Jamberry Nails

Jamberry began with three sisters in Utah: Lyndsey Ekstrom, Christy Hepworth and Keri Evans. In 2010, after a slow and expensive afternoon at a nail salon, they set out to find a cheaper way to keep their nails looking done. The company's own story says that after lots of trial and error, its nail wraps launched in late 2010.

The sisters chose direct sales to reach customers. When Direct Sales Aid first profiled Jamberry, it was one of the newest direct sales companies on the site, taking pre-launch Consultants ahead of a national launch in January 2012. The wraps caught on quickly, helped by Facebook parties and Instagram. Jamberry opened in Canada, Australia and New Zealand, and by 2018 CBS MoneyWatch counted more than 50,000 Consultants. The company was based in Lindon, Utah; its 2015 privacy policy gave its address as 1350 W 200 S, Lindon.

Growth brought strain. CBS MoneyWatch quoted trade magazine Direct Selling News as saying that the company's great challenge had been overwhelming demand, which led to early manufacturing bottlenecks and quality issues. According to M Network CEO Ryan Anderson, the founders later sold a majority stake in Jamberry to outside investors.

Jamberry's core product was the nail wrap. Each sheet held printed vinyl shields in several sizes for fingers and toes. You picked a shield, trimmed it, warmed it with a hair dryer or mini heater, and pressed it on. The company said wraps could last up to two weeks on fingernails and four weeks on toes. In 2018, CBS MoneyWatch put a sheet of wraps at $15.

• Nail wraps: by 2017 the company listed more than 300 designs, including glossy, matte, metallic and sparkle finishes, seasonal collections and licensed Disney, Star Wars and Wonder Woman prints.
• Nail Art Studio: an online tool for designing your own custom wraps.
• TruShine gel enamel and lacquers: gel polish with base and top coats, and classic nail lacquers.
• Tools and care: application kits, mini heaters, cuticle pens, hand creams and removers.
• Later lines: Skinnies, the StyleBox monthly subscription, ColourPop and JamBeauty personal care items.

The pitch was simple: salon-style nail art at home, in minutes, for less money. Fashion and beauty sites including Glamour, Self, InStyle and BuzzFeed featured the wraps, and Jamberry listed those stories on its press page.

Sellers were called Consultants. They sold at home parties and online Facebook parties, took orders through a personal Jamberry website, and shared samples so new customers could try a wrap. Hosts earned free and half-price products when their party reached set sales levels. In the early years, the old Direct Sales Aid profile noted, a $75 party earned the host a free sheet of wraps.

Starter Kit

New Consultants joined by buying a starter kit. It cost $99 from the start. In 2017 the $99 Business Basics kit held catalogs, a start-up guide, brochures and order forms, an application tool set with a mini heater, scissors, files and buffers, sample cards, full and mega sheets of wraps, and three months of a free personal website. A $200 Style Essentials kit added gel products and an LED curing lamp.

Pay

Consultants earned a 30% commission on their own retail sales. Under the 2017 plan, a monthly sales bonus could lift that to as much as 40%. Team builders earned level overrides on their downline's sales three levels deep, fast start and rank advancement bonuses, and generation overrides at the Team Manager rank. Base commissions were paid every Friday into a JamberryPay account, and bonuses on the 10th of each month. To stay active, a Consultant needed 600 in personal retail volume over a rolling 12 months. There were also incentive trips and an annual conference for top sellers.

Jamberry's end came fast. In May 2018, M Network, a seller of nutritional supplements, announced an alliance with Jamberry. In June the deal failed to close. A video from a group of top Jamberry sellers, posted on June 19, 2018, complained of serious shipping problems and late commissions. On the night of June 27, staff got an email saying it was their last official day. The next day a memo told Consultants the company was in foreclosure and that purchases made before 11:59 p.m. on June 28 were not eligible for refunds. Its planned conference in Nashville and incentive trips to Costa Rica and Thailand were cancelled. CBS MoneyWatch reported all of this on June 28, 2018.

“I honestly don't know what the bank plans on doing with their agreements with the [sales] consultants. Many have chosen to move on to other companies, and others are holding on to hope that something will still exist of Jamberry.”

Ryan Anderson, CEO of M Network — CBS MoneyWatch, June 2018

M Network bought what it called certain assets of Jamberry, mainly the products and brand, rather than merging with the company. It renamed itself M.Global in July 2018, and in November it combined with Utah wellness company Avisae to form BeneYOU, LLC. By December 2018 the Jamberry website carried a BeneYOU copyright and called its sellers Associates. On November 1, 2019, Youngevity bought BeneYOU's assets.

“We are proud to welcome the customers and distributors of Jamberry, Avisae and M.Global into our organization …”

Steve Wallach, founder and CEO of Youngevity — Youngevity press release, November 2019

The brand did not last. In April 2023, Youngevity told distributors it would stop selling its nail and jewelry products, citing declining sales, and the BeneYOU site went offline, BehindMLM reported on April 21, 2023. Today jamberry.com no longer loads, and Youngevity's store has no Jamberry products. Former Consultants can no longer order. If you miss nail wraps from a party-plan company, Color Street still sells nail strips through independent stylists. You can also compare live direct sales companies on Direct Sales Aid, or read what direct sales is before you join any of them. This Jamberry Nails profile stays as a record of the brand, alongside the full company directory.