Is Oriflame A Pyramid Scheme? | Oriflame Business Review

If you are reading this, then you are likely asking yourself the following question: is Oriflame a pyramid scheme?

Spoiler alert: 

It’s not.

But it’s a fair question to ask. You see, the Oriflame business is based on a business model known as network marketing, also commonly referred to as MLM or multi level marketing.

And there are many misconceptions and false beliefs about the network marketing profession, which is one of the bad things about this business model.

But we’ll get to all that a bit later.

You’re probably here because somebody introduced you to the Oriflame network marketing company, claiming that you would be able to make life changing income from your home in your PJs.

Your spidey senses started tingling.

I mean, usually if something sounds too good to be true, it is.

Right?

The truth is, it is in fact possible to make a very good living with this business opportunity. It just won’t be as easy as many people make it out to be.

But I wanna commend you for doing your due diligence and looking into it for yourself.

Starting a business, even a home based business, is a big, life altering decision. Business in general is not for the faint of heart.

So after reading this Oriflame review, you will be equipped with all the knowledge you need to make an informed decision and move forward with confidence, no matter what you decide to do.

First, let’s dig into the history of Oriflame.

Oriflame History

Oriflame was founded in 1967 in Sweden by Jonas af Jochnick and Robert af Jochnick. They sell beauty and personal care products via the network marketing business model.

Oriflame is headquartered in Schaffhausen, Switzerland with another office in Stockholm, Sweden.

The company employs roughly 6,000 people and operates in over 60 countries. Their products are marketed primarily through the internet by over 3 million distributors or Brand Partners.

Oriflame generates over €1.3 billion in annual revenue. They were listed on the Nasdaq Nordic until 2019 when they were delisted.

One of the common questions I get is: who owns Oriflame?

Well, Oriflame is a publicly traded company so is not outright owned by any one person or entity. The CEO however, is Magnus Brännström.

Oriflame Products

We are not really going to do a deep dive review of the Oriflame products as this review is focused more on the business opportunity associated with this company.

That’s why you came here, right?

To learn about how you can make money with the Oriflame business.

If you want to learn in detail about the products, there are many other Oriflame reviews out there that cover them in great detail.

But let’s do a brief overview.

Oriflame has a large product line, consisting of approximately 1000 products, all focused on one of the following:

• Fragrance
• Beauty
• Health and wellness

According to Oriflame executives, they work with some of the top researchers in Europe to develop wellness products that are designed to promote a healthy, long life.

The top selling products by Oriflame are:

• Tender Care Protecting Balm
• Pure Skin Spot SOS Gel Deep Action
• Pure Skin Blackhead Clearing Mask
• Optimal Even Out Day Cream
• Optimal Even Out Replenishing Night Cream

The Oriflame business opportunity presentation below was produced by the company and shows a peek behind the curtain of the product development.

Please note that I am not affiliated with Oriflame in any way. The video is here for informational purposes and does not necessarily reflect my own opinions.

Are Oriflame products good or bad? Online Oriflame reviews regarding the products are overwhelmingly positive. For a more in-depth analysis in terms of the Oriflame products, The Derm Review website published a decent article covering this.

Are Oriflame Products Organic?

No. While the company is not very clear on this, some of the main ingredients used in the skin care products are actually silicone based.

This is not actually a problem. In fact, silicone can provide some key benefits when used in skin products. 

The problem is that the company is quite vague about this and appears to want customers to assume that their products are completely organic.

Oriflame Products Side Effects

Silicone based products can produce some unwanted side effects, depending on the individual using it.

If you have acne-prone skin for example, a silicone based product can act as a barrier on your skin and trap oils, dirt, and dead skin cells. This can potentially exacerbate acne problems.

How To Use Oriflame Products?

Since there are about a thousand Oriflame products, this is not the article that is going to provide guides on how to use them. 

The official Oriflame YouTube channel could be a good resource for you if you need some help with the products.

But you came here to talk about the business opportunity, right?

So let’s get to it!

How Does The Oriflame Business Work?

So let’s talk about the Oriflame business details.

As we mentioned already, Oriflame is an MLM company, also commonly called direct sales or network marketing.

So what exactly does this mean? What is the Oriflame business all about?

Well, the Oriflame MLM does not sell any of its products through traditional big box retailers. Instead, they allow regular Joes and Janes like you and me the opportunity to start your own business from the comfort of your home.

This saves the company millions of dollars in retail fees and advertising campaigns.

Instead of paying the corporate world, they choose instead to pass the profits down to their customers and distributors.

So with the Oriflame business opportunity, you can sell products directly to consumers in your network and earn a commission every time you make a sale.

Not only that, but you can also build your own sales team and earn from the sales made by the members in that team.

And your team members can build their own teams, and you would earn from their efforts as well.

This is really the power of network marketing and it’s what allows regular folks to build a very profitable business.

From home.

With no overhead.

No brick and mortar location.

And no employees.

While it might sound too good to be true, it’s really not.

Many people have built wildly profitable businesses using network marketing. However, succeeding with the Oriflame home business will not be easy.

It takes serious dedication and to be honest, it’ll take a thick skin, too.

The network marketing profession has acquired a stigma over the last few decades and there are many people who don’t trust it.

There are several reasons for this which we will discuss a bit later.

First, let’s talk about exactly how the Oriflame business works and how you get paid.

Oriflame Compensation Plan

There are four main types of compensation plans commonly used by multi level marketing companies. They include:

• Stairstep Breakaway
• Forced Matrix
• Binary
• Unilevel

There are definitive pros and cons to each of the common pay structures used in network marketing. You can read about them in this full length MLM analysis article here.

How Do I Get Paid In Oriflame?

The Oriflame compensation plan is based on the Unilevel pay structure.

There are many detailed intricacies of the Unilevel compensation plan. It can be quite painstaking to fully understand every nuance as you could tell if you were to read through the official pay plan document.

Here’s what you really need to know:

You will earn a commission of 20-30% for each product sale. You sell to your customers at retail, but effectively you pay a wholesale price. And you pocket the difference.

With the Unilevel Oriflame business model, you can also build your own sales force and collect commissions from the efforts of people in your sales organisation.

You can build your team of business consultants as wide as you want to. Your goal should be to teach the consultants on your team to build teams of their own, of which you could earn commissions, too.

You can earn commissions from the efforts of others, down to the 5th generation.

If that doesn’t quite make sense to you, here’s what it boils down to:

• Focus on acquiring customers
• Focus on recruiting consultants
• Teach consultants to duplicate your results

Unlike other Oriflame business reviews, I will be sharing with you exactly how you can succeed with the business. 

But we’ll get to that a bit later.

Do You Have To Pay To Join Oriflame?

Yes. Joining Oriflame as a consultant will cost you roughly €40. 

Which isn’t really a bad deal if you plan to seriously commit to building a sustainable business.

Is The Oriflame Business Profitable?

As a company, Oriflame is very profitable and successful. 

But can you make money with Oriflame? As an individual consultant building the business, it will likely take you some time to be in profit.

Network marketing is not a get rich quick scheme. It will take time and extremely hard work.

If you’re willing to do what it takes, you could certainly build a very profitable business.

How Much Can You Earn With Oriflame?

Honestly, this will depend on your commitment level, work ethic, and the skills you develop.

The vast majority of Oriflame consultants don’t make any meaningful amount of money. As outlined on page 40 of the 2016 Oriflame Annual Report, the average consultant made €411.90 in that calendar year.

That’s a pretty dismal picture.

But it’s worth noting that top earner Vladimir Polezhaev earned roughly €1.7 million in 2021.

So if you’re willing to commit in an extraordinary way, it is possible to achieve extraordinary results.

Oriflame Scam – TRUE OR FALSE?

Is Oriflame a pyramid scheme?

This is a question people ask about every single network marketing company out there. 

The answer is simply: no. Oriflame is not a scheme or some type of scam.

But there is a valid reason for concern.

You see, the reputation of the network marketing profession has taken a major hit in the last few decades.

There have been numerous illegal Ponzi and pyramid schemes that operated under the disguise of legitimate network marketing companies.

When these pyramids inevitably collapsed, they received a lot of noisy coverage on the media. And unfortunately, the media failed to educate. They opted instead to fear monger.

After hearing the horror stories of people getting badly hurt in these pyramid schemes, the general public just assumed that it was network marketing that caused the problem.

But it wasn’t.

It never was.

So what’s the difference between a pyramid scheme and legit MLM?

When you join a pyramid scheme, you will be paying for a spot in a pyramid shaped organisation.

That’s all you will receive for your money.

There are no tangible or valuable goods and services sold.

This is what makes it unsustainable. 

The truth is, network marketing is not actually that different from a traditional business model. There are valuable goods and services sold in exchange for money.

It’s just a value for value exchange.

Goods and services (value) are exchanged for money (value).

In legitimate network marketing, no revenue is generated unless products are sold into the economy.

The only difference between MLM and a traditional business is the method by which products are marketed and distributed into the real economy.

You can rest assured that the Oriflame scam rumors are completely unfounded.

It’s just a few unethical scam artists that have given the network marketing profession such a bad rep.

How To Start An Oriflame Business And Succeed

I do not have any affiliation with the Oriflame business so you will not be able to get started through this website.

If you do decide to move ahead with this and join the Oriflame business, you will need to sign up through an existing Oriflame distributor.

And if you’re reading this, chances are that somebody has already reached out to you.

How Can I Earn Money From Oriflame?

As we discussed already, there are two main things you will need to focus on as an Oriflame distributor:

• Make sales
• Recruit distributors

In order to have long term success with the Oriflame home business or any network marketing company, you need to build a team that will eventually grow itself.

There’s a very important concept that you need to understand in order to achieve this:

Duplication.

Duplication is exactly what it sounds like. You need to be recruiting reps and then teach them how to duplicate your success.

When you first join the business, you will be given an Oriflame MLM business plan by one of the business leaders in your team.

Remember that when you make money, the people above you in the organisation make more too. So you can rest assured that they will not steer you wrong.

It’s very important that you follow the plan precisely.

Think about it…

When you sign up new distributors, they will be looking to you for guidance.

Whether you feel like a leader or not, they will be watching you very closely. They will see what you’re doing and try to emulate that.

This is why it’s so important to follow the plan laid out before you.

Because it will encourage your distributors to do the same, as well as incentivise them to teach their own distributors to simply follow the plan.

If you go out and learn how to do high pressure sales, you might end up recruiting a lot of people.

But remember, the people you recruit will be looking to you for guidance. They will see you recruiting folks using high pressure closing tactics.

But few people are able to do high pressure closing. Most of your distributors will try and fail. And eventually, they will quit the business.

You will be forced to constantly recruit new members and you will never build a team that will flourish and grow without your continued efforts.

As Randy Gage says in his latest book:

You don’t grow your team. You grow your people. And your people will grow your team.

For a full guide on how to succeed with network marketing, be sure to read my full MLM guide here.

Oriflame Digital Business Building

Once you’ve built a substantial team using the Oriflame business strategy taught to you by your team, you may want to think about expanding your business to the internet.

Don’t do this prematurely, unless your team leader teaches you to do so.

But eventually, once you’ve got a decent sized team and you’re experiencing some duplication, I think you should turn to the internet.

After all, we live in a digital world. So why not take full advantage of all the tools available to us?

So let’s talk about how to do the Oriflame business online.

Internet marketing really comes down to 3 main steps:

I. Create Content

This content can be in the form of articles, blog posts, YouTube videos, Twitter threads, Facebook posts etc.

The main objective is to provide a ton of value to your readers.

When your reader asks herself a question about network marketing, you want to be the first person who comes to her mind because of all the valuable content you’ve provided her online.

You’ve become a thought leader.

Oh and by the way, NEVER mention your company name online!

II. Build An Email List

You could offer some type of freebie to your content readers, like a free ebook, free weekly newsletter, free course etc.

If you’ve successfully built trust and become an authority figure in your readers’ mind, they will want your free gift.

The only way they can access it is to sign up to your email list.

III. Email Your List Regularly

After your reader joins your email list, you should continue providing value.

If the first thing you do after they join your list is to spam them with a business opportunity or product, they will immediately unsubscribe and you’ll never hear from them again.

But you have to make money, right?

So it’s OK to send out offers here and there, but do it sparingly.

I would say about 80% value and 20% offers is a healthy ratio.

Now, this is a gross oversimplification of internet marketing.

If you want to learn the process in detail so that you can put together an effective Oriflame marketing business, read my full guide to digital network marketing here.

Oriflame Business Benefits

Here are a few of the many benefits to a business like Oriflame:

• Low startup cost
• Can be done part time
• Don’t need to be an expert
• Personal growth
• Can be done online
• No income cap

But of course, there are downsides to the Oriflame business model too:

• Bad reputation of MLM
• Can strain personal relationships
• Low income initially

But in my personal opinion, the pros outweigh the cons.

Which One Is Best, Amway Or Oriflame?

If you are considering the Oriflame business, you might also be considering other similar companies out there.

Amway is one of the most common Oriflame alternatives that people ask about.

If I had to choose between the two, I would probably go with Oriflame. 

Amway has had a ton of negative publicity over the years, albeit unwarranted. If one of your prospective customers or distributors does a Google search for Amway, they will find one negative story after another.

This is not the case with Oriflame.

Oriflame Or Avon?

Avon is another common Oriflame alternative. Avon has a much cleaner reputation than Amway.

So I could comfortably recommend Avon or Oriflame. 

It’ll come down to the products and which product line is more enticing to you personally. Feel free to read my Avon review article for more information.

Oriflame Business Review Conclusion

As you can no doubt tell, I have a bias towards network marketing. I am big fan of the business model.

But it’s not for everyone.

The main question you are trying to answer for yourself is whether the Oriflame business is good or bad.

Here’s what I would say:

Oriflame seems to be a good company. They have a decent reputation and their products have been very well received by the general public.

But the main question that you should be asking yourself is this:

Do you get excited about the products? 

Do you have a passion for beauty products?

That is what it’s going to take for you to succeed in network marketing. It’s what will get you through the tough times that will definitely come.

Quick story:

The very first network marketing company I ever joined was a health and wellness company called Shaklee.

Shaklee is a good company, with wonderful people and quality products.

In fact, I still use the products every day over ten years later.

But I was never able to make the business work for me. I never made more than a total of $500 with the business.

It’s simply because I did not have a passion for health and wellness.

People were just not convinced that I truly believed in the products. Therefore, few ever bought from me and I never recruited a single person into the business.

But I did eventually find a business that I was truly passionate about… and I was able to succeed relatively quickly.

So if you have a passion for beauty products and you find yourself getting excited at the idea of building an Oriflame business, then I recommend you reach out to the person who introduced you to the business and get started.

My hope is that after reading this Oriflame review, you now have all the information you need to make an informed decision. 

Whatever you decide, I want you to be able to move forward with confidence and conviction.

If there is anything that I failed to answer in this article, feel free to leave a comment down below and I’ll get back to ya, ASAP.