4 trends seen at China Beauty Expo 2019: naturalism, lipstick, Korean styles, and men’s makeup
The largest international cosmetics expo in the world, China Beauty Expo, was recently held in Shanghai from May 20 to 22. This year was the expo’s 23rd iteration and around 3,000 companies involved in beauty products and services and hailing from a wide range of nations came to exhibit. They were joined on the show floor by crowds of visitors numbering up to 480,000. Here’s a look at the four latest trends of the China beauty market.
Trend 1: Naturalism in skincare
With consumers in China still valuing skincare over makeup, skincare currently takes up the larger percentage of the beauty market. This year’s expo showcased many skincare products that mixed in plant components, adopting a naturalist concept.
There are already brands in China with a reputation for naturalist skin care cosmetics, including Chando, which was launched by Jala in 2001, and Pechoin, which was founded by Shanghai FuBeiKang Cosmetics in 1931.
Up-and-coming brands are also riding the naturalist bandwagon. Saselomo, which was founded in 2011, has become popular for its stylish packaging featuring a single Chinese character that represents the product’s natural ingredients. Also, Botaniera, founded in 2015, sells skincare products that use traditional Chinese processing methods to extract ingredients from rare plants. Then there’s Spring Summer, a brand launched in 2017 also by Jala that sells skincare with plant-based ingredients and that targets Generation Z consumers.
According to a survey report by Spring Summer and market research firm Kantar, when asked about functionality, 83% of Chinese Gen-Z consumers say they are looking for skincare products with rehydrating moisture. However, when asked about skincare concepts, the majority of 54% say they value plant-based skincare.
There are two reasons for this trend in China towards naturalism. First is that the idea of utilizing the power of nature fits in with the philosophy of Chinese people, whose culture is rooted in the tradition of Chinese medicine that goes back to ancient times. The other reason is a growing dislike in China towards products that contain harmful chemicals. Incidentally, the organic trend, a similar naturalist movement, did not seem to have been adopted much among the Chinese brands at the expo.
Trend 2: Lipstick as the mainstream makeup product
Although beauty awareness in China currently favors skincare overall, the bigger cities are nevertheless seeing a gradual increase in young people who use makeup, and the most popular product among them is lipstick. Indeed, the frequency of which one purchases lipstick is becoming an indicator as to a person’s sense of beauty, with popular phrases emerging such as “the lipstick borderline” (that refers to the minimum amount of lipstick a person ought to buy within a year).
With lipstick leading the makeup market, a number of Chinese companies are turning their focus to makeup. The above-mentioned brand Chando is concentrating on expanding their whole makeup range along with their lipstick products and launched their makeup line Chando color in May last year. Also, major drug store chain Watsons’ private brand Collagen by Watsons is shifting their focus from skincare to strengthening their makeup line.
Trend 3: Korean-inspired makeup products
This year’s expo saw an abundance of products with packaging designed in the so-called “Korean cosmetics style”. Light pastel colors, rounded designs — these seem to be elements that appeal especially to Gen-Z consumers.
This style was most noticeable among newer and small to medium-sized brands, however, some larger brands are also following suit. One example is in the packaging for the Chando color lineup for this season, which comes in soft, light tones.
A representative of the China Beauty Expo commented that “the cosmetics industry, not only in China but also all over Asia, has been strongly influenced by South Korean trends.” It will be interesting to see how long the Korean influence will continue.
Trend 4: The rapid growth of men’s skincare
Cosmetics that target men have seen remarkable growth in the Chinese beauty market.
In fact, the storefronts of Watsons drug stores in Shanghai are largely occupied by men’s cosmetics. Of course this isn’t the case in all regions and stores, however, the impression is that the number of men’s cosmetics brands surmounts even that in Japan. What stands out in China is a large number of domestic brands that specialize in cosmetics that target men. According to data by Tmall, the growth rate of men’s-only brands between 2017 and 2018 was 56%.
Overseas brands are also muscling in on the men’s cosmetics market in China. Sales of men’s cosmetics by L’Oréal, a brand that enjoys a high level of recognition in China, saw a rise of 33% in 2018 compared to the previous year, making it the highest growth in the past 14 years. Out of those sales, 35% were online transactions.
L’Oréal is also elbowing in on personal care products for men, as seen with their L’Oréal Men Expert brand which is sold on Tmall. They’re expanding the offline market, such as in drug stores.
L’Oréal teamed up with Alibaba’s Tmall Innovation Center in October 2018, allowing them to develop products for the Chinese market with customer data analysis that makes use of Tmall-owned big data.
However, in comparison to men’s skincare products, men’s makeup products still have a faint presence in stores, and they were also minimal at the expo. Even so, Tmall sales of men’s makeup grew by 89% between 2017 and 2018. We have a hunch that, come next year, the men’s cosmetics market could see explosive growth in China.
Text: Ching Li Tor
Original text (Japanese 1 & 2): Yoriko Takizawa
