Gong Xinli, once a design director for an advertisement company, established a lipstick brand with her other two partners in 2014.

She is responsible for research and development on colors, while the other two co-founders handle R&D in raw materials and smells.

Gong's lipsticks, which are made of raw materials and now have more than 200 colors, have loyal customers of both sexes. A boy, 13, came to her brick-and-mortar store and asked whether they would make a special lipstick for his mother, according to Gong.

Gong said the big difference between ordinary lipsticks and customized lipsticks are the wide varieties. She said that ordinary lipstick brands mass produce their products in only four to five colors.

Gong's store currently sells more than 1,000 lipsticks each month.