Truly Essential is part of Simple Distributing LLC and operates in the nutritional supplements MLM niche.

Truly Essential doesn’t provide a corporate address on its website. The company’s “Terms and Conditions of Use” however states,

This Agreement is governed by and shall be construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Michigan.

You agree the exclusive venue for any dispute between SD and You arising out of this Agreement or Your use of this Site will be in the state and federal courts in Oakland County, Michigan or the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, as appropriate.

Heading up Truly Essential is founder Manoj Bhargava (right).

Bhargava is well-known enough to have his own Wikipedia page, on which a relatively detailed history of his past is presented.

Notably Bhargava doesn’t have an MLM history but he does have extensive ownership and corporate experience.

Truly Essential, launched a few months ago, appears to be a continuation of hydration business interests Bhargava launched last year.

 In 2023, Bhargava launched several hydration drink brands – True Hydration, Cellular Hydration, and Natural Glow Hydration.

The intracellular hydration drinks boast a sugar- and sodium-free formula, and are made using the reverse-osmosis technology Bhargava developed for HANS Premium Water.

Read on for a full review of Truly Essential’s MLM opportunity.

Truly Essential’s Products

Truly Essential markets Manoj Bhargava’s 2023 launched brands True Hydration, Cellular Hydration and Natural Glow.

True Hydration is marketed as “everyday hydration for healthy aging”.

It’s a patent-pending formula that combines the right ingredients with a way to deliver them inside your cells for rapid absorption.

We call it Cellular-Level Hydration (CLH), and consistent daily use can offer a level of hydration you’ve never felt before.

True Hydration retails at $34.80 for a pack of twelve 12 oz cans.

Cellular Hydration is marketed as “a better way to hydrate for active people”.

Cellular Hydration offers a precise blend of pure water, amino acids, and electrolytes designed to support active lifestyles – without relying on sugar or sodium.

Daily use can become an essential part of any fitness regimen, helping you push further, recover faster, and achieve your best.

Cellular Hydration retails at $34.80 for a pack of twelve 12 oz cans.

Natural Glow is marketed as an “intracellular formula that works inside cells to create the foundation for healthy hair, skin, and nails”.

Included with Natural Glow is a reusable silicon face mask (referred to as “facial petals”).

Silicone facial petals to complement intracellular hydration by locking in moisture, stimulating collagen production, and helping smooth skin to reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.

Natural Glow retails at $69.60 for a pack of twelve 12 oz cans and one reusable silicon face mask.

Truly Essential’s Compensation Plan

Truly Essential’s compensation plan pays on the sale of its hydration products to retail customers and recruited distributors.

Truly Essential Distributor Ranks

There are two distributor ranks within Truly Essential’s compensation plan.

Along with their respective qualification criteria, they are as follows:

  1. 1K Partner – generate $1000 in sales volume down two levels of recruitment over a rolling four-week period
  2. 2K Partner – generate $2000 in sales volume down two levels of recruitment over a rolling four-week period

Note that retail sales volume and a distributor’s own purchase volume counts toward rank qualification.

Retail Commissions

Truly Essential distributors earn a 30% commission on products ordered by retail customers within forty-five days of their first placed order.

Referral Commissions

Trule Essential distributors earn referral commissions on products purchased by recruited distributors down two levels of recruitment (unilevel):

  • level 1 (personally recruited distributors) – 30%
  • level 2 – 10%

Note that level 2 commissions also includes sales to retail customers by your personally recruited distributors.

Also note that referral commissions are only paid out within forty-five days of the recruited distributor or second level retail customer’s first placed order.

Residual Commissions

Truly Essential pays retail customer and recruited distributor sales volume generated after 45 days through residual commissions.

Residual commissions are paid down two levels of recruitment:

  • level 1 (personal retail customer and recruited distributor volume) – 10%
  • level 2 – 5%

To qualify for residual commissions, a Truly Essential distributor must generate 100 PV over a rolling four-week period.

PV stands for “Personal Volume” and is sales volume generated by sales to retail customers and a Truly Essential distributor’s own orders.

Generational Bonus

1K and 2K Partner ranked Truly Essential distributors qualify for the Generational Bonus.

The Generational Bonus is tracked and paid via a unilevel compensation structure.

A unilevel compensation structure places an distributor at the top of a unilevel team, with every personally recruited distributor placed directly under them (level 1):

If any level 1 distributors recruit new distributors, they are placed on level 2 of the original distributor’s unilevel team.

If any level 2 distributors recruit new distributors, they are placed on level 3 and so on and so forth down a theoretical infinite number of levels.

Truly Essential defines a generation in a unilevel team leg when a 1K or 2K Partner is found in the leg.

This ranked distributor caps off the first generation for that leg, with the second generation beginning immediately after.

If a second 1K or 2K Partner is found deeper in the leg, they cap off the second generation. A third generation for that leg then begins directly under them.

If no such additional ranked partners exist in the leg, the second generation runs the full depth of the leg.

Using this generational structure,

  • 1K Partners earn 5% on up to four generations per unilevel team leg
  • 2K Partners earn 5% on up to seven generations per unilevel team leg

Team Bonus

The Team Bonus pays 1K and 2K Partner ranked distributors

  • $100 each time a personally recruited distributor qualifies at 1K Partner
  • $50 when a level 2 distributor qualifies at 1K Partner (a distributor recruited by someone you recruited)

Joining Truly Essential

Truly Essential distributor membership is free.

Truly Essential Conclusion

Truly Essential feels like a marketing channel for Manoj Bhargava’s recently acquired assets and, I suppose that’s because it is.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with that but I’m not confident it translates over to a well-run MLM company. I get the sense Truly Essential is more of an typical affiliate deal with an MLM compensation plan on top.

Beyond that you’re looking at niche hydration products and a pretty straight-forward compensation plan.

As someone who goes out of their way to hydrate during the day I can’t say I’ve ever felt it didn’t work. The toilet breaks can be a pain but when you’re going through 1.5 to 3 litres a day surely Truly Essential’s offering isn’t going to make much of a difference?

I did note Truly Essential recommends one to two cans a day across their range:

Many customers have experienced the benefits of True Hydration after drinking 1-2 cans/day, although individual results may vary.

24 oz comes to 700 ml so that’s a lot less water throughout the day than what I’m normally taking in. Mind you I don’t ever feel dehydrated, it’s more of a habit (and to stop me snacking).

On the exercise front again I go with straight water – typically 1 to 1.5 litres a session. I can run out of water but can’t say I’ve ever felt not hydrated enough.

Salts can be an issue but that’s an easy fix. I know you can get electrolyte powders to mix with water but personally I’ve never felt the need.

Truly Essential’s whole thing is “we use ultra-pure water [that] can effectively transport essential electrolytes and amino acids directly into your cells”.

How much that actually differs from your typical sports drinks would be interesting to know. Unfortunately Truly Essential don’t provide any studies.

If it’s only a marginal gain then I think pricing might be an issue from a marketing perspective (or you settle for an extremely small niche market).

Natural Glow is a bit different from the other two Truly Essential waters in that its beauty focused.

Natural Glow Hydration dives deep, properly hydrating your cells from within, while the Natural Glow Facial Petals seal in that moisture, boosting collagen production externally.

This is something I don’t know anything about but I do know collagen supplements are a thing. How does Natural Glow compare to your regular (and far cheaper) collagen supplement?

No idea. Again Truly Essential would benefit from providing at least one comparative study. Manoj Bhargava seems to make a big deal about being a billionaire so it’s not Truly Essential doesn’t have the financial backing.

Silicone beauty masks are a thing but when I looked them up all the examples I saw were one-piece. Not sure how effective Truly Essential’s “petals” are in comparison.

On the regulatory front unfortunately Truly Essential doesn’t have any mandatory retail volume qualifiers. Distributors can qualify for commissions on their own purchase, although $1000 every four-weeks is probably cost prohibitive in making this profitable.

I remain a skeptic but I suppose the easiest thing to do is to make a customer order and see if there’s any difference between your regular hydration setup (read: drinking water daily).

Note if you’re not keeping yourself hydrated you’re obviously going to feel a difference so make sure you compare to water or sports drink(s). Definitely track your costs because that’s going to be a factor.

If it works out and you think you can carve out a market of customers also in need of hydration then Truly Essentials might be for you.

On that note, Truly Essential’s pitch of “unlimited samples” caught my eye as something promising.

Unfortunately what sounds like a great marketing tool to generate retail sales is extremely temporary:

You can send as many samples as you would like of our hydration products during your first 30 days as a new Partner (One sample per household, customer pays shipping).

One final note; You will be working with a small team till the Generation Bonus takes off. Two levels deep keeps things simple but also hyper-focused on who’s directly under you across your team.

Good luck!