Key Takeaways:
Even as China faces a broader retail slowdown, the beauty category remains resilient, even brimming with potential.
In the first half of 2025, cosmetics sales rose 2.9% YoY to $32.5 billion (229.1 billion yuan), and in November, they jumped 6.1% YoY to $6.6 billion (46.8 billion RMB), boosted by Double 11 promotions. Though China’s beauty market is unlikely to return to pre-pandemic highs, certain sectors like medical aesthetics, men’s grooming, and fragrances are poised for double-digit growth in the next few years.
Simply put, Chinese consumers are still spending—just more intentionally. They’re investing in brands with proven efficacy, emotional resonance, and experiences that foster community. They’re seeking solutions, not just one-off products, that provide clarity and control over their beauty journey. And in turn, they’re giving rise to new players and categories set to reshape the industry.
What will China’s beauty market look like in 2026? BeautyMatter goes straight to the experts for answers.
New Fragrance Players Emerge
China’s perfume market has long been dominated by global giants like Chanel, Hermès, and Dior. This landscape is expected to become more fragmented as new players and dark horses emerge, said Dao Nguyen, founder of Essenzia ByDao, a boutique strategic marketing agency dedicated to helping fragrance, beauty, and luxury brands expand in China.
These challengers include local brands diversifying their portfolios, such as prestige cosmetics brand Maogeping and luxury bag expert Songmont, which both entered the fragrance category in 2025. They also include “professional insiders who can leverage their existing community,” such as Chinese concept store LaPorte, which launched its own line of perfumes last year, Nguyen said.
“In a context of economic slowdown and uncertainty, [younger consumers] are more price sensitive and receptive to functional fragrance to balance their moods,” she told BeautyMatter. “In [their] full existential quest, they redefine what fragrance experience could be and are eager to infuse their life with innovative scented rituals. The new dark horses who think out of the box are prone to hijack the established ones as they introduce new touchpoints and narratives.”
Shoppers Trade Up for Science
Perfume isn’t the only category taking off. Jacques Roizen, Managing Director of China consulting at Digital Luxury Group, predicts that clinical-grade, science-backed precision skincare will dominate China, particularly the prestige market.
“Although the overall consumer confidence remains challenging, the Chinese prestige beauty market continues to outperform mass as consumers ‘trade up with precision.’ They’re buying fewer items but investing in clinically validated serums, barrier‑repair treatments, and derm‑device hybrids,” he explained.
As Chinese consumers face rising anxiety over skin sensitivity, pollution, and “inflammaging” (chronic, low-grade inflammation that develops with aging), dermatology-driven brands like Estée Lauder, SkinCeuticals, and Proya have doubled down on diagnostics and high-performance actives.
“People want proof, before-and-after results, and credible education, not just beautiful packaging or brand stories,” said Effie Chen, Business Development Lead at YASO, a London-based startup that helps beauty brands break into China. “Brands already exemplifying this direction tend to be science-led, clinic-adjacent, or results-first, whether that’s medical-grade skincare, functional beauty supplements, or brands that openly communicate timelines for visible change.”
Brands Dial Up the Emotions
That said, Chinese consumers aren’t just looking for science. They’re also searching for emotional grounding, balance, and ritual in their daily lives, a concept Gabby Chen, Florasis’ President of Global Markets, calls “emotional efficacy.”
“Young consumers in China are navigating intense work pressure, digital overload, and heightened uncertainty. In response, they are turning beauty routines into moments of restoration—small rituals that offer control, calm, and emotional comfort,” she told BeautyMatter.
Combining Chinese aesthetics and Eastern beauty wisdom, Florasis is uniquely positioned to capture this trend. The brand explores the emotional and sensorial dimensions of beauty through its botanical ingredients, intricate craftsmanship, and cultural storytelling. As Chen described, “Every detail, from scent to touch to visual experience, is designed not only to beautify, but to soothe, restore, and elevate the emotional well-being of the user.”
Stores Double as Community Hubs
Another way to engage shoppers emotionally? Retail.
Linda Yu, General Manager of Red Ant Asia, foresees beauty stores transforming into community cultural hubs that integrate art exhibitions, specialized libraries, themed salons, and even mini health clinics. “Consumers pay for access to the space and cultural identity, while products become natural extensions and mementos of the experience,” she explained.
Chinese perfume label To Summer shows how it’s done. With flagship stores in the 280-year-old Beijing Guozijian courtyard and a Spanish-style historic villa on Shanghai’s Hunan Road, the brand combines beautiful architecture with art installations and literary narratives to create an immersive shopping experience.
Yu remarked that To Summer’s future developments could go even further, such as hosting seasonal “emotional healing” salons or collaborating with artists on limited-edition spatial installations.
Thermal Wellness Gains Steam
At the crossroads of science-backed rituals and natural ingredients comes another trend: thermal wellness and nature tech, noted Elisa Harca, co-founder of Red Ant Asia. Thermal wellness, popular across Asia and Europe, uses mineral-rich water for healing and relaxation and now stands as a $72 billion global industry, according to the Global Wellness Institute.
In China, Omorovicza is at the forefront of this trend. The luxury Hungarian skincare brand combines ancient natural healing with modern, high-tech skincare to deliver a potent distillation of Budapest’s thermal waters. Already selling through Sephora and SKP, they’re starting to expand their footprint into Chinese spas.
“Hungarian thermal waters (fermented over 2000 years) are ancient, potent, mineral-rich natural remedies, a sophisticated form of ‘nature-tech’ akin to Traditional Chinese Medicine’s focus on natural elements. It’s heritage with a futuristic twist,” said Harca. “And, since [Omorovicza] now has more spas in the market, they can bring these experiences to life in self-care luxury environments that deliver unique tech-meets-nature synergy for visible results, offering a sophisticated alternative to mass-market trends.”
Consumers Call the (Literal) Shots
Meanwhile, Carol Zhou, Senior Vice President of China Business Innovations & Investments at Shiseido, observes a major shift toward self-directed beauty. In her words, “Consumers are moving away from one-off products or occasional procedures and embracing a more holistic, lifestyle-integrated approach to beauty and wellness. As I often say, the future of beauty isn’t younger skin; it’s giving people the power to shape their own transformation.”
What does that look like? AI diagnostics, skin scoring, and predictive analysis—tools that give consumers clarity, confidence, and control over their skin. Medical aesthetics (which includes Botox, fillers, and lasers) also exemplifies this trend, requiring diagnostics, treatment planning, and long-term care that place consumers in a more proactive role.
To meet these changing demands, Shiseido launched its first medical aesthetics brand, RQ Pyology, in 2025. Distributed through premium medical clinics, products support users before, during, and after their medical aesthetics procedures. “In short, we’re moving from buying products to owning your entire beauty journey,” Zhou said.
Beauty Meets the Great Outdoors
More than any single ingredient or format, the broader shift toward health-focused lifestyles will define China’s beauty landscape in 2026, predicts Chen from YASO. “People talk about digestion, inflammation, sleep, and energy with the same fluency they once talked about whitening or pore size. Beauty has become a by-product of health, not a separate pursuit.”
As health becomes an aspiration status marker, beauty brands that align with this performance-driven lifestyle will feel far more relevant than those focused purely on aesthetics. This means that “makeup will have to start having SPF. For example, lip products will have to be more sweat and water resistant. It also impacts the marketing and product placement, and there are new consumer needs like protection against elements,” added Allison Malmsten, a lifestyle, sportswear, and consumer goods strategy consultant at Daxue Consulting.
More and more beauty labels are expanding into outdoor lines. In 2025, Judydoll released a high-performance makeup subbrand described as water-resistant, sweat-resistant, sun-resistant, smudge-proof, and heat-resistant, and Shanghai-based beauty label Sposh made is debut, offering moisturizing blush sticks and hydrating matte lipsticks with UV protection.
Silver Consumers Up their Spend
Alongside active living, the longevity market will continue to evolve as Chinese consumers look for biohacking breakthroughs, said Olivia Houghton, lead beauty and wellness analyst at The Future Laboratory.
“This is where products that can treat and prevent age-related concerns will have cross-demographic appeal. Brands that tap into this growth area should be investing in products for ease of use to maximize uptake and encourage positive changes at all life stages,” she said.
Specifically, the “Silver Beauty” economy represents one of the biggest untapped opportunities as China’s population ages rapidly, said Fan Tu-Cerny, Account Director at marketing strategy agency Hot Pot China.
For brands targeting this demographic, the key is to focus on dignity rather than aspiration, shifting away from anti-aging claims and youth-obsessed narratives.
“These consumers are not looking to look younger; they want products that respect their life stage, improve quality of life, and feel trustworthy. Broader lifestyle shifts, including later retirement, more active aging, and higher spending power among urban older consumers, are reinforcing this demand,” Fan concluded.
