5 Ways to Win in China’s Beauty Industry (2026)
There are 5 businesses that illustrate the facility of creating a brand top an authoritative editorial voice, no matter whether it’s in the kind of viral video clips and lifestyle blogs or influencer ‘grams and disappearing Snaps.
For collaborating with clients to generate good cosmetics products
The beauty field has normally flowed in a single route: Executives in glass towers decide which products they’re likely to put on cabinets, and ladies buy them (or don’t). Glossier founder and CEO Emily Weiss have turned this process right into a two-way discussion by inquiring readers of her magnificence news and reviews site, To the Gloss, to weigh in on each element of her three-year-old skin-care and make-up corporation. In 2016, Glossier, which grew by 600% and introduced a slew of hit solutions, which include the Milky Jelly deal with the wash. Its advancement started off months previously when Weiss requested her flock what they’d want inside their aspiration cleanser, to be sure they were putting something into the environment that really mattered. Responses poured in, signaling a keen viewer. “It’s our most replenished solution,” says Weiss.
Glossier will get fans to preach the gospel in other methods. The brand’s modern-day, the minimalist packaging is meant to look excellent in pictures, and Glossier products arrive inside a reusable pink pouch that doubles as an Instagram backdrop.
Glossier furthermore buffs its reliability by touting other manufacturers on both of those its Instagram feed and Into the Gloss. “Where most elegance organizations have tried using to disregard the very fact that ladies are in an open marriage with elegance brand names,” Weiss says, “we have embraced that.”
China’s Beauty Market in 2025-2026: Key Numbers
China’s cosmetics market reached approximately 520 billion RMB in 2025, with skincare accounting for over 55% of total sales. Domestic brands now hold close to 40% of market share, up from 28% in 2020. Platforms like Xiaohongshu (Red Note) and Douyin drive the majority of discovery for consumers under 35. We worked with Clarins and Yon-Ka on their China digital strategies, and the consistent finding is this: brands that invest in content before investing in paid media perform better long-term. The shift toward ingredient-conscious consumers (“成份党”, chengfen dang) means product education content outperforms pure lifestyle imagery in conversion rates. Working with the right KOL network in China accelerates this significantly.
For ripping up the seams of banner advertising
It absolutely was in all probability the lasers. Yeah, when actress Margaret Qualley shot lasers from her fingers through an epic dance routine in the Spike Jonze-directed short film Kenzo Planet, that is probably when each individual marketer on the planet went slack-jawed.
Commissioned to celebrate the launch of the French fashion house Kenzo’s Kenzo World fragrance, the surreal and shocking location, which went viral in September and gained a leading industry award in November, triggered a wildly profitable soft launch of the perfume, with no paid media or marketing required.
Kenzo creative directors Carol Lim and Humberto Leon, who also operate the retailer and outfits model Opening Ceremony, have regularly pushed Kenzo beyond fashion and into the greater realm of pop culture through resourceful risk-taking and collaboration.
“It’s enjoyable for us to tap into culture in almost any way we could,” says Leon. Two additional visionary jobs followed within a six-week interval, together with a Carrie Brownstein-directed short satirizing the hyperbolic world of social networking, which served as Kenzo’s fall/winter look, in addition to a video clip showcasing Chance the Rapper that announced Kenzo’s partnership with H&M.
For parlaying trend advice into retail gold
Known for its hit lifestyle and e-commerce websites: Who What Wear (fashion), My Domaine (home decor), and Byrdie (beauty), Clique Media leaped out of the digital world and into the physical one in January 2016 with a clothing line for Target. The millennial-minded Who What Wear collection offers runway trends at big-box prices and keeps up with the frenetic pace of trend by committing to 12 updates a year.
It is a natural evolution for the firm, which grew out of the Who What Wear blog begun by Elle magazine veterans Katherine Power and Hillary Kerr. “We felt that the high-end trend magazines spoke down to women of all ages,” claims Power, who now serves as CEO. “We wanted to create this friendly voice that felt like your most fashionable friend.”
Today, Power’s team uses the information gleaned from Clique Media’s verticals and social websites accounts to figure out what will sell. “We have amazing insight into what’s converting: what brands, what silhouettes, what material,” says Power.
“We’re also engaging the customer along the way. We’ll be looking via fabric swatches and go on Snapchat and say, ‘Which one would you like better?’” The crowdsourcing has worked: Who What Wear’s Target collection has recently expanded into shoes, and Clique Media has additional retail collabo
Looking for help? Our cosmetics marketing in China can support your brand’s entry into China.
