The L’Oréal-owned brand NYX Professional Makeup declared Thursday that it will launch an online beauty “incubator” in the form of a DAO called GORJS and 1,000 Ethereum NFTs called the “FKWME Pass.”
GORJS, which is pronounced “gorgeous, wants to set a standard for “what beauty will be in the metaverse and lead the cultural conversation about the values of diversity, inclusion, and accessibility, according to the DAO’s litepaper, or technical explanation.
The DAO was first announced in June of last year, but it will finally start up soon with the same aims. On February 1, the public will be able to purchase FKWME NFT passes for 0.19 ETH, or about $290 each.
What is the purpose of developing GORJS?
NYX Global Brand President Yann Joffredo stated in a statement that GORJS was created to highlight “3D creators” and provide them with “a path to success within the Web3 ecosystem.”
Joffredo considers digital “makeup” designs to be radically unique from physical cosmetics, as developers are able to go above and beyond with surreal components that defy the laws of physics.
“From extraterrestrial glass skin to morphing elemental lashes, makeup and digital fantasy are entwined in an aspirational, accessible way,” Joffredo said. “In one instance, eyelashes might be stacked in a multi-tier beauty application norm; in Web3, they could dramatically flare into lifelike flames that dare the viewer to dream.”
Therefore, NYX’s DAO is an expansion beyond the physical cosmetics available in drugstores; it is an examination of what makeup means in the age of avatars and pseudonymity.
This Web3 effort looks to be a difference from NYX’s traditional diet of beauty influencer material, which includes of smartphone footage of producers applying makeup posted to Web2 social media platforms such as TikTok, Twitter, and YouTube.
Connection between NYX and beauty industry
When asked how NYX’s DAO and NFTs align with the brand’s demographic, Joffredo said that NYX has always been a “pioneer in the digital and aspiring artistry space.” Joffredo also said NYX has a history of supporting “rising makeup creators” and “young creators” in the beauty industry.
Joffredo believes that GORJS will still be able to realize its ambitious goal despite the decline of the NFT industry during the previous several months.
Members of the Ethereum DAO will utilize 100 million non-transferable GORJS governance tokens as voting chips for various DAO proposals and projects. A DAO, or decentralized autonomous organization, is a collection of crypto enthusiasts that aim to govern pooled resources collectively using tokens for community voting.
In an ideal DAO structure, there is no single entity that has all the power, and the community is able to execute on a common aim or mission using a more equitable power structure as opposed to a top-down structure.
Members of the DAO can receive soulbound GORJS tokens in numerous ways, including buying an FKWME Pass NFT (fuck with me). If a token is soulbound, it cannot be moved from the holder’s wallet and is non-transferable.
The NFT automatically provides the holder with a daily yield of GORJS tokens and allows the holder to engage in future NFT airdrops and exclusive future sales. The DAO will also provide a tool for minting NFTs, allowing members to mint their own works of art through its website.
Something new in beauty just dropped
— NYX Pro Makeup US (@NYXCosmetics) January 10, 2023
INTRODUCING GORJSWant to find out what we mean? https://t.co/WApCVh5CTZ #TheFutureIsGORJS #LFG pic.twitter.com/hyNSwkA1u9
How did GORJS begin?
NYX’s Joffredo, Matthieu Guerin, NYX’s Global VP of Digital and Ecommerce, and three other NYX executives helped start GORJS. At the start, each NYX executive will have 2% of the total number of tokens.
The DAO also has a number of Web3-focused executives on its advisory team. These include The Sandbox co-founder Sebastien Borget, Ready Player Me founder Timmu Toke, Meta Director of Blockchain and Web3 Partnerships Pierre Roux, Polygon Labs Metaverse Lead Brian Trunzo, and Amber Ward, CEO of creative agency Invisible North.
“I decided to join as [an] advisor because they are genuinely purpose-driven,” Borget said. “I believe they have designed a DAO system which truly benefits the digital talent, creators, and artists.”
“The primary demographic for GORJS is creators and digital artists who are native to Web3,” Ward said. “This is a niche, long-term play.”
The DAO’s litepaper suggests that it may rely heavily on “artist referrals” to expand its community, giving GORJS tokens to those who successfully get their creative friends to join the DAO.
This could be seen as a type of multi-level marketing (MLM) scheme, but since GORJS tokens can’t be turned into real funds, that doesn’t seem to be the case. More referrals won’t directly give members money, but it could give each member more power in the DAO.
Additionally, the litepaper states explicitly that GORJS tokens are not a “investment” and under no circumstances can tokens be exchanged for any L’Oreal shares, securities, or currency.
The soulbound nature of the GORJS token, according to Borget, prevents governance token speculation, which crypto founders such as Ethereum’s Vitalik Buterin have disparaged in recent months.
“The governance is truly meant to be a recommendation engine through relying on [soulbound tokens] that cannot be sold, and hence does not risk becoming a financial instrument,” Borget said.
NYX’s move into Web3 is in line with its parent firm, L’Oréal’s, interest in cryptos. L’Oréal is already involved in the metaverse and building digital communities. Its VC arm, Bold, invested in a metaverse startup called Digital Village. It’s also not surprising that NYX has joined Web3, since L’Oréal has filed 17 trademark applications for NFTs and blockchain uses for its brands, including NYX, Kiehl’s, and Urban Decay, in the past year.
As NYX moves forward with its Web3 plans, it’s still not clear if the average NYX customer is interested in crypto or if NYX’s Web3 world will attract a totally different form of user.