne. But please do your research and make sure that the history of MLMs aligns with your values.
(I am an advocate for personal choice, so if it floats your boat, go for it!)
It’s not the products that make me not want to support Arbonne.
I can’t support Arbonne because it’s an MLM.
MLMs are Problematic: It’s the Marketing, Not the Products
Arbonne is classified as a Multi-level Marketing corporation, or MLM. Basically, MLMs differ from traditional businesses in the way they market, which focuses on selling to friends, family, and other people in your direct community.
This type of marketing relies on emotional connection to increase conversion rates, and if that sentence feels icky to you… GOOD. I’ll talk more about this in a later section, but just remember that there is a distinct difference between supporting someone’s art and being sold to.
MLMs place a priority on recruiting those friends and family to become new sellers, and this is how people (women) have increased financial success within the MLM—it’s a popularity contest.
How many friends do you have? How many acquaintances can you convince that these products are the perfect ones for them?
Scarcity and Urgency Tactics
Like most things in a capitalist society, MLMs play on people’s fear that there won’t be enough to go around, or that they will miss out on this urgent deal if they don’t sign up right now.
This is icky at best and extremely manipulative at worst. As someone who is anti-capitalist, I believe that people should have the time to decide for themselves if a product is right for them, or if they truly need something. (This is often why I don’t mind paying full price for a product if I know for certain it is exactly what I want or need.)
Cult-like loyalty
This kind of organization rewards people who are loyal and always engaged. I was not even involved for very long, but the warmth of “this is an amazing opportunity” and “we’re a family here” was very enticing.
(There is evidence that neurodivergent people like me are more susceptible to this type of organization, especially at the beginning, more on this below.)
If there was ever a thing as toxic positivity, being involved with Arbonne was it! And I don’t blame the two women I worked under for their involvement in this. They were puppets as much as I was.
Risk as Personal Development Investment
Last, MLMs downplay the cost of joining (30 day kits, startup fees) as simply being an investment in your “business.” They overplay the potential for returns on your time investment and pretend that there’s absolutely no risk involved.
I had only really invested enough to get myself started, and the discount I received on the products, ALL OF WHICH I ACTUALLY USED, was enough to justify the purchase.
But some of these women purchase a massive amount upfront so she can pass out samples, host parties, and get others involved. It rarely ever pays off in the long run.
RELATED POST: 9 Easy Ways to Nourish Your Body for Optimal Health
MLMs and Connections to Systems of Oppression
The questionable marketing principles of MLMs is already icky enough, even before you add in gender and racial considerations. Our world is already full of systems of oppression as is, and MLMs ask you to participate in them willingly, wrapped up in a pretty pink package with a bow and a promise for financial fulfillment.
Gender and Racial Expectations
MLMs market themselves primarily to women who want to stay at home with their kids while still making some money.
This is white feminism at its finest.
Just generations ago, white women were the only ones who could afford to stay at home with their kids while the husband earned an income outside of the home, mostly at the expense of black women.
If you haven’t heard of the mammy stereotype, please do yourself a favor and research this topic. Even poor white families could typically afford a black mammy.
This would leave white mothers/wives with the opportunity to earn a little extra income while the black woman raised her children.
Male-Dominated Leadership
Although most of the people at the lower levels of MLM are women, the top level executives are often all men, showing yet another example of gender disparity and gender pay gap.
I did some research on Arbonne, and it turns out that about half the top level execs are men, including the CEO, though the CFO is a woman. Not as bad as I would have thought, but considering almost all the lower level employees are women (making the overall company 79% female), that still feels exploitative to me.
Female Empowerment?
MLMs reinforce the idea that women who sell their products are “boss babes” or “mom bosses” or the like. Hell, even I fell victim to that pre-2020!
It sounds empowering, but I believe I heard Kasia Urbaniak once say that, to “empower” someone makes it sound like that power is being granted or bestowed upon that person by an outside force. In other words, that the MLM itself is the reason a woman can call herself a boss babe… not because the woman is just ambitious, strategic, and powerful on her own.
MLMs bestow a false sense of power onto their sales women.
Centering Whiteness
Take a look at the marketing of any number of MLM products, from Mary Kay, to Arbonne, to Doterra. Who do you think is their main target?
It’s white women. Now, there’s no problem in different companies marketing to different demographics. That’s pretty well established as a normal thing in business.
However, where the problem lies is if a company centers whiteness as the ideal. Honestly, with all the “clean girl aesthetic” and “quiet luxury” trends, what company isn’t centering whiteness right now?
Again, many other MLMs are worse culprits than Arbonne, which has always been pretty inclusive.
Arbonne as a Neurodivergent Person
The last point I want to bring up is a personal one and less rooted in the systemic problems.
I have ADHD. I suspect I may be autistic as well and deeply resonate with the Level 1 individuals. Typically, people with ADHD, autism, or other mental conditions that are deemed “neurodivergent” (instead of neurotypical), have a hard time reading others’ intentions and don’t like playing mind games.
Instead, we prefer direct communication. We tend to take things at face value. This article is specifically about domestic abuse, but it outlines a point I want to make here.
Because neurodivergent people can struggle to understand social norms, we may be more susceptible to control and manipulation.
I’m not at all suggesting that joining an MLM is on par with domestic abuse, but neurodivergent people may be easier for companies like this to manipulate.
I wasn’t diagnosed until after I had done my short stint with Arbonne, but looking back, I can see my own neurodivergence in my decision to join. I saw two beautiful, healthy, extraverted women who wanted to “include” me in their business. (I had felt excluded my whole life, so being asked to join something is incredibly enticing.) I could feel the ickiness of wanting to sell these products to people who were close to me, but because I don’t “get” social norms, I couldn’t see exactly why this was a problem.
My Conclusion
I could go on about colonial narratives and imposing your personal beliefs and products on others, I could talk about exploitative recruitment patterns that target communities of color, and I could talk about other opportunity gaps that are a problem in our society. I could blather at length about how I’ve felt manipulated as a neurodivergent individual.
These issues illustrate the crux of my argument against Arbonne and other MLMs.
Once more, I find that I enjoyed their products, but because I cannot support their marketing and distribution (as well as the cost of products if you don’t have an in), I have decided to look elsewhere for my health, wellness, and beauty products.
Where Do I Get My Products Now?
Let’s just say that I’m not brand loyal. It seems to be the trendy thing to do, to advertise and support particular brands over another in videos or in your advice to others.
I’m trying a lot of different companies, and chances are, I’ll realize half-way down the line that they have some exploitative or icky business principles as well. It’s bound to happen.
But it becomes problematic once you start thinking that one particular brand, or product, one particular WAY of doing things is the ONLY way. And it’s problematic if you realize that a company isn’t as great a business as you once thought and turn a blind eye anyway.
We need to call these things out when we see them to give companies the chance to do better.
This is why I no longer support Arbonne. I’m not saying you have to stop buying from them, but my only hope is that you sit with what I’ve said and examine whether you find any of these things to be true for you personally.
Do you get an icky feeling when someone tries to sell you their MLM products?
Do you feel like you’re excluding people from your “club” if you sell with an MLM?
Just think it through. That’s all I’m asking.
Do you still support Arbonne?
Are there other MLMs you don’t support?
Had you heard about why MLMs are icky before?
Please drop a comment below and share your opinion (even if it’s one you don’t think I’ll like!)
