TheBakersfieldCalifornian.com

After a few signatures, a round of handshakes and plenty of "woo-hoos," local Mary Kay sales director Karen Gardner was handed the keys Thursday afternoon to her fifth pink Cadillac -- and ninth overall car -- a bonus that signifies Gardner and her team sold nearly $100,000 of cosmetics over the last six months.

"You have to smell it," chirped Gardner, 39, after opening the front driver-side door of her Cadillac SRX SUV for the first time at the Three-Way Chevrolet Cadillac dealership. "This is so beautiful."

Mary Kay, founded in 1963, is one of the world's largest direct sellers of skin care products and cosmetics. The company relies on independent sales consultants to sell product and recruit new consultants. Consultants can throw small parties, go door-to-door or sell on the Internet to get the job done.

The pink Cadillac is the top incentive and is only available to sales directors, or the top 2 percent of earners in the company. Mary Kay has three levels of cars it gives based on the size of the team and the amount of production. Production is similar to sales and is based on how much product a consultant orders from the company.

The first car level is a Chevy Malibu. In order to earn that, a consultant has to have a team of 14 people and a production level of $20,000 over four months. The next level is a Chevy Equinox or a Toyota Camry. To get that, sales directors have to have a team of at least 24 and a production of $48,000 over six months.

And then there's the Cadillac. Cadillacs are earned for having a team of at least 24 and a production of $96,000 over six months. That translates to ordering 2,461 lipsticks per month.

Consultants who earn cars keep them for two years. Mary Kay pays for nearly everything, from gas to insurance costs. After two years, consultants give the car back. But if they meet the qualifications for any of the car levels, they can get another one.

Alternatively, consultants can choose cash bonuses instead of a car. Instead of the Malibu, consultants can get $375 a month. Instead of the Equinox or Camry, consultants can get $500 a month. And instead of the Cadillac, consultants can get $900 a month.

Gardner oversees a team of 250 people. The team hit the $96,000 mark for her latest Cadillac in five months. The pearl-pink car has the Mary Kay logo written on the bottom of both front doors and the trunk. It comes fully equipped including a sun roof, OnStar, a cooler in the trunk, seat warmers and a state-of-the-art stereo system.

"Everything you can get, it has it," said Lydia Brink, another Mary Kay sales director in the Bakersfield area.

Brink considers Gardner a mentor. She said she's not surprised Gardner is on her fifth Cadillac. "I never questioned that she would achieve everything she set out to do," Brink said.

Brink is working on getting an Equinox, but said she's not jealous of Gardner's Cadillac. That's because everyone who comes through Mary Kay has the opportunity to earn the Cadillac, she said.

Gardner earned her first Cadillac nine years ago. The free cars were one of the main reasons she joined Mary Kay, she said.

Gardner's ultimate goal is to become a national sales director, the highest position within the independent sales force.

For now, though, Gardner said she's proud to drive around town in her pink car. She took the cash option for seven years instead of the car. But she had to go back to driving the car, she said, so she can show everyone how proud she is to work for Mary Kay.

"If you pull up to parties, people are going to be thinking," Gardner said, "'Well if she's any good, where's her pink Cadillac?'"