Q4 2023 Pre-Sales Report: China's Men's Personal Care Market

Key Finding 1

China's men's personal care market reveals a two-speed structure: skincare holds the largest share of sales as a mature segment, while body care and hair styling segments demonstrate resilient growth driven by demand rigidity and emerging grooming consciousness.

Our analysis of September 2022 to August 2023 sales data across three leading Chinese marketplaces reveals a market undergoing structural realignment. On two leading marketplaces, the skincare segment commands 54.6% of men's personal care sales, while body care categories with stronger demand rigidity led growth over the five-year period and the hair and styling segment posted a notable uptick in the most recent rolling year. On a leading content-led marketplace, men's personal care categories are growing fast from a low base, with men's hair color/gray coverage surging +689% YoY and intimate care rocketing +2,729% YoY. The market's next growth frontier therefore lies in specialized body grooming and styling solutions that align with evolving male self-care habits, beyond a facial skincare segment that has reached saturation.

Key Finding 2

The men's depilatory cream segment, growing at 35.49% CAGR (2019-2023), represents a high-growth opportunity where the competitive landscape remains fragmented and brand positioning is yet to be established.

On two leading marketplaces, the men's depilatory cream market reached CN¥ 79.9 million in MAT2023, posting a five-year CAGR of 35.49%, with hair removal devices emerging as a competing format. Critically, market concentration remains low and brand positions shift sharply from year to year, so that no single brand has established a dominant position. Veet (薇婷) entered the segment with its first men's product in 2022, while Pozitilan (泊紫汀兰) built its approach on livestream commerce and "rustic comedy" short-drama content marketing. On a leading content-led marketplace, the segment grew +92.2% YoY as brand concentration rose sharply, signaling rapid brand consolidation on content-driven platforms. The combination of structural market growth, low brand loyalty, and evolving consumer awareness of zone-specific grooming creates a window for new entrants with differentiated products and targeted marketing.

Key Finding 3

Men's hair color and gray coverage constitutes a stable, brand-loyal segment where long-established international brands hold consumer trust but product innovation gaps -- particularly single-use packaging and limited color options -- create opportunity for challengers.

On two leading marketplaces, the men's hair color/gray coverage market recorded CN¥ 139 million in MAT2023, reflecting a mature segment where brand concentration is moderate and edging up and where long-established brands rely on decades of accumulated reputation rather than active social media marketing. Consumer pain points are remarkably consistent across the segment: single-use-only packaging generates dissatisfaction, small product quantity is perceived as poor value, and male consumers increasingly seek trendy brown-toned "skin-brightening" hair colors beyond basic gray coverage. On a leading content-led marketplace, the segment surged +689% YoY as sales correlate strongly with topic popularity, while brand concentration rose and average prices fell to ~CN¥ 40 under intense competition from small and medium brands. Brands that solve the multi-use packaging challenge and expand color ranges to serve "refined trendy men" -- Post-95s and Post-00s in Tier 1 and new Tier 1 cities -- stand to capture meaningful share in this segment.

Key Finding 4

The "entertaining content" marketing model of content-led commerce -- rustic comedy short dramas, KOL collaborations, and platform-native storytelling -- dramatically outperforms conventional product promotion for reaching male personal care consumers, redefining the go-to-market playbook.

Across both depilatory cream and hair color segments, brands that adopted platform-native content strategies achieved disproportionate engagement and sales conversion. Pozitilan (泊紫汀兰) ran a multi-account strategy built on accounts combining product messaging with "rustic comedy short drama" formats. Veet (薇婷) deployed a "precision reach" approach, partnering with well-known male influencers on entertaining content that destigmatizes male grooming while conveying product benefits. For multiple brands, more than 97% of social media engagement came from a single content-led platform. The data demonstrates that men's personal care marketing must move beyond conventional beauty-category tactics, instead leveraging humor, relatability, and male-oriented storytelling to penetrate a consumer base that remains highly receptive but under-educated about grooming products.