Is LimeLife an MLM Company (Enterprise or Expense!)

Limelife Review

Intro.

To save you the trouble of reading through to the end, here’s your answer. Yes, LimeLife is an MLM company. Read through and you’ll see proof.

If you’ve been confused about the name, there’s a good reason for this. Before I get started with this LimeLife review, let me give you a brief history about LimeLife.

Back in 1952, the Alvin Cohen founded his family business known as ‘Alcone’. With a passion in the makeup industry, they became well known for selling their products to local actors and theatre artists.

Seeking the need to expand, and grabbing this new found opportunity to make extra dollars by allowing people to partner with them, ‘Alcone At Home’ was born. This was the first entrance into ‘home marketing’, but they didn’t last long under this name.

By 2015, they had decided that for some reason, a name change was on the cards. Maybe the new name wasn’t resonating with clients. So, a new name was branded called ‘Limelight by Alcone’. Natural luxury skincare products are added to their beauty line of cosmetics at this time.

Then in May of 2018, a final rebrand with the name ‘LimeLife by Alcone’ becoming their new brand name. I say ‘final rebrand’, but who really knows! Part of this change incorporated beauty guides from around the world.

Anyway, now you’re familiar with why you’ve seen so many names for the same company. Now we can get on with this LimeLife review.

Quick Navigation

What is LimeLife
How To Get Started With LimeLife
LimeLife Payment Structure
What Products Are Involved
MLM Success Is Rare
LimeLife Concerns
Is Limelife a Pyramid Scheme
Is There a Better Alternative
My Verdict

What is LimeLife

LimeLife is a beauty care business, who have a passion for top-quality professional makeup. In particular, they produce all-natural skin care which they claim are free from harmful chemicals and unsafe ingredients.

So, as a LimeLife partner, you’ll be joining as a ‘LimeLife by Alcone’ beauty guide. This is your chance to sell makeup and earn money from sales you make. With such a strong history, LimeLife by Alcone should have many happy beauty guides, and I’m sure this is the case.

You’ll have the advantage of earning commissions from each sale you make, and the possibility of building your own team of people. This gives you the potential to earn commissions from the sales that your team members make.

So let’s have a deeper look at how to get started with LimeLife and what the compensation structure looks like.

How To Get Started With LimeLife

Signing up to become a LimeFife beauty guide is simple. On the homepage, you’ll see a link that says ‘Join Us’.

Once you click on this, you’ll be taken to their enrollment information page, which will give you some explanation of what you can expect when you join up as a LimeLife by Alcone partner.

At the beginning of the page, you’ll hear the good stuff, about earning up to 35% sales commission and a percentage of your team’s total sales. Then you’ll be shown the 3 steps involved in signing up:

1. PICK YOUR STARTER KIT
2. COMPLETE YOUR ONLINE APPLICATION
3. AGREE

I’d like to make you more aware about the section below these steps though, which are more important.

First, you’ll have to pay an annual fee of $115AUD to continue as an active Beauty Guide. Secondly, you’ll also be paying $15AUD per month (first month free) to run your own ‘replicated’ promotional website. This will be automatically charged to your credit card, just so you’re aware. These costs will vary depending on your country of registration.

I’m a bit concerned that it’s a replicated website, because this means it will not rank in the search engines. Duplicate content is frowned upon in Google, Bing and co, so good luck with anyone seeing this website of yours.

So, once you click on ‘Choose Your Started Kit and Submit Your Application’, you’ll be taken to a page where you can choose the starter kit you’d like to purchase.

Choosing Your Starter Kit

An absolute requirement to get you started, is a LimeLife starter kit. There’s 4 variations of similar nature. They alter depending on the tone complexion. It’s suggested that you choose the complexion that best suits your own, because by wearing the product, this is the best way to promote your business.

The 4 Starter kits are as below:

• Starter Kit – Light
• Starter Kit – Medium
• Starter Kit – Dark
• Starter Kit – Deep

All these starter kits will set you back a set amount depending on your country of origin. Here’s the costs for some countries:

• United States – $169
• Australia – $300
• Canada – $212

Depending on the currency conversion at the time, these prices may vary. However, I’d suggest as the company was founded in New York, it will be based around the US dollar.

So, what do you receive in a starter kit? Glad you asked. Here’s a list of the starter kit items:

• 1 Cleanser, 1 Mask
• 1 Moisturizer
• 1 Dew Date
• 1 Bamboo Renew
• 1 Perfect Mascara
• 1 Blenderful
• 1 Enduring Lip Liner
• 1 Strike Rich Brow Gel
• 1 Perfect Lip Gloss
• 2 Perfect Lipsticks
• 1 Perfect Eyeliner Pen
• 1 Blush/Powder Trio Palette
• 10 Catalogues
• 1 Set of Foundation Cards
• Training Materials

Except for a defective product in the starter kit, no basic starter kits are refundable or exchangeable at any point.

You can probably tell that the costs are beginning to add up before you even start. If you’re a LimeLife Australian beauty guide, you’ll need to make over $50 per month just to break even.

Enrollment

Once you’ve chosen your starter kits and progressed to the next section, you’ll be asked a few personal questions as part of the registration process. You’ll be prompted that only those over the age of 18 can apply.

Along with your personal information, you’ll be asked to enter a name for your website. And of course, you’ll need a password to enter the backend of this website.

You’ll enter your shipping details (basically your postal address), and payment information. Agree to the terms and conditions and you’re ready to submit your application.

Now you’re aware of the start up costs and what you need to begin, let’s take a look at the compensation plan.

LimeLife Payment Structure

What concerns me greatly, is that fact that I went through the setup process to the point where all I needed to do was submit my application, and at no point did I come across the compensation plan for earning through future team members.

So, I’m expected to commit my money to LimeLife and not see exactly how much money I can make back, and how this will be achieved. I even went through the terms & conditions, with no link to a compensation plan.

The homepage says ‘the opportunity to earn up to 35% sales commission’, which suggest any amount under 35%. This is just for making sales, not commission from team members.

It goes on to say ‘if you choose to lead a team, a percentage of your team’s total sales’. Well, I’d like to know what percentage.

Now I’m assuming that once you’re signed up to LimeLife, you will be given this information. That’s great, but I’d like to know before I sign up.

What I can tell you from going through the Terms & Conditions, is that LimeLife by Alcone is an MLM structured compensation system. It clearly states, that because they are a company whereby through enrollment you can build and/or lead a team and receive compensation for those actions, ‘LimeLife is an MLM company’.

To help us fully grasp the LimeLife compensation plan, here’s the official video explaining the benefits and compensation plan.

I’d like to counter this video with an article I recently read. You can read it for yourself here, which suggests the women losing thousands to online beauty schemes.

What Products Are Involved

I believe the products that LimeLife create are quality products, but are also on the expensive side. Sometimes you have to pay more to get the best, but the health and beauty industry has often been seen as an opportunity to take advantage with inflated prices.

Anyway, LimeLife creates and sells, Skin care products, and make up. Here’s what you’ll find in each category.

Skin Care:

• Cleansers
• Face Masks
• Moisturizers
• Serums
• Face Oils
• Sun Care
• Men’s
• Bath
• Hand & Body
• Dry
• Oily
• Sensitive
• Normal And Combination
• Anti-Aging
• Acne And Blemishes
• Uneven Skin Tone
• Dryness
• Oily Skin And Pores

Makeup:

• Priming and Setting
• Complexion
• Eyes
• Brows
• Lips
• Body
• Custom Palettes
• Makeup Remover
• Makeup Sets & Collections
• Vegan
• Fierce By Aly

Both categories also incorporate a Best Sellers section.

I do like that LimeLife have a large range of products that accommodates just about everyone. However, not all customers are happy with the LimeLife products. Here’s a good explanation of the products by somebody who has bought into the LimeLife system.

MLM Success Is Rare

As we know, MLM’s (Multi Level Marketing schemes) have been around for a long time, and will continue to offer people this kind of income source. It helps the companies promote their brand, and offers a way for certain people to make money.

I say certain people because this kind of opportunity certainly isn’t for everyone. Even though some people suggest the failure rate of those that join up to MLM’s is between 95%-99%, I’ll show you a more conservative estimate.

AARP Foundation did a survey in 2017, which found that out of approximately 20 million Americans that joined an MLM scheme in the hope of making money, 73% either made no money or broke even.

The survey also found that 65% of participants would not join the same MLM company again, and nearly 40% found it awkward to pitch their sales in front of family and friends.

Yet if you read this document by Jon M. Taylor, MBA, Ph.D., from the Consumer Awareness Institute, you’ll see he suggests only 1% of people that join an MLM are profitable. That’s an appalling rate of success if true, and it doesn’t bode well for anyone that wants to become involved in an MLM.

The diagram below explains where all the money goes, with the majority going to the power brokers at the top level of the MLM chain.

So for those keen to get involved with an MLM scheme such as LimeLife, I’d ask yourself what your motivation is first. If you’re doing this because you’re passionate about the natural skin and beauty industry, and don’t mind how much money you make, then maybe this opportunity is for you.

If you’re looking for a money making opportunity, I’d consider other options.

LimeLife Concerns

I have a few reservations about the LimeLife by Alcone Beauty Guide program. Here’s just a few:

1. I’ve read about LimeLife having stock issues. While I understand this can sometimes be hard to avoid, it really doesn’t make you look good as a consultant. If a customer buys a product from you, they will expect it to be in stock, and not have to wait weeks for it to arrive.
2. The initial investment to get started is quite substantial. Anyone that’s been involved in an MLM structured program will testify that it’s difficult to make sales. So making enough to not only cover your costs, but make a profit will be difficult.
3. Sales pitching to your friends and family can be extremely awkward and embarrassing. Once you’ve pitches to them, you’re going to have to find other contacts to host your parties to.
4. Hosting parties cost money too. So don’t forget that this cost needs to be included in your accounts. Often it will be harder to cover the party costs than just inventory and other overheads.
5. I understand from previous LimeLife members that you need to make $300 in sales each month to keep an active account. This means you may have to fork out money for sales yourself if you don’t reach this threshold.

Is Limelife a Pyramid Scheme

Even though some people may suggest LimeLife is a pyramid scheme, I don’t believe this to be the case. Pyramid schemes are illegal in many places, including most states of the US. If LimeLife was a pyramid scheme, it would have been shut down by now.

There’s a distinct difference between pyramid schemes and MLM’s. Because there’s no actual products to a pyramid scheme, members are only recruited to invest money. This becomes an unsustainable business model, because there comes a time when people cease to invest and recruiting becomes impossible.

In the case of an MLM, there’s actual products exchanging hands. So the selling products aspect is what keeps this model afloat, and ultimately in business.

Is There a Better Alternative

The MLM model has been spruiked as an entrepreneurial opportunity for decades. Unfortunately, it’s only going to make those at the top more wealthy, while the little fella works hard for…not much!

As an alternative to this type of business, did you know you can run your own online business without the hard sell. Have you ever heard of affiliate marketing.

First, I want you to go back to an earlier piece in this review. I mentioned that the replica website you receive will never rank because it’s full of duplicate content. The other problem with this type of website, is that you can only promote LimeLife products. LimeLife will not allow you to promote anything else.

What if I told you that you could create your own website, in any niche you like, maybe the skin care or beauty niche, and sell all types of products. Well you can!

In fact if you create a website through these guys, you’ll be provided with all the necessary affiliate marketing training required to be a success. Your website will be hosted with them, all the tools are provided and there’s a community of 1 million people plus to support you all the way.

Oh, and by the time you have to fork out a LimeLife starter kit, monthly hosting, annual fee and possibly extra sales to reach the $300 monthly sales limit, you could have bought a yearly membership to this affiliate marketing training platform for less.

My Verdict

​LimeLife by Alcone is an MLM scheme, but it’s not a pyramid scheme. LimeLife is not a scam either, it’s a genuine company that has been around since 1952.

Although LimeLife is a genuine MLM opportunity, you’ll have to consider what your chances are of making any money with this model of income. In my opinion, I think it will be a hard slog hosting parties to people that have to be convinced to make an appearance.

If you’re just in the to make money, I don’t believe this is the right opportunity for you. You need to have a passion for the products and genuinely believe they will make a difference.

As I mentioned earlier, some experts suggest that only 1% of MLM participants are profitable. That’s a big concern.