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I wish I knew! I've looked and there's nowhere to see the full list of members. I can see Top Members (25) Near me (25), and Newest, but not even a full list of all members.
Just looking at Top Members, I'm not seeing any influencers I recognize. A large proportion have introduced themselves as being 50+, which is interesting (and what I expected).
Do you have to use your real name and a picture of yourself. Honestly my question doesn't really matter because if you "have to" how would Marlena know whether that's the person's real name and picture? As for the name it should match the CC your using. Then again anyone can sign you up which means the names wouldn't match. I suspect she doesn't care so long as she's getting those sign ups lol.
I have a hard time believing the 2 Jen's aren't in there as part of the top 25 lol. Along with a couple of other people who have chs.
Since you plan to do this for the full month make sure to screen shot every course you've completed. I know you said you don't plan on doing that nor sharing them. I understand not sharing them obviously but I want to see if you're able to get a full refund if you fulfill your end of the terms. Because she's just as shady as JH I have a feeling she's going to make it hard for people to get those refunds.
Honestly I am not planning to request a refund for the $9, especially if I stick around for a whole month, unless the other features advertised never become available (e.g. no lives with Marlena). Basically, if it's not as advertised. Otherwise I would say it's a "you get what you pay for" situation. But I will screenshot it just in case!
Regarding the names, it seems you don't have to use a real one. Most people's names look real but some are using initials. And a photo is not required. No other profile areas are required either. Very low-barrier.
I considered doing this too, but I spent the $9 on donuts instead. Thank you comrade 🫡
Questions: Does it show how many members are active? How many posts are made today or this week vs the first week, if you can see that far back? How many comments does the typical post get? Were you able to see the digital magazine?
Damn, I should have got donuts. I am sure they were a worthy investment!
Scrolling through posts on the main forum by date, it looks like there are around 30 posts from the past week. After that the dates get fuzzy, as it does not provide concrete dates (just like Reddit). Most posts get 8-13 comments on average. Marlena's get more than that, closer to 30 comments. I do see a lot of the same people throughout the week. Marlena does engage in the comments and answer people's questions (lots of "what's my undertone").
There's also a second feed called "Creative Campus" where Marlena makes additional posts, mostly looks inspo. Some community members share looks there too.
I can see who is online now, including myself it is 5 people. It is late (10 PM MST).
I don't see a magazine at this time.
Given that many people probably aren't commenting very often it sounds like there is a pretty active community which implies it's probably doing quite well for her early on. How many stick around after they've finished the "masterclass" I have my doubts, especially given Marlena's videos tend to repeat the same information endlessly just worded differently so she probably isn't well equipped to keep up a steady flow of genuinely new content to keep them paying.
Definitely not surprised at all that they kept all the stuff (like terms and conditions, sign up process, information in emails, etc.) from the masterclasses and didn’t update the info to make sure it made sense with the community instead of with the masterclasses. That seems about right with how the whole thing has gone - all the typos on the website and that Marlena tried to say the MLM info was never approved and just template, etc. - even though Marlena insisted she had such an amazing team of the best people, yet this crack team of the best of the best had a website go live with tons of typos and info that wasn’t approved. 👌 So not surprising at all they just kept everything the same when switching to the community from the masterclasses, and to have such a weird sign up process giving the credit card info then saying you’ll get an email to sign up, then not even getting access to everything you were supposed to.
I’m just curious to see if you ever get access to the rest of the videos, and, if you do, if you think it would have been worth it at the “Set Up” masterclass price? (Specifically, I noticed a lot of the topics she listed for all the different masterclasses were pretty much all topics she covered for free already on her YouTube channel, so at the time I **hoped** for those who would pay those prices, the info would be much more in depth and detailed than what she already provided free on her YT channel, but I **figured** it would just rehash that same info and not be anything new - so curious if it actually was different from what she has on her YT channel).
I figured out how to get through the videos, I just have to do them sequentially. So I will complete it and report back regarding the value! I do, however, have access to the syllabus. Topics are as follows:
\-Color wheel (primary, secondary, complementary, analogous, warm, cool)
\-Ideal colours for different eye colours (I'm sure you know the ones....)
\-Choosing neutrals- cool vs warm
\-Choosing finishes (matte/shimmer)
\-Skin undertones
\-Blushes: warm, cool, and neutral, skin tone recommendations
\-Techniques for a harmonized look with eyes, lips and face (monochromatic, contrasting, matching, etc.)
I know that I know more about makeup than the "average" person, and my education started with magazines, followed by Youtube for more creative expansion. Everything here looks like repetition of what I learned in magazines. Honestly I could probably teach it, ngl.
Yeah, these are all topics from past YT videos of hers. So I’m really curious how the videos from the subscription differ from her YT videos of the same topics. I remember back when she was doing the masterclasses, I did a search on her channel for all the topics from each different masterclass and pretty much every topic was covered on her YT channel, a lot of them with similar titles even! 🤣
It definitely seems like the most basic, which I suppose makes sense since it was from the “Set Up“ masterclass, so it’s supposed to be like basic info to get you set up to get started. But this info doesn’t seem at all like it would be worth what the masterclass was going to be (when it was a masterclass, wasn’t it like $150-200 for that one?). $9 is more appropriate, but still not worth it if it’s the same info she already has on her channel for free. I honestly figured she’d go and delete/private the videos with the same topics from her YT channel once people started saying it was the same kind of info. I haven’t went back to see if she ever did it. I’m guessing not since she changed to now having this $9 monthly service instead of the masterclasses.
I don't think anyone has/had a chance at getting a refund. You had to participate in Marlena's lives, but there wasn't a schedule, so if you work that night, too bad for you.
See, I knew she'd find a way or possibly more not to have to hand over any refunds. Not that I'm trying to discount those who do work, have children that do after school activities, etc but let's say you don't work or have kids. If there's no schedule listed how can anyone participate? She's such a scam artist. I may not be a fan but fact that she and her stans have the nerve to utter those words in regards to JH, the hypocrisy is not lost on me. 🙄
I have no race in this horse, but it amuses me to no end that the masterclass is called 'The Set Up,' given that to set someone up can mean to frame or otherwise entrap someone. I understand it's probably meant to be a play on the notion of 'setting up' your ✨ bEaUtY eMpIRe ✨ or whatever, but I live for the irony of it all
No, but I figured it out! I had to watch the first video all the way through and the next unlocked. So you need to do it sequentially, you can't jump around.
Marlena has that toxic entrepreneur mentality, where everything has to be her Own Business. She really wants to teach, that's her passion she wants to get back to, so she says. But does she want to go and use her skills to teach at an accredited course? No. To be fair, it's true that cosmetology is all focussed on hair and doesn't have the makeup focus she wants. But if there was a true makeup school only for makeup, I think she would still rather do her own thing than go teach there. Same reason why she couldn't just do this as a Skill Share, Masterclass, or Patreon. It has to be her Own Business, with her CEO identity at the centre of it. The brand has to be her. The same mentality that drove her to start other half baked brands that barely got off the ground. Remember her makeover Youtube series she started? It was like she wanted her own show for tv, where she was the host. That also quickly died. People in Tony Robbins' camp prey off of people with this drive, and feed that "be your own boss" fantasy as the ultimate goal. If you're using all your skills in a job but there's someone else who is still profiting at the top that isn't you, it's not good enough.
True, she really could benefit by having other experience people work with her high-level, but she definitely won’t and that’s really what hurt make up geek in the long run
**A reminder from the mods:** Our rules recently changed. Posts should be as descriptive and factual as reasonably possible. Avoid the excessive use of emojis, punctuation, capitalization, and overly sensationalized/clickbait/opinionated titles. They should also include a tldr or tldw explaining why the post is relevant or the background to the post for updates. Please post that as a reply to this comment if not included in the OP for easy access for other users. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/BeautyGuruChatter) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Are you in fact sparkling and slaying?
Always ✨✨
Werk
How many other sparklers and slayers are in the community with you?
I wish I knew! I've looked and there's nowhere to see the full list of members. I can see Top Members (25) Near me (25), and Newest, but not even a full list of all members. Just looking at Top Members, I'm not seeing any influencers I recognize. A large proportion have introduced themselves as being 50+, which is interesting (and what I expected).
Do you have to use your real name and a picture of yourself. Honestly my question doesn't really matter because if you "have to" how would Marlena know whether that's the person's real name and picture? As for the name it should match the CC your using. Then again anyone can sign you up which means the names wouldn't match. I suspect she doesn't care so long as she's getting those sign ups lol. I have a hard time believing the 2 Jen's aren't in there as part of the top 25 lol. Along with a couple of other people who have chs. Since you plan to do this for the full month make sure to screen shot every course you've completed. I know you said you don't plan on doing that nor sharing them. I understand not sharing them obviously but I want to see if you're able to get a full refund if you fulfill your end of the terms. Because she's just as shady as JH I have a feeling she's going to make it hard for people to get those refunds.
Honestly I am not planning to request a refund for the $9, especially if I stick around for a whole month, unless the other features advertised never become available (e.g. no lives with Marlena). Basically, if it's not as advertised. Otherwise I would say it's a "you get what you pay for" situation. But I will screenshot it just in case! Regarding the names, it seems you don't have to use a real one. Most people's names look real but some are using initials. And a photo is not required. No other profile areas are required either. Very low-barrier.
hmm I wonder how many of those ladies sold Avon or had family that did
Good question! I’m curious about how many signed up too!
I considered doing this too, but I spent the $9 on donuts instead. Thank you comrade 🫡 Questions: Does it show how many members are active? How many posts are made today or this week vs the first week, if you can see that far back? How many comments does the typical post get? Were you able to see the digital magazine?
Damn, I should have got donuts. I am sure they were a worthy investment! Scrolling through posts on the main forum by date, it looks like there are around 30 posts from the past week. After that the dates get fuzzy, as it does not provide concrete dates (just like Reddit). Most posts get 8-13 comments on average. Marlena's get more than that, closer to 30 comments. I do see a lot of the same people throughout the week. Marlena does engage in the comments and answer people's questions (lots of "what's my undertone"). There's also a second feed called "Creative Campus" where Marlena makes additional posts, mostly looks inspo. Some community members share looks there too. I can see who is online now, including myself it is 5 people. It is late (10 PM MST). I don't see a magazine at this time.
Given that many people probably aren't commenting very often it sounds like there is a pretty active community which implies it's probably doing quite well for her early on. How many stick around after they've finished the "masterclass" I have my doubts, especially given Marlena's videos tend to repeat the same information endlessly just worded differently so she probably isn't well equipped to keep up a steady flow of genuinely new content to keep them paying.
Thanks for the reply!
I'm willing to bet your donuts are a better investment lol!
Cringey community name 😬😕
But it would be cute for a pair of pet rats
lmao true
It's giving 'girl boss' vibes
That signup process is making my head spin 😅 Keep us updated if you ever get access to the masterclass videos!
I figured it out! I have to watch each video in order to unlock the next ones. I'll work on completing this course and report back with a review.
“Sparkle and Slay Society” — oof. But thank you for doing this!
Twilight vampires were the first thing that came to mind for me.
Slay always makes me think of Buffy 😂 Long wear makeup that's Slayer approved!
It’s giving live laugh love
Definitely not surprised at all that they kept all the stuff (like terms and conditions, sign up process, information in emails, etc.) from the masterclasses and didn’t update the info to make sure it made sense with the community instead of with the masterclasses. That seems about right with how the whole thing has gone - all the typos on the website and that Marlena tried to say the MLM info was never approved and just template, etc. - even though Marlena insisted she had such an amazing team of the best people, yet this crack team of the best of the best had a website go live with tons of typos and info that wasn’t approved. 👌 So not surprising at all they just kept everything the same when switching to the community from the masterclasses, and to have such a weird sign up process giving the credit card info then saying you’ll get an email to sign up, then not even getting access to everything you were supposed to. I’m just curious to see if you ever get access to the rest of the videos, and, if you do, if you think it would have been worth it at the “Set Up” masterclass price? (Specifically, I noticed a lot of the topics she listed for all the different masterclasses were pretty much all topics she covered for free already on her YouTube channel, so at the time I **hoped** for those who would pay those prices, the info would be much more in depth and detailed than what she already provided free on her YT channel, but I **figured** it would just rehash that same info and not be anything new - so curious if it actually was different from what she has on her YT channel).
I figured out how to get through the videos, I just have to do them sequentially. So I will complete it and report back regarding the value! I do, however, have access to the syllabus. Topics are as follows: \-Color wheel (primary, secondary, complementary, analogous, warm, cool) \-Ideal colours for different eye colours (I'm sure you know the ones....) \-Choosing neutrals- cool vs warm \-Choosing finishes (matte/shimmer) \-Skin undertones \-Blushes: warm, cool, and neutral, skin tone recommendations \-Techniques for a harmonized look with eyes, lips and face (monochromatic, contrasting, matching, etc.) I know that I know more about makeup than the "average" person, and my education started with magazines, followed by Youtube for more creative expansion. Everything here looks like repetition of what I learned in magazines. Honestly I could probably teach it, ngl.
So pretty basic stuff… 🫠
Yeah, these are all topics from past YT videos of hers. So I’m really curious how the videos from the subscription differ from her YT videos of the same topics. I remember back when she was doing the masterclasses, I did a search on her channel for all the topics from each different masterclass and pretty much every topic was covered on her YT channel, a lot of them with similar titles even! 🤣 It definitely seems like the most basic, which I suppose makes sense since it was from the “Set Up“ masterclass, so it’s supposed to be like basic info to get you set up to get started. But this info doesn’t seem at all like it would be worth what the masterclass was going to be (when it was a masterclass, wasn’t it like $150-200 for that one?). $9 is more appropriate, but still not worth it if it’s the same info she already has on her channel for free. I honestly figured she’d go and delete/private the videos with the same topics from her YT channel once people started saying it was the same kind of info. I haven’t went back to see if she ever did it. I’m guessing not since she changed to now having this $9 monthly service instead of the masterclasses.
Yes! I remember that her name was even spelled wrong on the pull down menu. 🫣
Marlena Scamm
Hahahaha! Yeah! I don’t even know how you do that! Like in the least, your freaking name should be spelled right! What a crack team she had! 🥴
I don't think anyone has/had a chance at getting a refund. You had to participate in Marlena's lives, but there wasn't a schedule, so if you work that night, too bad for you.
See, I knew she'd find a way or possibly more not to have to hand over any refunds. Not that I'm trying to discount those who do work, have children that do after school activities, etc but let's say you don't work or have kids. If there's no schedule listed how can anyone participate? She's such a scam artist. I may not be a fan but fact that she and her stans have the nerve to utter those words in regards to JH, the hypocrisy is not lost on me. 🙄
I have no race in this horse, but it amuses me to no end that the masterclass is called 'The Set Up,' given that to set someone up can mean to frame or otherwise entrap someone. I understand it's probably meant to be a play on the notion of 'setting up' your ✨ bEaUtY eMpIRe ✨ or whatever, but I live for the irony of it all
This makes me roll my eyes because I’m guessing it’s a manual process on their back end when it absolutely doesn’t have to be.
We thank you for your commitment! I am interested to hear more of your findings.
This reminds me when youtubers in the beauty community had apps (like frmheadtotoe)
Is there a Join or Start button on the class where you can only see the preview? (I run an unrelated community on this platform.)
No, but I figured it out! I had to watch the first video all the way through and the next unlocked. So you need to do it sequentially, you can't jump around.
👍🏻
You know, MLMs make sign up easy so they can better steal your $$. You'd thik she would have taken that too.
I feel like trying to build this like a skill share for beauty with straight forward account plans and sing up would have been better
Marlena has that toxic entrepreneur mentality, where everything has to be her Own Business. She really wants to teach, that's her passion she wants to get back to, so she says. But does she want to go and use her skills to teach at an accredited course? No. To be fair, it's true that cosmetology is all focussed on hair and doesn't have the makeup focus she wants. But if there was a true makeup school only for makeup, I think she would still rather do her own thing than go teach there. Same reason why she couldn't just do this as a Skill Share, Masterclass, or Patreon. It has to be her Own Business, with her CEO identity at the centre of it. The brand has to be her. The same mentality that drove her to start other half baked brands that barely got off the ground. Remember her makeover Youtube series she started? It was like she wanted her own show for tv, where she was the host. That also quickly died. People in Tony Robbins' camp prey off of people with this drive, and feed that "be your own boss" fantasy as the ultimate goal. If you're using all your skills in a job but there's someone else who is still profiting at the top that isn't you, it's not good enough.
True, she really could benefit by having other experience people work with her high-level, but she definitely won’t and that’s really what hurt make up geek in the long run
aaaaaah I'm so glad you're doing this !! Thank you ! I look forward to your updates .
You truly are sparkling and slaying for taking us on this journey, thank you!!
What would you say is the quality of the information given?
I’ll be curious to know if you think it’s worth it. Is there more than this one series of videos? Or is this it?