China's Beauty and Skincare Market Hits CN¥ 454B in 2025

Executive Summary

China's online beauty and skincare market reached CN¥ 454.2 billion in 2025, growing +9.7% year-on-year (YoY) with 5.13 billion units sold (+5.5%). Anti-aging emerged as the dominant growth engine at CN¥ 129.8 billion (+26.3%), while luxury brands and domestic challengers simultaneously gained ground -- L'Oreal held the top position at CN¥ 10.0 billion, but PROYA closed the gap at CN¥ 9.8 billion with the fastest share gains among the top 10 ^[1].

A CN¥ 454 Billion Market with Distinct Seasonal Peaks

China's beauty and skincare market outpaced GDP growth by a wide margin in 2025, confirming the sector's structural resilience and expanding consumer base. Total online sales reached CN¥ 454.2 billion (+9.7% YoY), with volume growth of +5.5% to 5.13 billion units indicating that the revenue increase was driven by a combination of higher purchase frequency and sustained premiumization.

Monthly sales data reveals two pronounced peaks that shape category planning. October dominated at CN¥ 58.0 billion, driven by National Day promotions and pre-Double 11 early access campaigns, while May reached CN¥ 48.4 billion on the back of 618 pre-sale activations and Mother's Day gifting. The July trough at CN¥ 26.5 billion -- a seasonal low between major shopping festivals -- represents an opportunity gap that brands with strong everyday positioning could exploit ^[2].

Price segmentation data reveals a polarizing market. In makeup, the CN¥ 0-300 band captured 74.1% of sales, confirming mass accessibility as the dominant purchase behavior. In skincare, the CN¥ 0-100 segment grew fastest at +20.6% YoY, driven by entry-level consumers and value-seeking repeat buyers. The mid-market band of CN¥ 300-500 experienced a squeeze as consumers traded either down to affordable essentials or up to premium efficacy products -- a barbell dynamic that is reshaping portfolio strategy across the industry.

Online beauty and skincare sales peak in October and May

Brand Competition: Luxury Surges While Domestic Brands Close the Gap

The top 10 brands grew +12.5% collectively and expanded their combined market share by +2.9 percentage points -- but the most striking shift is who is gaining fastest. L'Oreal maintained the leading position at CN¥ 10.0 billion, yet PROYA stood just CN¥ 180 million behind at CN¥ 9.8 billion, having delivered +18.2% sales growth and +7.2 percentage points of share gain -- the strongest share expansion among any top-10 player ^[3].

L'Oreal leads a tightly contested top 5

Growth Engines: Anti-Aging and the Makeup Renaissance

Anti-aging has become the single most important growth driver in China's beauty market, expanding at more than double the category average. The segment reached CN¥ 129.8 billion (+26.3% YoY), accounting for nearly 29% of total beauty and skincare spending. Body anti-aging -- a nascent category focused on neck, hand, and decolletage treatments -- surged +146.7%, signaling that anti-aging demand is extending well beyond facial skincare into full-body routines.

The competitive landscape within anti-aging splits along product format lines. SK-II dominated the serum segment, leveraging its Pitera franchise to capture premium positioning, while Helena Rubinstein led in anti-aging creams, driven by clinical-grade formulations targeting consumers aged 30 and above. Consumer interest data confirms that the 31-35 age cohort represents 23.4% of anti-aging demand -- the largest single demographic segment -- suggesting that anti-aging purchasing now begins earlier and runs deeper than in previous market cycles.

Meanwhile, the makeup segment is experiencing its own structural shift. Beauty enhancement sales grew +15.8% while social media buzz surged +70.2%, indicating that consumer excitement is running well ahead of purchase conversion -- a pattern that typically precedes accelerated sales growth in subsequent quarters. Key dynamics include:

• Cushion foundations surged +37.3% YoY, with compact formats displacing traditional liquid foundations as the preferred base makeup product
• Carslan (卡姿兰) grew +55.8%, establishing itself as the leading domestic makeup brand through aggressive social commerce activation
• MGP (毛戈平) advanced +33.9%, demonstrating that premium domestic makeup brands can compete with international players on quality positioning
• The "rosy vitality" aesthetic trend drove cross-category demand spanning blush, lip products, and tinted skincare, blurring the boundary between skincare and color cosmetics ^[5]

Key Takeaways

• China's online beauty and skincare market reached CN¥ 454.2 billion (+9.7% YoY) with 5.13 billion units sold, driven by both premiumization and volume expansion
• Anti-aging is the dominant growth engine at CN¥ 129.8 billion (+26.3%), with body anti-aging surging +146.7% as routines extend beyond facial care
• Luxury brands are accelerating fastest: Helena Rubinstein +33.5%, YSL +29.2%, La Mer +26.6% -- all outpacing the market by 2-3x
• PROYA closed to within CN¥ 180 million of L'Oreal, gaining +7.2 pp of share and proving that domestic brands can compete at scale on innovation credibility
• Cushion foundations (+37.3%) and beauty enhancement buzz (+70.2%) signal a makeup renaissance that will reshape the category through 2026

## About the Data

This analysis is based on Moojing Market Intelligence data covering China's online beauty and skincare market for the full calendar year 2025. Moojing tracks 400,000+ brands across 30+ e-commerce platforms, representing 58-65% of China's online retail Gross Merchandise Value (GMV). Sales figures reflect online channel sell-through and do not include offline retail. YoY comparisons are calculated against the corresponding 2024 period. For full methodology, brand-level data, and additional category deep-dives, download the complete report.

• Website: moojing-global.com
• Email: [email protected]
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/68588397/