Whether you consider Mary Kay a business opportunity or not, the bottom line is you are self-employed which makes you responsible for your own federal, state, and local taxes, since you have no taxes withheld because you do not receive a "paycheck" from the Company.
If you end up owing IRS too - you can be be charged penalities and of course will owe what ever shortage. Each quarter I simply take one of my quarter coupons and send IRS, a check I do the same for state and local. (there are worksheets available to help you figure out your estimates based on what you are making)
My method is to put a certain amount weekly into a savings account and then once a quarter, write out and mail the checks.
When I was newer to Mary Kay and just dabbling, I was still working a fulltime job. To save myself, the added trouble of filing quarterly, I simply increase the amount I had withheld from my primary check, to make sure I was covered.
Getting into the habit of keeping the money there makes writing that check alot less painless.
Don't forget that the tax filing deadline is approaching fast so get your taxes done and don't forget to use every legal business expense possible.
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This year I will be finding out (the hard way) whether I make enough from my other 2 jobs that I should be doing this too, or whether those jobs simply cause me to owe a little to the feds or to break even, whereas before I got some money back. I'm afraid...lol...but we shall see!
ReplyDeleteProduct reviews (feel free to repost under separate heading)
ReplyDeleteToday I tried:
Cream to powder foundation: I tried Ivory .5 and Ivory 1. I had to think pretty hard about this, but for the summer, I will go with the slightly darker Ivory 1. .5 would be right for the winter.
The foundation blended in really well. no oily eww. No cakiness. No smell. no irritation. It really does look and feel just like perfect porcelain skin. (yes, I ran my hands over my face after it set to see if it rubbed off or felt greasy.) I applied extra with my finger to conceal; didn't need separate concealer. This is a winner. MK has sure come a long way with their foundations.
Lipstick: I tried black cherry. The "black" part is a bit of a misnomer IMHO: It's beautiful, don't get me wrong...but it's more of a bright fresh red. In fact, it's blood red. The texture is very nice and the pigmentation is high. Easy application, no drag/catch on dry skin, no odor, smooth/even color.
continuing with the fruit colors here...I tried Sweet Plum eyeshadow. This is like purple with an undertone of black. It's very intense, highly pigmented. It blends easily, but it doesn't come right back off when you blend it, either. I *did* try it with eye primer. That's how I wear all my eyeshadow. No irritation, no fallout.
Amethyst eyeliner: smooth texture, no drag/skip, average pigmentation level. It's a muted purple, like the eyeshadow I just described but less intense. Suitable for wear on the lower lid; I always do black on top.
Blush: Cherry blossom. Holy pigmentation, batman! I barely tapped my brush on the sample card and applied very lightly. That's all you need. It looks like a natural flush of color from dancing; if your skin is pale, go really lightly with this. It blended very smoothly, too.
I'll see how I look throughout the evening in terms of how the makeup lasts on my skin. I'll be standing over a hot stove so that will put it to the test.
Miranda,
ReplyDeleteIts funny you should say this because I know some people who like the older foundations! Dont get me wrong most people like the new ones but there are some who swear by the older ones but I think MK has a market on this one.
Some people like the bare minerals I like coverage and I think that is what foundation is for.
The older ones had a problem for me: If a tear ran down my face (and I have serious allergies so this happens all the time) it left a track of no makeup. If I went to touch it up, I got a blotchy mess. The stuff I tried yesterday doesn't do that. First I stood over a hot stove making chicken and dumplings, then I blotted oil, dusted on a little powder, changed clothes and went out to the club. The old stuff would have had sweat tracks running down it! This stuff stayed.
ReplyDeleteI used eye makeup remover on my whole face at the end of the night, then a beauty bar.
Actually Miranda, the cream to powder foundations (Ivory 0.5, Ivory 1 etc) are considered "old" formulas. At least they are not new formula's. They showed up somewhere around 1998 or 1999. Before then all we had was the "day radiance" bottle or cream formulas. I have been in MK since 1997 and I remember when they came out.
ReplyDeleteAnd Colleen is right, I too have customers that swear by them and they do give great coverage, but I prefer the newer ones myself. I love my bronze 607 medium coverage along with bronze 2 mineral loose powder.
I think its cool that you are giving us your opinion on these products, please continue to do so. You are a makeup expert it seems to me, so your opinion goes a long way in my book. Please.. you gotta try the coal eyeshawdow I think you will like it!
Great reviews, Miranda!
ReplyDeletemk4me, thank you for posting about taxes. I've wondered about how to keep track quarterly. I've already done my taxes. Just waiting on the results (I have a guy lol). I'm planning an making some leaps and bounds this year so I will be more diligent in my bookkeeping for sure!