Cosmetics giant Shiseido have caused a stir in the world of beauty thanks to their latest advert. The short clip, which has garnered over four million views on YouTube since being uploaded last week, features an unusual surprise ending highlighting the power of make-up.
The video begins with a group of schoolgirls sitting quietly in class
Titled High School Girl? the video begins with a female teacher entering her classroom, where schoolgirls sit quietly waiting for their lesson to begin. The camera crosses the room before landing on one model who is holding a book. She quickly winks at the lense before it zooms onto one of the pages she is reading.
"Did you notice all of the guys in the classroom?" it reads, written in Japanese.
As the camera pans back out, the surprising twist is revealed: the entire group is actually comprised of boys, who have been transformed with a series of impressive hair and make-up tricks. Time begins rewinding and the viewer is given a sneak peek at the unfolding makeovers.
The video almost immediately created a social media frenzy. Beauty addicts around the world not only praised the beauty brand for the revealing of the big twist, but also for the incredible transformations of the models.
The group is revealed to be comprised only of boys who underwent dramatic make-up transformations
An accompanying behind-the-scenes video shows the full process from the moment the boys arrived for filming to their final looks. Sat in their chairs around the classroom, laughing and chatting as they underwent their drastic makeovers, each boy was firstly given a wig, carefully applied and fixed with hairspray.
Foundation and primer were applied to give the skin an even finish, with some make-up artists also choosing to apply it around their model's lips to give them a more feminine finish.
Eye make-up was key to the look – each model wore mascara and had his eyelashes curled, before false eyelashes were applied and black eyeliner was used to complete the effect. Meanwhile lips were kept simple, with just a slick of nude lipgloss.