Home beauty devices rely on "efficacy" to speak

In recent years, home beauty instruments have been entangled in the development of "reverberation" sounds such as the "planting grass" sound of talents, the doubts of consumers and the slapping of face overturned by quality inspection. A few days ago, the Medical Device Technology Evaluation Center of the State Food and Drug Administration (hereinafter referred to as the Medical Device Evaluation Center of the State Food and Drug Administration) issued the "Guiding Principles for the Registration and Review of Radio Frequency Beauty Devices", and from April 1, 2024, radio frequency beauty devices will be officially included in the management of Class III medical devices. At this point, the home beauty instruments that once relied on the "planting" of experts and celebrity endorsements will enter a new era of relying on "curative effects" to speak and consumers to buy and use "laws".

There is a wave of price cuts in the market

"Two months ago, I was selling two or three thousand yuan of products, but now I am selling for four or five hundred yuan. I bought Chupujia's products in September this year, and before the end of the year, the price of the product has shrunk by more than half. A consumer in Beijing told a reporter from China Consumer Daily.

The reporter also saw on the Internet that a number of netizens posted on social media that the beauty instrument that used to cost two or three thousand yuan is now as low as about 100 yuan, and the original price of the beauty instrument is more than 4,000 yuan, and the actual price is between 1,700 yuan and 2,000 yuan.

A beauty blogger told a reporter from China Consumer Daily: "My live broadcast room has stopped listing beauty instruments, and the current price of beauty devices is too unstable, and it has been going down." Forcibly following the market to continue to reduce the price of sales, will cause consumer dissatisfaction, the same product just bought for 1 month to reduce the price of hundreds or even thousands of yuan, buyers will definitely be unhappy, the reputation of the live broadcast room will also be affected. ”

After inquiring about the Tmall flagship stores of many brands, the reporter found that the price of home beauty instruments did show a downward trend, but the price reduction varied, and the prices of some products even plummeted. For example, the Chupu roller beauty instrument, which was once priced at more than 1,000 yuan, has been removed from the flagship store because the price reduction has caused consumer dissatisfaction. The reporter also saw on the e-commerce platform that most of the home beauty instruments have discounts, and the prices of some products priced at thousands of yuan are almost halved, but because the original price is higher, the discounted price is more than 1,000 yuan.

In this regard, Li Xiao, an analyst at Beijing Honghan Investment Management Co., Ltd., said: "The prospects for the home beauty device market itself are good. According to CICC's research report, the market size of home beauty devices in mainland China is expected to reach 25.1 billion yuan to 37.4 billion yuan in 2025, with a compound growth rate of 26%-39% from 2021 to 2025. However, in recent years, there have been some chaos in the market, so the Device Review Center of the State Food and Drug Administration has issued the "Guidelines for the Registration and Review of Radio Frequency Beauty Devices". The reason for the recent price collapse is actually that the entire home beauty device market is adjusting. On the one hand, the speed of updating beauty devices is getting faster and faster, and the price reduction of old versions is a normal operation; on the other hand, there are only 4 months left before the RF beauty device is included in the supervision of Class III medical devices, and there are also brand merchants rushing to clear their inventory before the new regulations are implemented. ”

The quality of the products is uneven

The reporter searched on the 1688 website and found that the price of a single household radio frequency beauty instrument ranged from dozens of yuan to hundreds of yuan. Many of these merchants mark the words "spot wholesale, OEM customization" and "face-to-face reserve price" on the product page of the beauty instrument they sell. Subsequently, the reporter contacted a beauty instrument manufacturer in Shenzhen, and the staff said that whether it is a company or an individual, more than 1,000 units can be OEM customized beauty instruments, the color can be replaced, and the style can only be specified by the manufacturer. RF beauty instrument, the OEM price is 165 yuan. When asked how effective it was and whether it had been tested and evaluated by an authoritative organization, the other party replied: "Honestly, no." However, we have been producing this beauty device on an OEM for 2 years, and nothing has happened. ”

In the home beauty device market, the quality of products is uneven. The Shenzhen Municipal Consumer Council has evaluated 5 samples of microcurrent and 5 ionic beauty devices, and found that 6 of them exceed the nickel emission standard, and 2 of them have the risk of low-temperature burns when used.

Exaggerated product effect promotion is more common in the industry. Miss Arrivo Phantom Beauty Device Agency Operating Company once falsely claimed to entrust a third party to carry out the efficacy test of the instrument, and exaggerated the efficacy through retouching, and was finally fined 200,000 yuan by the relevant departments for false advertising. Among the 10 home beauty devices evaluated by the Shenzhen Consumer Council, the instantaneous lifting, secondary cleaning, and warm introduction effects mentioned in them did not meet the effects advertised by the merchants.

The reporter searched for "beauty instrument" on the black cat complaint platform, and the results showed that there were more than 1,000 complaints, mainly focusing on not delivering goods on time, failing to achieve the publicity effect, and product quality problems. A consumer told reporters: "The current home beauty device is really untrustworthy, and it feels like it is collecting IQ tax." ”

With the strength of "holding a certificate"

Recently, the State Food and Drug Administration has successively issued the "Announcement on Adjusting Part of the Classification Catalogue of Medical Devices" and "Guiding Principles for the Registration and Review of Radio Frequency Beauty Equipment".

It is understood that in the "Announcement on Adjusting Part of the Classification Catalogue of Medical Devices" issued by the State Food and Drug Administration on March 30 last year, it is clear that radio frequency therapy instruments and radio frequency skin therapy devices are managed in accordance with the third class of medical devices, and from April 1, 2024, radio frequency therapy instruments and radio frequency skin therapy devices shall not be produced, imported and sold without obtaining a medical device registration certificate in accordance with the law.

This year, the "Guidelines for the Registration and Review of Radio Frequency Beauty Devices" issued by the Device Review Center of the State Food and Drug Administration explained the requirements for the registration and review of radio frequency beauty devices. In view of the direct correlation between the therapeutic effectiveness of radiofrequency cosmetic devices and energy intensity, the effectiveness of radiofrequency cosmetic devices at different energy levels is mainly confirmed by clinical evaluation.

It is also understood that Class III medical devices are the highest level of medical devices and the most strictly controlled medical devices. According to the Regulations on the Supervision and Administration of Medical Devices, the production of Class III medical devices shall pass clinical verification, and clinical verification shall be carried out in medical institutions designated by the drug regulatory departments at or above the provincial level.

Li Xiao analyzed: "At present, the most popular beauty instrument products in the market are radio frequency, because the efficacy of such products is relatively significant. But if the quality is not up to par, the damage to the skin is also relatively large. The promulgation of relevant regulations has effectively protected the rights and interests of consumers and also safeguarded the healthy development of the market. At present, companies that produce RF beauty devices either do clinical trials for existing products to prove the efficacy of the products and obtain medical device registration certificates, or abandon existing RF products. ”

According to the government service platform of the Ministry of Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China, as of December this year, there are five brands, Yaman, OGP, FLOSSOM, AMIRO, and MARY FAIRY, which have launched clinical trials of RF beauty instruments with domestic tertiary hospitals. It is understood that these five brands are all domestic beauty instrument brands.

The home beauty instrument industry is entering the era of "machine brand", and in the future, medical qualifications, product quality and technical level will become the core competitiveness of products. The era of "savage growth" in the beauty device market is gone. (Reporter Li Yanjing)

Source: China Consumer Daily