A Top Influencer Creates a Bad Buzz for a Chinese Cosmetics Brand

On September 10, Li Jiaqi, China’s most watched livestream host, known as the “Lipstick King,” sparked a crisis during a live broadcast for Florasis cosmetics. A viewer questioned the price of an eyebrow pencil at 79 RMB. Li fired back, telling the critic to look at their own work ethic instead of questioning the price tag.

That reply cost him one million followers on Weibo in 24 hours. It cost Florasis its reputation for months.

Your brand can face the same situation tomorrow. Here is what happened, why it matters in 2026, and what you need in place before you hand a KOL the keys to your sales channel.

The Fallout

Li’s remarks triggered an immediate backlash. He lost over one million followers within 24 hours on Weibo, despite having built an audience of more than 30 million. His subsequent public apology did not stop the bleeding.

Weibo’s trending topics algorithm amplified the controversy automatically. By the time his team posted the apology video, the narrative was already set: arrogant host, overpriced brand.

The Florasis Impact

The incident shifted focus directly to Florasis. Consumers coined the term “花西币” (Florasis Coin), a mocking reference to the brand’s pricing strategy. It spread across Weibo, Douyin, and XHS within hours.

The crisis deepened when reports surfaced about a makeup brush set priced at 919 RMB that used inferior synthetic bristles. The gap between positioning and product quality became the story.

A Weibo survey showed that 80% of 18,000 respondents refused to buy the brush set at that price. Only around 300 expressed continued brand loyalty. That is a public vote of no confidence, indexed forever on Chinese search engines.

Broader Implications

The episode forced Chinese beauty consumers to ask a direct question: are domestic brands charging premium prices for average products? That skepticism did not fade. It reset expectations across the entire category.

In 2026, that skepticism is structural. It is baked into how consumers discover, evaluate, and buy cosmetics. If your brand is not prepared for scrutiny at every touchpoint, a bad buzz will find you.

What Chinese Consumers Demand in 2026

The Florasis crisis was a preview. Chinese beauty consumers in 2026 are faster, more informed, and less forgiving than they were in 2023.

According to iiMedia Research, the Chinese cosmetics market reached 562.4 billion RMB in 2025, with continued growth projected through 2027 (iiMedia, 2025). That growth comes with higher consumer standards. Buyers at every price point now cross-reference claims before purchasing.

Three shifts define 2026 demand:

成分透明 (ingredient transparency). Consumers read INCI lists. They search for 烟酰胺 (niacinamide), 视黄醇 (retinol), 神经酰胺 (ceramide), 积雪草苷 (asiaticoside), and 玻色因 (Pro-Xylane) by name before they read brand copy. If your ingredient story does not hold up to a Douyin ingredient-check video, you are exposed. The Florasis backlash accelerated this. “花西币” mocking only stuck because consumers already felt the product-to-price ratio was weak. Ingredient credibility is your first defense.

AI-assisted discovery. QuestMobile data shows Doubao crossed 500 million monthly active users in early 2026. Kimi reached 200 million. Baidu AI Overview now serves more than 600 million monthly users (QuestMobile, 2026). Consumers type questions like “哪个粉底液适合干皮敏感肌” (which foundation works for dry sensitive skin) directly into these AI interfaces. The AI pulls from product pages, XHS reviews, Tmall listings, and brand articles. If your brand has no structured content in those channels, you do not appear. An influencer bad buzz, by contrast, appears immediately. Your content presence is your counter-argument.

Proof over promise. After Li Jiaqi’s crisis, consumers stopped taking livestream recommendations at face value. They now look for before/after content, independent 测评 (product tests) on XHS, and brand responses to negative reviews on Tmall. The trust architecture has shifted from host authority to peer verification. Your XHS strategy needs to reflect this: UGC and authentic user 测评 carry more weight than a paid influencer script.

The takeaway is direct. A bad buzz in this environment does not stay contained to one platform or one news cycle. It gets indexed, replayed by AI discovery engines, and cited in competitor comparisons. Your brand needs content that tells a better story than the crisis does.

Ecommerce First: Tmall, Douyin, and XHS in 2026

The Florasis story played out in public on social media. But the real damage was measured in sales on Tmall.

In 2026, approximately 80% of Chinese beauty sales happen online (100EC, 2025). Tmall Beauty GMV exceeded 280 billion RMB in 2025. Douyin’s beauty category grew over 60% year-on-year. These are not channels you use to support a physical retail strategy. They are the business.

What the Florasis case proves is that social sentiment and ecommerce performance are the same variable. When “花西币” trended, Florasis’s search volume on Tmall spiked with negative intent. Consumers searched for the brand specifically to leave reviews, compare it against alternatives, or avoid it. Their Tmall store became a public record of the crisis.

Your brand needs to treat ecommerce and brand-building as one operation, not two separate budgets.

Here is what that means in practice:

Tmall is your credibility anchor. AI discovery engines like Doubao and Baidu AI pull product data from Tmall listings to answer consumer questions. If your brand is not on Tmall with complete product detail pages, ingredient lists, and review volume, AI tools cannot confirm you exist. An influencer can drive traffic. But if there is nothing credible waiting at the destination, that traffic leaves. Your cosmetics China strategy must include a fully built Tmall presence before any influencer activation.

Douyin connects content to transaction in real time. The 60%+ growth in Douyin beauty is built on short videos, lives, and product cards that let a viewer buy in three taps. The format is identical to what Li Jiaqi was doing for Florasis. The risk is the same. Build your Douyin presence around multiple smaller creators with authentic positioning, not a single top host with outsized authority. One incident cannot crater your entire channel if you have distribution across 15 credible voices instead of one celebrity.

XHS manages reputation before a crisis starts. XHS is where consumers go to read real opinions. A brand with 200 detailed user 测评 posts, ingredient breakdowns, and honest application results is harder to destroy with a single bad livestream moment. Your XHS agency strategy should prioritize authentic review volume over produced brand content. Reviews are what AI surfaces. Reviews are what skeptical post-Li Jiaqi consumers trust.

WeChat closes the loop with loyal customers. After a bad buzz event, your existing customers need direct communication from the brand. A WeChat CRM lets you reach your subscriber base with a direct message before the social media narrative fully hardens. Florasis had no effective direct channel to counter the Weibo story. A brand with a built WeChat audience can respond to crisis within hours, not days.

Branding and ecommerce together is the only formula that works in 2026. Without Tmall, AI cannot confirm your brand exists. Without Douyin, you are invisible at the point of purchase decision. Without XHS, you have no peer-proof layer. Without WeChat, you cannot defend yourself when a crisis hits.

The Florasis incident did not have to be fatal. The brand had strong product history and genuine consumer love before September 2023. What it lacked was a crisis-resistant ecommerce and content infrastructure. In 2026, that infrastructure is not optional.

Your brand is one bad livestream comment away from a similar crisis. We audit cosmetics brands entering or scaling in China every week. We look at your ecommerce setup, your influencer risk exposure, your content presence on XHS and Douyin, and your ability to respond fast when something goes wrong.

Request a free audit. We will tell you exactly where you are exposed and what to fix first.

Article by Olivier Verot, Cosmetics China Agency. 12+ years in China beauty market entry, influencer marketing, and ecommerce strategy.