Key Takeaways:
- Born on TikTok, Sheglam is now chasing long-term retail credibility.
- Rapid innovation has fueled growth; sustainability may define the next chapter.
- Global scale is achieved; now comes the challenge of earning consumer trust.
In just six years, Sheglam has quietly become one of beauty's biggest success stories. Launched in 2019 as a small internal project within fast-fashion giant Shein, the color cosmetics brand has grown into an estimated $400 million business, amassed more than 10 million TikTok followers, and expanded into over 4,000 retail counters across 16 countries. Yet despite its scale, many consumers in China, its home market, have never tried the brand, and some have never even heard of it.
That contradiction reflects a broader shift taking place across China's beauty industry. While first-generation C-beauty brands such as Florasis built strong domestic businesses before expanding internationally, Sheglam reversed the model entirely. Rather than exporting products already popular in China, it was designed for global consumers from the outset, using social commerce, creator culture, and agile manufacturing to build an international audience.
The strategy has arrived at an opportune moment. China's beauty exports continue to outpace domestic market growth as more brands look overseas for expansion amid slowing consumption at home. Against that backdrop, Sheglam has emerged as one of the clearest examples of a new generation of Chinese beauty companies that use digital ecosystems, rather than heritage storytelling, to build global relevance.
The brand's rise has also challenged assumptions about what a successful global beauty business should look like.
