I have worked in the China beauty market for over 15 years. The question I get most often from international skincare brands right now is: which short video platform should we prioritize? Douyin or Kuaishou? The answer depends on your brand positioning, your budget, and who you are trying to reach. Let me break it down.
With the improvement in living standards, Chinese people pay more and more attention to their own health and skincare and are willing to spend more on personal care. The awareness of skincare continues to increase, which promotes the rapid development of the industry.
According to Statista, the market size of China’s skincare industry (calculated by retail sales) reached US$16.79 billion in 2023. By 2025, that figure climbed to approximately US$19.4 billion, and we expect it to cross US$22 billion before 2029. The compound annual growth rate remains above 5%, driven by Gen Z premiumization and the rise of daily skincare routines among male consumers.
The brands I see succeeding in 2026 are not just selling products. They are building presence across multiple platforms at once, with short video at the center of everything.
Chinese Skincare Market Overview
With a population of over 1.4 billion people, the demand for skincare products is immense. Chinese consumers are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of skincare and are willing to invest in high-quality products to achieve healthy and radiant skin.
One key factor driving growth is the rising disposable income of the middle class. As incomes increase, people are more willing to spend on beauty and personal care products. Social media and beauty influencers have played a significant role in shaping consumer preferences and driving demand for skincare.
Chinese consumers have a strong preference for natural and organic skincare products, perceived as safer and more effective. Demand for products with herbal extracts, ginseng, green tea, and traditional Chinese medicine ingredients has surged. In 2026, I see a new ingredient trend taking hold: fermented actives and skin barrier repair formulas. Brands like Proya and Winona built enormous market share around this positioning. International brands need to localize their ingredient story to compete.
E-commerce platforms have also played a crucial role in the growth of the skincare market in China. With the rise of online shopping, consumers have easy access to a wide range of products from both domestic and international brands. This has increased consumer choice and made purchasing more convenient.
China’s Social E-Commerce Promotes Online Skincare Selling
The sales channels of China’s skincare industry are still dominated by offline channels, accounting for 75.4% of sales. In recent years, e-commerce channels and social media have gradually merged and created a new selling channel for skincare products.
China’s e-commerce can be subdivided into integrated B2C platforms, C2C platforms, vertical e-commerce platforms, and social e-commerce platforms. Among them, social e-commerce platforms are characterized and divided into different styles:
- Pinduoduo: group buying social media platform;
- Xiaohongshu: UGC (User Generated Content) sales;
- WeChat: fusion of social media and online shops;
- Kuaishou and Douyin: short-video sharing and viral content.
In 2026, one more channel matters: AI-powered search and discovery. Platforms like Doubao and Kimi are now influencing how consumers research skincare before they buy. I have seen brands completely ignore this and lose visibility to competitors who publish structured ingredient content that AI tools can cite. Your content strategy needs to account for this.
What is Douyin?
Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, was created by ByteDance in September 2016. It now counts over 800 million daily active users as of 2025, up from 600 million in 2020. It is the dominant short-video platform in China and one of the most powerful sales channels for beauty products anywhere in the world.
What makes Douyin different in 2026 is the integration of livestream shopping directly into the feed. Brands that work with us on Douyin do not just run ads. They build a content ecosystem: organic short videos, KOL collaborations, and live selling sessions. The algorithm rewards consistency. A brand posting three to five times per week with good creative will outperform a brand spending five times more on paid promotion with weak content.
Douyin’s user base skews toward Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities, ages 18-35. It is the right platform for premium and mid-range skincare brands targeting young urban consumers. The cost per acquisition has increased since 2022, so paid Douyin advertising now requires careful funnel planning to remain profitable.
What is Kuaishou?
Kuaishou is often overlooked by international brands, and that is a mistake. With over 700 million monthly active users, Kuaishou reaches a demographic that Douyin does not: consumers in Tier 3, Tier 4, and rural areas of China. These consumers are highly loyal to brands they discover through creators they trust. They are also extremely price-sensitive.
The Kuaishou audience responds well to authenticity. Over-produced content performs poorly here. What works is a real person, a real skin concern, and a visible result. Brands selling functional skincare at accessible price points, whitening serums, acne treatments, and basic moisturizers, do very well on Kuaishou when they work with the right local creators.
Kuaishou’s livestream commerce is even more dominant than Douyin’s in terms of GMV per session for lower-price products. I have seen mid-tier brands generate more revenue through a single Kuaishou live session than through a month of Douyin ads.
Douyin vs Kuaishou: Which Platform for Your Skincare Brand?
- Premium international brand, first entry into China: Start with Douyin. Build brand awareness through KOL seeding and short videos before activating paid traffic.
- Mid-range brand targeting mass market: Kuaishou gives you faster volume at lower cost. Pair it with Douyin for cross-platform visibility.
- Budget skincare or private label: Kuaishou livestream is your primary channel. Price, speed, and creator trust drive sales.
- Luxury or dermocosmetic brand: Neither platform alone is sufficient. You need Xiaohongshu for credibility and Douyin for reach. Add Tmall flagship for conversion.
Brands that work with us usually start with a dual-platform test over 60 days. We measure cost per view, cost per click to Tmall or JD, and conversion rate from video traffic. The data tells us where to invest the real budget. Guessing upfront wastes money.
Xiaohongshu: the Platform That Closes the Loop
No short video strategy in 2026 is complete without Xiaohongshu. The platform now has over 300 million monthly active users, and its search function is the first place most Chinese women go when they want to research a skincare product before buying.
Douyin and Kuaishou create awareness. Xiaohongshu builds trust. If a consumer sees your product on Douyin and searches for it on Xiaohongshu and finds nothing, you have lost that sale. I have told every brand I work with for the past three years: your Xiaohongshu presence is not optional. It is your social proof layer.
The content format that works best on Xiaohongshu for skincare is detailed, honest, and ingredient-focused. Before-and-after posts, ingredient explainers, and real user reviews drive saves and follows. Saves on Xiaohongshu are a strong signal that your content will rank in search results. Read our full cosmetics marketing guide for China to understand how these platforms connect into a full strategy.
2026 Trends: What Is Driving Skincare Sales in China Right Now
- Skin barrier repair: Post-pandemic, consumers are obsessed with gentle, barrier-supporting formulas. Ceramides, panthenol, and centella asiatica are the ingredients to lead with in your content.
- Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) ingredients: Snow mushroom, pearl powder, and licorice root extract are trending on both Douyin and Xiaohongshu. If your brand has these, promote them explicitly.
- Anti-pollution skincare: Urban Chinese consumers in Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen are highly aware of pollution effects on skin. Products that address this have strong content angles on short video.
- Men’s skincare: The male skincare segment grew over 12% in 2025. Kuaishou has been particularly effective for reaching male consumers in lower-tier cities.
- AI-assisted routines: Apps and mini-programs that diagnose skin type and recommend products are driving discovery. Partnering with these platforms or creating your own diagnostic tool gives you a data advantage.
Where Does Tmall Fit In?
Short video drives discovery. Tmall closes the sale. For international skincare brands, a Tmall Global or Tmall flagship store remains the most trusted point of purchase in China. Consumers who find you on Douyin or Xiaohongshu will search for you on Tmall before they buy. If you are not there, your competitor gets the conversion.
The brands that get the full loop right, short video awareness, Xiaohongshu trust-building, and Tmall conversion, are the ones growing market share in 2026. I have seen brands with excellent Douyin content fail because they had no Tmall presence and consumers could not find a trusted place to buy. Do not let that happen to you. Learn more about how to sell cosmetics in China across channels.
Working with KOLs on Short Video
KOL selection is where most brands make mistakes. Follower count is not the metric that matters. What matters is the engagement rate, the audience profile, and the creator’s track record with beauty products. A creator with 200,000 followers who is trusted by their audience will outperform a mega-influencer with 5 million passive followers every time.
On Douyin, we recommend a mix: one or two mid-tier KOLs for credibility and reach, plus five to ten micro-KOLs (20,000-100,000 followers) for volume and authenticity. On Kuaishou, the micro-KOL approach is even more effective because the platform’s algorithm favors community content over celebrity content. Our KOL marketing team in China can identify the right creators for your category and manage the full collaboration process.
Contact us for a free consultation on your China cosmetics strategy.
