Is the Price of Nail Art Higher Than Prime Real Estate?
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February 18, 2024, 12:01_ _Beijing_ Yidu Jun, who has tried nail art, | Lin Qiujin For beauty enthusiasts, it's easy to spend thousands on the "beauty trio"—hair styling, nail art, and eyelash beautification. Especially nail art, which can be so expensive that "the unit price is more expensive than first-tier housing prices." In 2023, Sina News Graphics Room conducted a survey taking Meituan's nail art services as an example. The price of nail art ranged from 30 to 260 yuan, with the average price for a set of nail art being 127 yuan. The area of a human nail cover is about 1 square centimeter, and ten nail covers are 10 square centimeters. If a basic set of nail art costs 127 yuan, that translates to a price of 120,000 yuan per square meter. This price far exceeds the housing prices in some first-tier cities.
And this is still for relatively affordable styles. Some nail art with more decorations or complex hand-painted designs can cost over a thousand yuan for a single session. Why is nail art so expensive? Why do people still get nail art done despite the high cost?
Where Does the High Cost of Nail Art Come From?
Let's first understand the classification of nail art. There are three basic types of nail art: natural nails (i.e., your own nails), nail tips, and extensions. Nail tips are generally made of plastic and are glued onto the natural nails, with two methods: full tips and half tips. Full tips cover the entire nail, while half tips are attached to the middle of the nail, and the junction is polished to appear more natural and layered. Extension nails use paper forms to allow special gel materials like photo gel and crystal liquid to solidify on the nail surface to form a simulated nail. They are mainly divided into photo gel extensions and crystal extensions based on the materials used. These materials give the nail art a "clear, bright, and long-lasting" characteristic, so they can also be applied to natural nails or nail tips for reinforcement and brightening. The production of extension nails is relatively complex and more expensive than the other two.
The specific styles of nail art can be divided into solid color, painted, French, carved, cat's eye, and so on. Different styles require different techniques, and the labor and materials consumed are different, so the prices vary. The more complex the style, the higher the price. Despite this, the cost of materials used in nail art is not high. On Taobao, the most expensive complete set of professional nail art basic tools costs less than 2000 yuan; the most commonly used gel polish, 15ml per bottle, averages about 20 yuan, of course, there are better qualities that cost hundreds of yuan; and a variety of small accessories are even cheaper, such as special-shaped rhinestones that can be bought for 8.8 yuan for 100 pieces.
So compared to materials, costs such as rent, decoration, personnel, utilities, and other fees account for the majority of the nail art cost. Taking the franchise information provided by Qian Yu Qian Xun · Self-service Nail Art brand on Xiaohongshu as a reference, a self-service nail shop of about 60 square meters with 6-8 stations, in first-tier/ provincial capital cities, has a monthly rent of about 8000 yuan, with the first month's rent and three months' deposit totaling 24,000 yuan, decoration costs 12,000 yuan, equipment costs 15,000 yuan, the first batch of inventory costs 15,000 yuan, advertising costs 10,000 yuan, deposit 10,000 yuan, personnel wages total 12,000 yuan per month, utilities and miscellaneous fees 2,000 yuan per month, reserve fund 30,000 yuan, not including the brand franchise fee (varies by brand), the total start-up fund is 138,000 yuan; in second and third-tier/prefecture-level cities, it is 109,500 yuan; in fourth and fifth-tier/county-level cities, it is 87,200 yuan.
However, this is the start-up capital required for brand franchising. If it is an independently owned, unbranded nail shop, the minimum registered capital is less than 10,000 yuan.
Although the initial investment for nail artists is relatively small, under the training of professional institutions, a nail artist can go from complete novice to proficiency in as little as a month, and then continue to learn while doing. However, the time spent on a set of nail art, including nail care, can range from half an hour to two or three hours. Nevertheless, compared to the selling price, the profit in the nail art industry is still considerable. Sina News Graphics Room has calculated that after deducting personnel wages, utilities, and rent, Qian Yu Qian Xun Self-service Nail Shop can have a net profit of over 10,000 yuan per month. This may be the effect of the beauty economy.
The rise of the beauty economy is mainly due to people's increased income and consumption upgrade. According to Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory, when people's income grows to a certain stage, and physiological and safety needs are basically met, social, respect, and self-actualization needs will be given extra attention. Personal external image is closely related to social, respect, and self-actualization, which makes beauty able to be transformed into economic benefits.
Similarly, the "beauty" of products can also have a similar economic effect. The visual impact of nail art design can often influence customers' purchasing decisions, making them willing to accept a higher premium. Of course, if customers encounter excessively outrageous charges, most will also refuse rationally and choose more cost-effective options.
When it comes to the appreciation of nail art, we must mention the body aesthetics theory proposed by the world-famous aesthetician and humanist scholar Richard Shusterman in the 1990s. Based on this, domestic scholars such as Professor Cheng Xiangzhan from the Center for Literary and Artistic Aesthetics Research at Shandong University have proposed that the body can serve as an object and subject of aesthetics. As an object of aesthetics, the body becomes an object processed and created by the aesthetic subject (i.e., people), carrying their thoughts, emotions, and aesthetic tastes; as a subject of aesthetics, the body can experience rich meanings through "sensation" (such as smell, taste, touch, and muscle movement perception), triggering emotions. In other words, through physical training and physical sensation, one can gain a deeper, more vibrant understanding of life related to art and aesthetics. As a part of the body, nails also apply to this theory. In the process of making nail art, nails become objects of aesthetics, and people give them the expectation of being beautiful and suitable for themselves. Only colors and patterns that match the hand and nails can gain people's affirmation; nail art also causes people's aesthetic feelings from the visual appearance of its colorful and gorgeous look; there is also the perception of hand muscle during the care and massage process, bringing people a series of different experiences. In addition, the traditional Chinese concept of "valuing the body" and the concept of "micro" also provide ample theoretical support for the aesthetics of nail art. Traditional Chinese thought regards the body as the origin of all things, paying attention to, caring for the body, and maintaining absolute respect for it. "The body, hair, and skin are given by parents; dare not destroy or injure, is the beginning of filial piety," which is the most classic expression of the concept of "valuing the body." Classical Chinese aesthetic thought also emphasizes the importance of the "micro" small, the so-called "see the vast world in a grain of dust, understand a hundred meanings between a word," advocating "micro" is to "see the big from the small," to see a higher level of artistic conception from the tiny details. The emphasis on the body and the "tiny" has made people have a special emotional attachment to their nails since ancient times. Around the Tang Dynasty, the custom of dyeing nails had already appeared in China. Moreover, the ancients would also try every means to protect their nails, thus creating nail protectors. Long and well-grown nails in ancient times represented the power and status of a person. "The ten fingers do not touch the spring water" can only cultivate beautiful nails. Nowadays, the class significance represented by nail art no longer exists, and everyone can do nail art. Nail art has become one of the ways for people to adorn themselves and relax. People are keen on doing all kinds of nail art, which is both a meticulous pursuit of human decoration beauty and also because they sincerely cherish and affirm their bodies from the heart, willing to embrace and love themselves more actively, freely, and sincerely, to a certain extent, to meet their spiritual needs, no longer catering to the aesthetics of others, no longer letting the body be in a passive position of being gazed, and no longer giving up any tiny part of their body.
The Emotional Value of Nail Art
Despite the high cost of nail art, many people still like to do nail art. In addition to loving beauty, another important reason is that nail art can provide emotional value. In 2018, Kong Shimanqi from the Department of Art at Donghua University surveyed some Chinese women on the reasons for doing nail art. The results show that Chinese women do nail art mainly for special occasions (such as weddings, parties, etc.) and special festivals, to create an atmosphere to show their importance, and many women enjoy the relaxation during the nail art process.
For some people who feel much better after doing nail art, there is also relevant research confirmation. In September 2023, researchers from two universities in Japan published a study in "Frontiers in Psychology" that nail care can have a therapeutic effect similar to psychotherapy, having a positive impact on individuals' emotions and psychology. On the one hand, this is because people believe that smooth, shiny, and attractive nails symbolize health and youth. Compared to makeup, which requires a mirror to see, people can appreciate beautiful and healthy nails anytime and anywhere, thereby enhancing self-image cognition and self-esteem. As the nail art is completed step by step, people feel that they are becoming better and healthier from the outside in, and their emotions are improved. On the other hand, when doing nail art, people's hands are occupied and they don't have to pay too much attention or worry about the outside world. The brain is emptied, and the massage and care during the nail art process can relieve hand fatigue and tension, providing a rare moment of relaxation and enjoyment in life. At the same time, watching their nails gradually become beautiful and different, there is an indescribable sense of achievement and confidence. In addition, if a positive and harmonious relationship is established between the customer and the nail artist during the nail art, and the customer makes a superficial self-disclosure to the nail artist, it can make the customer more relaxed. Research has shown that people try to convey their thoughts, feelings, and experiences to others every day, and in the early stage of the relationship, self-disclosure usually starts with disclosing their likes and daily life, which has a positive effect on the psychological impact of nail care; but as the intimate relationship with the nail artist increases, the level of customer self-disclosure deepens, including worries and personal shortcomings. These self-disclosures related to negative personality and ability have a negative impact. In short, for beauty enthusiasts, whether it is simply for love of beauty, to relax, or for special occasions and festivals, nail art has a certain promotional effect.