[What on earth is in Starlight Lotion that makes it so effective?]
[Why does Starlight Lotion sell so well despite its absurd price of 300,000 won for 100ml?]
[Why has the supply of Starlight Lotion been decreasing recently?]
The media has started to quietly publish articles. Starlight Lotion was a revolutionary cosmetic in the beauty industry that no one could match, so it was natural for it to top beauty-related news.
Of course, the Starlight Guild had influence, so most articles were based on content actively distributed by Starlight Cosmetics. If you accidentally got on the wrong side of the Starlight Guild, life in South Korea would become difficult. Although, major media outlets might not care as much.
[Last month, Starlight Lotion was released. And in just over a month, it became a national sensation. It was a must-have for actors filming dramas or movies. The efficacy of Starlight Lotion was widely known among the general public as well. However, recently, the shortage of Starlight Lotion has become severe. Some consumers even went to the factory to stage protests.]
[According to Starlight Cosmetics, the ingredients used are incredibly rare. While they couldn’t disclose the exact ingredients, this rarity is one reason for the high price. Recently, the supply has become so limited that a shortage has occurred, as stated by Starlight Cosmetics.]
[…According to key employees of Starlight Cosmetics, a price increase has become inevitable. The ingredients used in the cosmetics are so rare that there’s no other choice, they reported.]
[The net profit of Starlight Lotion hasn’t been disclosed, but it’s said to not be that high…]
The executives of Starlight Cosmetics smiled contentedly as they read the flood of articles. They saw an opportunity to raise prices. Of course, it wasn’t something Starlight Cosmetics had orchestrated. It was more like a stroke of luck.
“This could work. If we play our cards right, we might even get positive feedback from consumers for raising prices,” Kim Seyoung said while scrolling through articles on her computer. Contrary to the articles, the net profit of Starlight Lotion was substantial. While the articles speculated 20-30%, the actual net profit was more than double that. Of course, not all the profits went to Starlight Cosmetics. The Starlight Research Institute had a share, and so did Hana, who provided the ingredients.
Currently, the shares weren’t large, but the contract stipulated that Hana’s share would increase as she aged, so they needed to maximize sales early on.
“That’s right. And we’re actively promoting these articles online with the help of our Starlight Guild’s marketing team.”
“We’re spreading articles about the shortage of Starlight Lotion due to a lack of ingredients. Consumers seem to understand, though they’re somewhat dissatisfied.”
Of course, if the public found out that Starlight Lotion was made from just one strand of Hana’s hair, there would be massive backlash. It would be like pouring cold water on everything.
But Kim Seyoung smirked. As long as this secret wasn’t revealed, everything would be fine. And even if it were, once people saw the price tied to that strand of hair, they might understand.
And the public was only concerned about the supply of Starlight Lotion. They didn’t really care about the ingredients or the production process.
At the very least, the factory had stopped operating because they ran out of the key ingredient—hair. But since they had already made a lot of money, giving employees paid leave wasn’t a problem.
Of course, there were other tricks they could use, like forcing employees to take unpaid leave or use their vacation days. But with the Starlight Guild’s name on the line, they couldn’t afford to cut corners. Kim Seyoung was running the company as reasonably as possible.
“Here’s the market response survey on the appropriate price for Starlight Lotion.”
An executive turned on the presentation. Most respondents said that, given its efficacy, the price of Starlight Lotion was too low. Kim Seyoung smiled triumphantly at the results.
However, raising the price too much would create psychological resistance among consumers, so after a long meeting, it was decided to increase the price of Starlight Lotion by 10%. Once the decision was made, there was no turning back.
——————————————————————–
“Huh? Did I just grow my hair back?”
“My hair is growing back.”
After eating well and resting for about two weeks, I could see my hair growing back. As soon as I woke up in the morning, I could feel hair on the back of my head. When I had short hair, it was easier to manage, but this was just an inevitable phenomenon.
I casually tied my hair with a rubber band. In the past, Bora or Haru had to tie my hair for me, but now I could do it perfectly without even looking in the mirror.
“Hehe.”
I laughed as I looked at my growing hair in the mirror. If my hair didn’t grow, my sense of self-worth would fade, so it was important to me. Of course, even if my hair didn’t grow, no one would kick me out or anything, but since I was living like a bum, I felt a bit self-conscious.
“Wow! Hana, your hair is growing back!”
While lying in bed watching TV, Bora came in through the door. She was also amazed to see my hair growing back.
“My hair is growing back. But why didn’t it grow before?”
“Well… shouldn’t you, the owner of the hair, know that?”
“It’s my hair, but I don’t know either…”
*Sigh*
My hair didn’t follow my will. Maybe it was because the last two weeks were a very cold winter? Even researchers couldn’t figure it out, and even I, the owner of this hair, couldn’t understand why it wasn’t growing. It was a mystery.
But I guess it’ll be revealed someday, right?
“Hana, let’s go eat!”
Bora picked me up and headed to the restaurant. Since I hadn’t eaten anything in the morning, I was hungry too, so I nodded in her arms.
—
*Shh shh shh*
Now, during lunch break, the office was dark and empty.
I sneaked around like a thief, heading somewhere. My target was the pantry. I tried to hold my breath and tiptoed as quietly as possible. Even though there was no one in the office to hear me, on TV, thieves always moved like this.
Being short, the office seemed huge, but I managed to find the pantry. The height of the pantry desk reached about my chest. I quickly glanced around and started taking out snacks one by one. The pantry was stacked with delicious snacks like a mountain.
Since the snacks were running out, I came to the pantry every now and then to restock. In the past, I could just buy them from the convenience store, but now that I was banned from going there, I had no way to get snacks. I could ask Bora or Haru to buy them for me, but if I asked every day, they would scold me for eating so many snacks.
So, they only bought me snacks every 2-3 days. The rest of the time, I had to endure being hungry. But I absolutely couldn’t stand being hungry.
In the midst of that, something caught my eye. It wasn’t rice crackers or cookies, but mix coffee. Last time, I asked them to buy me coffee, but Bora said it was like alcohol, something only adults drink, and refused to buy it for me. Wouldn’t eating snacks frequently be more harmful to my body?
Anyway, Bora said caffeinated drinks shouldn’t be consumed often. But I didn’t give in. I grabbed a handful of mix coffee with one hand. Since I had a bag with me, I poured the mix coffee into it.
I suddenly glanced at the clock. More than half of the lunch break had passed. It was about time for the employees who had gone to eat to return to the office. I quickly hid and made my way back to my room.
Luckily, I didn’t run into anyone on the way back. I chuckled as I took out the bag. Inside, there was a pile of various snacks. Enough to last me a couple of days.
