Is the 3699 yuan makeup color test a new intelligence tax for cutting leeks?

Tech Planet (WeChat ID: tech618)

By Xi Rui

Cover Source: Tuchong Creative

During the "May Day" holiday, in addition to overcrowded tourist attractions, the makeup store SHISPACE, endorsed by Guo Jingming, is also fully booked.

This is a makeup store that quickly gained popularity due to the hot search term "Guo Jingming opens a new store with an average spending of 1500 yuan per person." At SHISPACE, for 1388 yuan, you can experience the "color analysis" service. Stylists will determine each person's color temperature, brightness, and color palette through different color fabrics and color cards. Then, based on individual circumstances, they will design an overall image style and provide detailed matching suggestions, including clothing, accessories, hairstyles, hair colors, makeup shades, and even contact lens colors.

Many people impulsively place orders attracted by Guo Jingming and internet celebrity endorsements. Additionally, with Guo Jingming's entry into the color analysis industry and the influence of celebrity effects, consultation requests for other color analysis studios across the country have also surged.

However, beyond the celebrity halo, as a business, can color analysis go the distance? Is the price tag of over a thousand yuan a "smart tax"? For young people, perhaps 1388 yuan is not just buying a service, but realizing an ordinary person's dream of becoming a star.

Guo Jingming's new business landscape

About 4 months after its opening, "SHISPACE" has already become the number one on the popular beauty/SPA list in Shanghai on Dianping. In fact, there are many color testing studios in Shanghai. SHISPACE stands out because of Guo Jingming.

On the official WeChat account of SHISPACE, Guo Jingming appears as a partner. In Guo Jingming's previous film and television works, people's attention and memories are focused on the makeup and scene design of the works. Another makeup artist, Shi Hui, is the chief stylist for Guo Jingming's "Tiny Times" and "L.O.R.D."

Whether in Shanghai or compared to its birthplace, South Korea, the pricing of SHISPACE is not low, ranging from 200 to 9880 yuan for services. The price of color testing is 1388 yuan, customized makeup services cost 1580 yuan, and eyebrow design is priced at 2280 yuan.

But the "Guo's aesthetics" is enough to attract young people who want to become more beautiful. On Dianping, the 1388 yuan color testing package has sold over 900 units. In less than 4 months, the turnover of color testing has exceeded 1.24 million yuan. The customized makeup service priced at 1580 yuan has also sold over a hundred units.

Currently, the store's appointments are already booked until mid-May, and weekend appointments are even fully booked until June. Online, the appointment slots for SHISPACE are even being resold at high prices by scalpers.

Attracting young people to place orders also relies on internet celebrity promotion. Wang Jing noticed SHISPACE after watching a beauty blogger's visit video. From bare-faced to exquisite makeup, the impact of the video prompted Wang Jing to immediately open Dianping. However, she has only been able to book an appointment for May at the moment.

However, Wang Jing has to wait for a month for her appointment, while on the other hand, He An has already lost interest in SHISPACE.

"The cost performance is average," is He An's evaluation of SHISPACE. After nearly two hours of experience, the final result made He An feel that it didn't have much practical reference value. "Although many color cards were compared, you know which color makes your face brighter, but these cannot tell you how to match clothes when shopping," He An explained to Tech Planet. For He An, the 1388 yuan was more spent on the experience process, and its actual effect was not significant.

The so-called color testing is a scientific analysis conducted by a color image consultant based on the combined effects of a person's natural skin color, hair color, and iris color, and is tested through professional 12-color seasonal fabric to find suitable clothing and makeup color matching solutions.

A color testing technician told Tech Planet that color testing not only reflects changes in skin color using fabric, but also takes into account personal internal factors, such as personal preferences, personality, and needs, to create different styles.

This trend of color testing in China originated from South Korea.

In the past couple of years, many young people traveling to South Korea are no longer just visiting tourist attractions and eating Korean food, but are experiencing Korean beauty services, including makeup, ID photos, hairstyles, and color testing. On a certain social platform, there are nearly 9000 notes about "Korean color testing," and many people share how to choose color testing institutions in South Korea and their experiences.

The demand is overwhelming, appointments are booked until July.

Shanghai should have the most color testing studios. There are over 20 stores on Dianping that offer color testing services.

Thirteen years ago, Korean Sun Hui-jeong opened the Bini makeup styling store in Xintiandi, Shanghai. Sun Hui-jeong told Tech Planet that when Bini opened 13 years ago, there were not many specialized makeup and hairstyle stores, only a few studios specializing in wedding makeup and styling. Now, it seems like personal studios established under the guise of personal color testing are appearing every day in many places.

The "first stores" in many cities have only opened in the past two years. The first color testing studio in Chengdu began offering this service last year. Makeup artist Bai Bai has been working as a makeup artist in Chengdu for seven or eight years and has her own makeup studio.

The reason Bai Bai wanted to offer color testing is that she felt the demand from customers was becoming more diverse. In addition to providing makeup services, Bai Bai needs to provide services that are more refreshing and differentiated.

The first image color testing institution in Henan is also a wedding makeup and styling studio called Yan Zhiren, which has been open in Zhengzhou for ten years. The founder wanted to understand color testing in order to help with makeup and make it easier to choose a more suitable makeup look for brides.

Currently, there are not many color testing training institutions in China. Many people need to go to Korea for training to become color testing instructors. Bai Bai studied in Korea, saying, "Our testing props were brought back from Korea on our backs," she laughed.

Yan Zhiren's founder told Tech Planet that she and the famous makeup artist She Hui, who worked as makeup artists for celebrities, were classmates. "She Hui attended the first two training sessions with us, and we had the same teacher."

Currently, it is difficult to open a color testing studio as a standalone business. Color testing in China is usually derived from existing makeup studios, with the most common being makeup experiences or photo shoots.

Yan Zhiren's founder said that the cost of opening a standalone color testing studio is also high. It requires training testers and equipment, and even with a full appointment schedule every day, achieving high profits is not simple. "It's more difficult to train color testing instructors than makeup artists, and it's not easy to replicate on a large scale. Currently, Yan Zhiren only has 2-3 color testing instructors, which means they can only accommodate 4-5 clients per day," the founder told Tech Planet.

However, the demand from young people for color testing still far exceeds what the studios imagined. This makes these founders not regret launching this new business. Bai Bai mentioned that since the launch of color testing, reservations are already booked until July. Yan Zhiren, which only launched color testing in April this year, already has appointments booked until June.

Is "IQ tax" equivalent to "harvesting leeks"?

One major controversy surrounding color testing in China is pricing. In first-tier cities, the price of color testing generally hovers around 1,000 yuan, while in second and third-tier cities, it ranges from 500 to 800 yuan.

Even in Henan, Yanzhi Rong, the total price for color testing and bone testing amounts to 1,699 yuan, whereas if customers opt for the founder's service, the cost rises to 3,699 yuan. The founder of Yanzhi Rong acknowledged that the pricing of the color test is not low.

In reality, pricing in China is slightly higher than even in its country of origin, South Korea. Many young people are willing to undergo tests domestically mainly to save money on airfare and accommodation to South Korea.

Jiang Xin, a post-95s who works in Shanghai, has long been intrigued by a color testing studio in South Korea on social media. For convenience, she ultimately chose a studio in the suburbs of Shanghai. The most alluring factor for her was the price - this newly opened studio only charges 199 yuan.

However, Jiang Xin also confessed that if the original price had been 699 yuan, her overall consumption experience would have been notably different. She stated that if it were the original price, she might still have hesitated.

Ultimately, the consumer's perception is still determined by the value of the final test results. The real value of the test results depends significantly on the color testing professional. These professionals not only need to possess a solid theoretical foundation but also require ample experience and aesthetic insight to offer personalized, professional, and useful advice.

Currently, the color testing market in China is still in a very early stage. There are no clear standards for this industry yet, and it largely imports theories from South Korea or Japan. NCNS is a relatively mainstream color testing system in South Korea, and Sun Xizhen is a director at the China Research Institute of the Personal Color Association of NCNS Korea. Sun Xizhen got involved in research and development thirteen years ago.

On social media platforms, many studios offering color testing services also provide training programs, with training prices ranging from 8,000 to 30,000 yuan. Teaching color testing is seen as a potentially more lucrative business compared to conducting color tests.

Sun Xizhen told Tech Planet that the most worrying aspect currently is the chaotic state of industry training. The abundance of related color testing content online may not always be accurate. Sun Xizhen stated, "If people study these materials, learn simplified techniques, and then conduct testing services, once consumers become dissatisfied, this industry will quickly collapse."

In Sun Xizhen's view, color testing consultants need to receive proper education from reputable institutions and gain more on-the-job experience to conduct tests. She highlighted that this is an industry that requires continuous upgrading and development of content, and obtaining qualifications too easily can become a problem.

Currently, the demand for color testing primarily comes from young women. The founder of Yanzhi Rong informed Tech Planet that the current age range of color testing customers is between 26 and 36 years old, with local bloggers and individuals with outbound travel needs showing higher interest in color testing.

These customers are driven by curiosity and novelty regarding color testing at present. However, once they have experienced it, the challenge lies in retaining their interest for repeat consumption.