By Kim Boram
SEOUL, Sept. 17 (Yonhap) — Korean actors and K-pop stars have been widely acclaimed in recent years for their incredible talent and performances. Moreover, their makeup styles, which emphasize a glowing, youthful complexion, have become highly sought-after by fans of Korean pop culture.
This has led to people searching online for the same Korean beauty products and attempting to recreate the stars’ skincare routines and makeup looks.
A photo provided by the Korean startup Zackdang Company of its beauty app Zamface (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
The Korean startup Zackdang Company has made this process easier with its Zamface mobile app. This application provides video and text reviews of Korean beauty and cosmetics, as well as enabling users to identify their skin type or tone and get personalized beauty solutions using artificial intelligence technology.
“Usually people watch YouTube videos on makeup styles or certain cosmetics and learn how to use them. Then, they search for the products online to buy them,” Zackdang Company’s CEO Yoon Jeong-ha said in an interview with Yonhap News Agency last week. “A few years ago, I found out that there were no beauty apps where I could do all these processes in one place. There were some apps for product reviews or advice. I wanted to create a platform for the new generation who communicates with videos.”
The initial version of Zamface, launched in 2019, included the popular “time jump” feature. This allows users to skip to a specific section of a YouTube video where the selected cosmetics were used. AI is used to identify cosmetics and times in the video, so users can find the information they need without watching the entire video.
“The function has accumulated over 3.6 million clicks from users since its launch,” she said. “Based on the increasing fan base, I started to expand the app with user bulletins, beauty tutorials and other services.”
A photo provided by the Korean startup Zackdang Company of its beauty app Zamface (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
Therefore, Zamface, which is mainly used by people in their teens and 20s, has introduced personal color and skin type analysis services. This helps users to determine the best color for clothing, makeup and accessories that suit them. Zamface categorizes users into 24 groups, such as spring-warm-light or winter-cool-mute, and provides customized recommendations for lipsticks, foundations, eye shadows and other skin care products.
“It was hard to create the personal color analysis on a mobile platform,” said Yoon, who used to work for Kakao Corp., a leading online portal operator, as a marketer. “And the key was narrowing down the color types to 24 from the 64 that dermatologists and clinical test centers have.”
More than 2 million people have tested their personal colors on Zamface, she added.
As the latest step, Zamface opened a shopping mall to allow users to buy the recommended cosmetics or their favorite products without having to go to different e-commerce platforms.
Yoon said she is proud that the app serves as an all-in-one beauty platform, allowing users to learn about their own skin characteristics, share their experiences with people who have similar skin types and enjoy shopping at the same time.
“We still have more to go. I want to expand our beauty services to the men’s territory,” she said. “As a global plan, moreover, we will launch the Vietnamese version in the first quarter of next year.”
This photo provided by the Zackdang Company shows its CEO Yoon Jeong-ha. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
brk@yna.co.kr
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