Do cosmetic repair really work?

Recently, there has been a trend of “cosmetic restoration” on social media platforms, and it is getting more and more intense. These so-called cosmetic repairs usually refer to the “broken” cosmetic products, such as broken powder and broken lipstick, which are artificially repaired to make them look new.

Generally speaking, in the general public perception, cosmetics belong to the category of fast-moving consumer goods, which can not be repaired like mobile phones and computers. So, is the so-called cosmetic repair really reliable?

01 Low-cost, high-return cosmetic “repair”

At present, common cosmetic repair items on online platforms include repairing broken powder cakes, eye shadow trays, and broken and melted lipsticks, customized cosmetic packaging, and color changing services. A complete set of cosmetic repair tools includes grinding machines, heating furnaces, disinfection. Machines, cleaning machines, molds, etc. These tools can be bought on e-commerce platforms. Cheap repair tools, such as lipstick molds, cost as little as a few yuan, and more expensive ones, such as heating furnaces and sterilizers, usually cost no more than 500 yuan. Restoration of cosmetics is mostly sent for repairs, and there is no high requirement for the business environment of the business, nor does it require high site capital investment. Compared with the initial investment of tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of other businesses, the start-up capital of cosmetic repair can be described as low.

It is understood that the cosmetics sent by consumers for repair are roughly divided into four types: those with special commemorative significance for themselves, those with high prices, those out of print orphans, and those that need to be repackaged or changed in color. The fire of repairing videos on social platforms has also stimulated the increase in related consumer demand to a certain extent.

02 Hidden legal and quality safety issues

The reporter interviewed a viewer who often watched makeup repair videos on social platforms. When asked if he had repaired his own makeup, the reply was no, and he would not repair it. “These are all things that go on your mouth and face. You can watch the video. If you really want me to fix the makeup for others, I always feel unsafe and unsanitary.” 

In the question area of the e-commerce platform, there are also some eager consumers who ask questions and questions about safety and hygiene issues. 

However, consumers’ concerns and doubts are not without reason: on the one hand, cosmetic restoration is performed by practitioners in a closed space. Is it really possible to disinfect step by step as he said? Consumers do not know; on the other hand, cosmetic repair is equivalent to a process of reproduction. Is it enough to just sterilize step by step? 

More importantly, from the perspective of the legality of cosmetic restoration, cosmetic restoration involves money exchange, mass production, cost processing, lipstick color change and other services to change the contents of the material, such as adding lipstick powder and plant mixture. Oil, which belongs to the category of cosmetic production, needs to be produced in accordance with the relevant regulations of the industry. According to relevant regulations, enterprises engaged in the production of cosmetics must obtain a “Cosmetics Production License”. 

In addition, according to the relevant provisions of the “Regulations on the Supervision and Administration of Cosmetics”, to engage in cosmetics production activities, the following conditions should be met: an enterprise established in accordance with the law; a production site, environmental conditions, production facilities and equipment suitable for the production of cosmetics; There are technical personnel suitable for the cosmetics produced; there are inspectors and inspection equipment that can inspect the cosmetics produced; there is a management system to ensure the quality and safety of cosmetics. 

So, do shopkeepers on the Internet who repair cosmetics in their own stores or workshops meet the above-mentioned legal and compliant cosmetics production qualifications, environmental and personnel requirements? The answer couldn’t be more obvious.

03 Wandering in the gray area, consumers need to be cautious

As a new phenomenon, cosmetic restoration has extremely asymmetric information between buyers and sellers, which is extremely detrimental to the protection of consumer rights. 

From the perspective of consumers, the work of repairing cosmetics is completely opaque to them. On the one hand, there will be risks and concerns that the original cosmetic materials (contents and packaging) will be replaced. , the merchant only provides the service of repairing damage within one month at most. For problems such as changes in the makeup effect, or dissatisfaction after changing the lipstick color, the “right of interpretation” belongs to the repairing merchant, and consumers are in a completely passive state. Not guaranteed.

The cosmetic restoration that looks very popular has hidden hidden dangers such as quality and safety and legal issues of legality. In the era of strong supervision in the cosmetics industry, it is clear that cosmetic repair is not a good business, but a business that should not exist. Consumers need to think rationally about it and treat it with caution.