I used to use Mary Kay as a teenager. My friend's mother was a consultant, and I would use the 5-dtep system. I had very bad acne, and at first, my skin really cleared up. But it didn't stay clear, after awhile it was back to it's old ways, even with Mary Kay. So I stopped using it.
I later discovered that the toner I was using (formula 3) is comprised mostly of alcohol, which is horrible for any type of skin. Even the formula 2 is mostly alcohol, just like most of clinique's toners are. This is in no way good for your skin, and it can exacerbate acne.
Plus, all that time I was using it, the consultant just raved about how good it was, however, no sunscreen! Not a drop! It is now well known (and was then as well...I'm not that old) that sunscreen is o ne of the only ways to stop wrinkling. Everyone will wrinkle, but if you use a good sunscreen w/ UVA/UVB protection, you will likely not wrinkle as much, or as young. Oh, and stop smoking. I believe Mary Kay makeup lists an SPF, but it has no UVB protection (or UVA, I forget which.) Anyway, it is the one that causes the most wrinkling (and skin cancer) that Mary Kay is lacking in protection!
Now, there are some products that they sell that I loved, such as the deep cleanser and the acne treatment gel, but you can find products at the drugstore that cost far less and do the job. I just don't think Mary Kay is quite worth the money, and some of their products are actually very bad.
but my skin looked horrible when i used the store bought stuff...and i tried them all...eventually, i broke down and bought the skin care system from clinique...my skin was better, but the bar soap really dried out my skin. 
