I have been using Mary-Kay (off and on) for the past 8 years. My mother was a consultant when I was young and she let that lapse. Now I go to another consultant who is also a friend of the family now. I was skeptical and rebelious durring my teen years and into my mid 20's and found myself moving away from MK convinced there was something better out there. I tried various store brands (never got into anything too high end)and was often dissapointed with department store brands. Now, when I say I use make-up I am talking about the colors specifically eyeshadow, lipstick, blush, etc. and have yet to try the skin care line. I have the acne problem and love proactive so untill I need anti aging I will more than likely stick with what works for now. As far as MK goes, after having tried other things I ended up going back. I was frustrated with my inability to pick out the "perfect" colors for myself and afraid to take the risk of buying a new color to try it so I stayed in my safety zone never experimenting. One day my mother convinced me to visit our rep with her and since there was nothing to loose and I like the woman, I went. I was able to try several colors that I would normally stay away from and surprisingly enough they work better for me than what I was wearing! Being the cheep student that I am I said it looked nice and proceded to go to the pharmacy to find something similar. I bought a $7 compact from Revlon and thought I was ok. I went out the following weekend and applied the colors but before I had been out for half the time, they started to show signs of wearing off. I remembered, at this time, that my MK sample had stayed bright and pretty on my face all day that day. From my 10am appointment untill going home later that evening. It was at this time I decided to call my rep the next morning and tell her I wanted those colors. MK also provides you with valuable application tips that benefit everyone. (you can get them free online!) Having said this I LOVE the colors but still have yet to find MY foundation. As I said I have acne problems and very oily skin and I don't want to waste a bunch of $ trying things so if anyone has any suggestions please let me know!