Avon Ladies: where are they now?

DURING the launch of direct selling cosmetics company Avon’s new line of Hydramatic Shine Lipsticks, we asked Marion Limlengco, Avon’s Head of Communications for Asia Pacific if there were still any Avon Ladies around. At the sidelines of the Rockwell event a day before International Women’s Day (March 8) she told BusinessWorld, “We have hundreds of thousands of Avon representatives all over the country.” And where are they now? Well, aside from selling cosmetics, they’re building communities and sending people to school (we’ll get to that later).

While Avon was founded by a man, David McConnell in 1886, it was Persis Foster Eames Albee who became the first “Avon Lady” who sold, at first, Mr. McConnell’s line of perfumes from what was then called the California Perfume Company (the company changed its name to Avon in 1928). Ms. Albee also helped shape the company’s direct selling approach, training other women to sell perfume and cosmetics just like her. Through that model, Avon made it possible for women to earn a living during a time when women weren’t even allowed to open a bank account in the US.

Avon sold its first lipstick in 1919 and never stopped. The new Hydramatic Shine Lipstick follows last year’s line of Hydramatic Matte Lipsticks. Collectively, they have about 20 shades, from mauve to bright scarlet. The lipsticks are made with SPF 20 sun protection and with an inner core containing hyaluronic acid and glycerin, promising more moisturized lips. We had a swipe, and given ample time to dry (say 20 minutes without your lips touching anything), they stay on the lips for as long as four hours.

Back to the ladies: Ms. Limlengco told us about how Avon Ladies (sorry, representatives, but we do have to give credit where credit is due) are still continuing to change their own lives and the lives of others through selling makeup, skincare, and intimate apparel. “We support them with earnings, learning opportunities, growth opportunities, and, of course, we provide them with the right products that they can offer to their customers,” she said. While she couldn’t disclose the exact number of Avon representatives in the country, she could tell us some of their stories.

At a town hall meeting at their office, one such representative said how much her life had changed after joining Avon, because prior to that, her husband had not allowed her to earn her own money. Another said her husband hadn’t allowed her to go out, and so she received her customers at home.

“It’s not actually a campaign, it’s how we do it: Beauty Your Way. No nine to five, anytime, anywhere… even when I’m at home, I can provide food for my kids, send kids to school — we have a lot of success stories of these successful women,” she said. “(They) have Avon, this is (their) earning opportunity.”

While we may think that Avon Ladies coming to call have gone by the wayside, Ms. Limlengco said that that isn’t the case: they’ve simply gone somewhere else. For example, while Avon representatives used to use brochures and catalogues to do their work, they now rely on apps for procuring products, selling them, and even recruiting other women. Some have gone the online route by selling on Live platforms on social media. “The world has changed, so Avon should also be evolving,” said Ms. Limlengco.

Still, there are holdouts: “There’s still a huge part of our Avon rep base who are still doing traditional selling,” she said. “They really go house-to-house.

“They will say, whenever we do surveys, (that) there’s human connection,” she said.

It also helps that the face-to-face meetings help Avon representatives give immediate assessments and beauty advice: “What we always tell our representatives is that you are empowered to give your personalized beauty advice.”

An article from the International Money Fund (IMF) by Ana Revenga and Sudhir Shetty titled “Empowering Women Is Smart Economics” says “Closing the gap in well-being between males and females is as much a part of development as is reducing income poverty. Greater gender equality also enhances economic efficiency and improves other development outcomes.” Furthermore, it says that, citing data from the World Bank, “Greater control over household resources by women, either through their own earnings or cash transfers, can enhance countries’ growth prospects by changing spending in ways that benefit children. Evidence from countries as varied as Brazil, China, India, South Africa, and the United Kingdom shows that when women control more household income — either through their own earnings or through cash transfers — children benefit as a result of more spending on food and education.”

“When they build businesses out of Avon, one day you realize that they have their own schools,” said Ms. Limlengco. Other sales leaders have gone on to fund scholarships. “They build an Avon business, and then from that, they also fund charities,” she said, pointing out that some sales leaders have earned millions. “These kinds of stories really keep us going.

“At the very core, we always say that when you buy from Avon, every sale of that product will support women,” she said. “When you put on that lipstick, you know that you’re doing something else. You’re supporting women.”

Ten pesos will be donated to Avon’s partner organizations that help rescue and rehabilitate survivors of abuse for every Hydramatic Shine Lipstick sold.

The products are available through www.avonshop.ph, through a local Avon representative, Lazada, Shopee, and TikTok Shop. — Joseph L. Garcia