618 2026 is over. The results are in, and for the first time in the festival’s history, China’s beauty market posted negative growth. Total beauty GMV across all platforms hit 561 billion RMB, down 2.43% year-on-year. That number matters. 618 has always been a growth story. Not this year.
What happened? A mix of shorter promo windows, consumer fatigue with endless discounts, and brands deliberately protecting their margins. The era of grow at any cost in China beauty is ending. What replaces it is more interesting.
618 2026 in Numbers: What the Data Shows
The split between skincare and color cosmetics tells two different stories. Skincare held up better. Color cosmetics and fragrance took the harder hit.
| Category | GMV (RMB) | YoY Change |
|---|---|---|
| Beauty Skincare | 425 billion | -1.62% |
| Color Cosmetics + Fragrance | 136 billion | -4.90% |
| Total Beauty | 561 billion | -2.43% |
Platform share is also shifting. Tmall still leads, but Douyin keeps eating into its dominance. Any brand ignoring Douyin in 2026 is making a serious mistake.
| Platform | Market Share |
|---|---|
| Tmall / Taobao | 44.8% |
| Douyin | 31.9% |
| JD.com | 10.7% |
| Kuaishou | 7.3% |
| Pinduoduo | 5.3% |
The top 10 beauty brands on Tmall for 618 2026:
| Rank | Brand |
|---|---|
| 1 | Skinceuticals (修丽可) |
| 2 | Estee Lauder (雅诗兰黛) |
| 3 | Proya (珀莱雅) |
| 4 | Lancome (兰蔻) |
| 5 | SK-II |
| 6 | L’Oreal Paris |
| 7 | La Mer (海蓝之谜) |
| 8 | Clarins (娇韵诗) |
| 9 | Helena Rubinstein (赫莲娜) |
| 10 | Cle de Peau (肌肤之钥) |
International Brands Are Back on Top
For two or three years, domestic brands were the story. Proya, Winona, Florasis took slots from international giants on Tmall and won the PR battle too. Chinese consumers were proud to buy Chinese skincare.
618 2026 changed the picture. International brands now hold 15 of the top 20 Tmall beauty slots. Skinceuticals jumped from rank 6 to rank 1. Estee Lauder returned to the top 3. Only Proya, at rank 3, kept the domestic flag flying at the top.
Why the reversal? Three reasons. First, international brands invested heavily in China-specific formulations and localized education content on Xiaohongshu. Second, they stopped competing on price and returned to efficacy claims backed by clinical data. Third, Chinese consumers who tried domestic alternatives are returning to international names for specific concerns such as anti-aging, pigmentation, and medical-grade actives.
This is not a permanent reversal. Domestic brands like Maogeping (+46.44%), Fan Beauty Diary (+78.77%), and Lin Qingxuan (+285.18%) posted exceptional growth. The market is splitting. Premium international at the top, fast-growth domestic in the middle. The squeezed zone is mid-range foreign brands with no clear positioning.
The Top 3 Beauty Livestreamers of 618 2026
Livestreaming remains the engine of beauty sales in China. Here are the three streamers who dominated this 618 on Douyin.
1. 广东夫妇 (Guangdong Couple): Number one for six consecutive years. They focused on prestige beauty and ran 7 concentrated broadcast sessions during the festival. Consistency and category focus built trust. They are the benchmark for beauty livestreaming at scale.
2. 贾乃亮 (Jia Nailiang): The celebrity-turned-streamer story of 618. His luxury beauty carnival format delivered +284% GMV growth year-on-year in a single session. Cumulative GMV from May 24 to June 6 exceeded 1 billion RMB, up 335.5% YoY. That is not a trend, that is a structural shift in how male celebrities sell beauty to female audiences.
3. 与辉同行 (Dong Yuhui’s channel): Dong Yuhui built his audience on literature and culture. His channel now mixes high-end skincare with domestic value brands. The combination works because his audience trusts his judgment, not his discounts. For Douyin advertising, this channel shows that niche trust beats broad reach.
On Douyin, the top brands by GMV: Estee Lauder (735 million RMB), Helena Rubinstein (703 million RMB), La Mer (581 million RMB). All three are premium international brands. Douyin is no longer just a channel for affordable products.
Li Jiaqi Still Rules Taobao Live
On Taobao Live, Li Jiaqi remains the undisputed number one. His first-hour pre-sale posted double-digit growth. More interesting: 60% of the brands in his beauty top 10 were domestic Chinese brands. Proya held two slots in that list.
Li Jiaqi’s curation is a signal. When he gives slots to domestic brands, those brands get legitimacy with mass-market shoppers. When he returns to international names, it validates a premium repositioning. Watch his brand mix as a leading indicator of where the market is going.
Olivier Verot’s View
I have been watching 618 for years. This year is different, and not just because of the negative growth number.
The discount-driven growth model that powered China’s beauty e-commerce for a decade is breaking down. Brands are protecting margins. Platforms are compressing promo windows. Consumers are more selective. This is actually good news for foreign brands entering China now, if they enter correctly.
The brands that won in 618 2026 did not win because they cut prices the most. They won because they built real brand awareness through content, educated consumers on efficacy, and showed up consistently on the platforms where purchase decisions are made. Skinceuticals at number one is the clearest example. That brand invested in dermatologist endorsements, clinical content on Xiaohongshu, and professional education campaigns. The result came at 618.
For foreign brands thinking about cosmetics marketing in China, the message is simple: stop thinking about 618 as a promotional event and start thinking about it as a results day. The preparation happens in the other 11 months of the year.
4 Lessons Foreign Beauty Brands Must Take from 618 2026
- Build before the festival, not during it. Brands that won in 618 2026 had already built search presence, content libraries, and KOL relationships months earlier. Last-minute discount campaigns do not work against entrenched players.
- Douyin is now a premium channel. Estee Lauder, Helena Rubinstein, and La Mer took the top three Douyin GMV spots. If your brand’s China strategy ignores Douyin because it seems too young or too discount-oriented, that assumption is out of date. Get on the platform with the right content format.
- AI search is now a real ranking factor. Alibaba’s Qwen model replaced keyword search across 4 billion SKUs, including beauty. Brands that optimized their product listings and content for conversational AI queries outperformed those that did not. This is not optional anymore. It is the new SEO for Tmall.
- Protect your positioning. Brands that competed purely on discount lost brand equity and margin. If you spend six months discounting, you train buyers to wait for sales. The brands that held pricing and competed on value, clinical efficacy, heritage, formulation, came out stronger.
5 Questions Chinese Beauty Consumers Asked About 618 2026
Q: 618期间哪个护肤品牌最畅销？(Which skincare brand sold best during 618?)
A: Skinceuticals (修丽可) topped Tmall skincare for the first time, jumping from rank 6 to rank 1. On Douyin, Estee Lauder led with 735 million RMB in GMV.
Q: 2026年618美妆销售额下降了吗？(Did beauty sales fall at 618 2026?)
A: Yes. Total beauty GMV was 561 billion RMB, down 2.43% year-on-year. It is the first negative result in 618 history for the beauty category.
Q: 国产美妆品牌在618表现如何？(How did domestic beauty brands perform at 618?)
A: Results were mixed. Proya held rank 3 on Tmall. Standouts like Lin Qingxuan (+285.18%), Fan Beauty Diary (+78.77%), and Maogeping (+46.44%) showed strong growth. Domestic brands that invested in premium positioning and clinical claims outperformed those competing on price.
Q: 618直播带货哪个主播卖货最多？(Which livestreamer sold the most during 618?)
A: On Douyin, 广东夫妇 (Guangdong Couple) topped the ranking for the sixth year in a row. On Taobao Live, Li Jiaqi remained number one with double-digit growth in his first pre-sale hour.
Q: 外国美妆品牌如何在中国618中脱颖而出？(How can foreign beauty brands stand out at China’s 618?)
A: Focus on content and efficacy education year-round. Build presence on Xiaohongshu and Douyin before the event. Optimize product listings for AI-driven search on Tmall. Protect your price positioning, because discounting your way to GMV destroys brand equity faster than it builds it.
Sources
- CBNData: 2026年618美妆行业消费数据报告
- Sina Finance: 618战报，美妆总GMV 5610亿，同比下滑2.43%
- The Paper (澎湃新闻): 618直播带货，贾乃亮单场GMV增284%
- Xinhua: 2026年618年中大促美妆品类销售分析
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