# Melaleuca?



## my3boys (Jan 18, 2011)

I apologize if this has been asked before. I'm also not sure about the spelling.

I have a friend that sells this stuff and is of course trying to get me to buy from her. Frankly, I'm wondering if she isn't more interested in gaining a new customer than in forming a new friendship, but that's another thread.

Their stuff is expensive, and apparently you have to commit to ordering a minimum of $30 a month. With just the 3 of us at home now, we just won't use that much. She knows this and is pushing it anyway. It also uses tea tree oil in every single product, or at least most of it from what I can tell. I have also read in some places that tea tree oil has been found to be a carcinogen.

Does anyone here use their products? Is it really worth the cost? Is there a way around the $30 a month thing? Is what I've read about the tea tree oil correct?

Carol


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## Forlane (Jul 17, 2010)

according to the MSDS for tea tree it is not Carcinogenic 

http://www.sciencelab.com/msds.php?msdsId=9925168

As for committing $30 a month in cleaning products that seems hugely excessive. Go with you gut don't get pushed around. At one point in they were a Multi level marketing company but in 1985 the guy who took over shut them down and turned it into a direct to consumer company.


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## Ardie/WI (May 10, 2002)

I've heard of the company through the years and I've always thought the products are too expensive.

To be honest, if "friend" wanted me to consider spending $30 a month on the products, I'd probably laugh and wonder what the friendship is built on.


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## Country Lady (Oct 2, 2003)

I hate for someone to act like they're being my friend, when actually they're only wanting to promote their business. I run from someone like that. I feel like, I know what they sell and if I want any of it, I'll ask.


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## shellmar (Apr 4, 2008)

I also had a friend recently try to sell me some of their products. A red flag for me was when she wanted me to come to her house to hear about wonderful products that have improved her life. However, she wouldn't tell me the name of the products. Sorry, I don't like that kind of trickery. I found out from someone else the product's name.

My mother used to buy/sell melaleuca several years ago. At that time I thought they were good products. The cleaners were highly concentrated. It took me a year to use up a bottle of their general cleaner, a little went a long way.

Then the company started to "improve" the products. The cleaners became watered down in my opinion. To me the "improved" products were not worth the expense. My mother finally got tired of it as well and stopped purchasing the products.

My opinion would be that there are comparable products out there for less money. I will say though, my son's friend is also in melaleuca and my DS buys a protein drink mix from him and he likes it.

Oh, as far as the tree tea oil, I have not heard that is cancer causing. I will say that I am sensitive to the oil, it irritates my skin, and I could not use melaleuca's personal products (tooth paste, soap, ect.) which contained the tree tea oil.


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## my3boys (Jan 18, 2011)

Thanks, everyone. I am most certainly re-evaluating the "friendship".

The red flags started popping up when she invited me over for a tea social she was having. The social went fine, but afterwards she asked me and one other person if we would like to look at the products she sells. She started in on this bit about how she was having health problems until she got all the chemicals out of her house......yada, yada. To be polite I would just nod in agreement and make a comment or 2. I noticed she and her oldest daughter, who somehow partners with her mother in this, kept giving each other these looks and little smiles. That made me uneasy and I realized they were probably thinking "she's falling for it". All of that makes me feel like I was being used. I feel like sales tactics aren't something you would try on a true friend.

I have made up my mind not to use these products for reasons of cost and on principle. I don't want to feel like she set me up, used me, and then got away with it, KWIM?

Guess I'll stick with the Don Aslett products I've been using for years and have been very pleased with.

Carol


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## luv2farm (Feb 15, 2008)

I currently use some of the products, I used to buy the products. Back many years ago when I bought them, you had to spent $70 a month. I did LOVE the products. But, as stated before, they are concentrated and it takes a long time to use them up, and they are expensive. I haven't bought anything in 4 years, but I STILL HAVE lots of the product. I would buy up my favorite products if I needed to complete my $70 order, so I have lots left now. That said........


Just ask your friend if you can help her fill her $30 order. In other words, you buy maybe 12-15$ worth, and let the friend finish the order. If you dont want to commit to buying every month, ask her if you can order something every other month. That lets you try the products, and helps her fulfill her committment. My mom and MIL did this for me. I would order a couple of things every month that they wanted (they would pay me back), and then I'd finish the order out of things I wanted. If they still have "Tub & Tile"..........it is wonderful stuff!!


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## lathermaker (May 7, 2010)

A real friend wouldn't invite you over to her house under false pretenses! Run away fast. All this woman is interested in is selling you products.

That being said, I have used numerous Melaleuca products and have liked them. But, they are waaaaaaay overpriced! A friend of mine sold them, and was required to purchase a min. amount each month. If I needed something, she would just tack it onto her base order. That's called helping each other out, not trying to gouge someone.


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## Tiempo (May 22, 2008)

I refuse to ever buy from those types of deals...too expensive ans I hate pushy sales. I'll go to the store for what I want thanks.

FWIW Tea tree oil is derived from the melaleuca tree, I don't know why it's so expensive as those trees are an invasive pest in Florida.


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## BoldViolet (Feb 5, 2009)

I never know what it is about MLMs that make people lose their minds. :shrug:


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## Marilyn (Aug 2, 2006)

I can see why your friend's treatment gave you a bad taste, but the Melaleuca products are amazing. I used them for several years, but when it became apparent that I was going to need to cut expenses back to bare bones in order to afford a car, I had to let the Melaleuca program end.

Some of my favorites: their toothpaste! It took a little while to get used to the taste, but my hygienist was pleasantly surprised after I started using it.

Tough & Tender -cheap, cheap, cheap cleaner - probably cheaper than just using white vinegar.

Shampoo, laundry soap, acne treatment, body lotion.

It wasn't hard to meet my commitment and a friend liked the products so much that if I didn't want to, I wouldn't have to order anything. She ordered the full amount some months!


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## Silence (Sep 6, 2011)

Hi!
I've used the products, and although I liked them, the prices were way too high and at least half of the products I used listed the melalueca as part of an "inactive ingredient"!

I've still got some of the product left over from my order from almost 4 years ago.


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## my3boys (Jan 18, 2011)

Silence said:


> Hi!
> I've used the products, and although I liked them, the prices were way too high and at least half of the products I used listed the melalueca as part of an "inactive ingredient"!
> 
> I've still got some of the product left over from my order from almost 4 years ago.


That's what I keep hearing over and over. They're just too expensive. I guess it just goes against my frugal nature to spend that kind of money on personal care/cleaning products, no matter how good they are.


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## my3boys (Jan 18, 2011)

BoldViolet said:


> I never know what it is about MLMs that make people lose their minds. :shrug:


I know. This could have been a good friendship, and maybe she really did want to be friends, but now I am suspicious of her motives and will probably always be. Not to mention dreading when the phone rings and it's her number that comes up on the caller ID! 

It's just a shame, and I don't get why someone would risk losing a friend over it? :shrug:


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## romysbaskets (Aug 29, 2009)

I have used their products and really did like some of them. On the other hand I don't commit to any monthly payments when I can choose what I need or want to use. Their minimum of $30 is not that high but the fact that they do not offer the choice and expect a minimum does not go well with my way of thinking. 

I had a friend that sold it as well, she did not pressure me to buy it however. She did gift me some of what she had of overflow as she could not use it all up! That allowed me to appreciate the quality of their cleaning products. I think when friends try to encourage you into an obligated monthly expenditure and you are left feeling uncomfortable, then they need to re evaluate their approach. You have absolutely nothing to feel bad about, good for you for making your own decision! It is easy to find good all natural products to buy and environmentally friendly cleaning products...dare I say sometimes even at the dollar stores and discount stores?


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## my3boys (Jan 18, 2011)

romysbaskets said:


> I have used their products and really did like some of them. On the other hand I don't commit to any monthly payments when I can choose what I need or want to use. Their minimum of $30 is not that high but the fact that they do not offer the choice and expect a minimum does not go well with my way of thinking.
> 
> I had a friend that sold it as well, she did not pressure me to buy it however. She did gift me some of what she had of overflow as she could not use it all up! That allowed me to appreciate the quality of their cleaning products. I think when friends try to encourage you into an obligated monthly expenditure and you are left feeling uncomfortable, then they need to re evaluate their approach. You have absolutely nothing to feel bad about, good for you for making your own decision! It is easy to find good all natural products to buy and environmentally friendly cleaning products...dare I say sometimes even at the dollar stores and discount stores?


Thank you, and I agree with your "way of thinking". That's my way of thinking as well.


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## mateosbaby (Mar 15, 2010)

We joined for a total of 6 months - just long enough to get our "free stuff" that came with our "join now and get this" offer. We hated it..... We don't need that much stuff all the time, even with 6 of us in the family! And I don't like being forced to buy something, kwim?

This isn't to say we didn't like some of their products, but the price was way over our budget. I'm so glad we canceled! :-/

PS. The people who sold us the Melaleuca? The pastor and his wife at the church we used to go to (not why we left the church, though LOL). Yeah, we dreaded phone calls from them, as well.... <sigh>


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