Fomomy's makeup topped Tmall — then debt of ¥10M forced it to post 'we went bankrupt'

Fomomy (浮气) was founded in 2018, positioning itself as a 'sweet-cool, sugar-free original makeup trend brand' with the tagline 'It's makeup, it's a weapon' (是彩妆，更是武器). The brand took an anti-gender-bias stance, with bold product designs. It launched hit lines including the Mustang series and checkerboard series, entered top KOL livestreams such as Li Jiaqi (李佳琦) and Luo Wangyu (骆王宇), ranked #1 on both Tmall and Douyin sales charts, and opened in WOW COLOUR offline stores.

But sales rank #1 is not the same as profit. Traffic acquisition costs kept rising; top-livestream slot fees and commissions ate most of the gross margin. The mass-market makeup category grew increasingly competitive. The brand depended heavily on traffic spending and KOL promotion, without building user loyalty or repeat purchase rates. Debt accumulated to nearly ¥10 million (eight figures).

On September 1, 2023, founder Doublemaos announced the brand was shutting down. The next day, the Tmall flagship store published a notice headlined 'This is not marketing — we really went bankrupt' (不是营销，我们真的倒闭了). A brand that had reached #1 closed with one final piece of communication.