Scent vs. Efficacy: How Fragrance Became the #1 Driver in China's Hair and Body Care Market

Introduction

Fragrance has quietly moved from a secondary product attribute to the dominant purchase driver in China's personal care market. In MAT2025, scent accounts for 50.2% of all consumer evaluation buzz in body care — more than five times the second-ranked dimension of hydrating and moisturizing (10.0%). In hair care, fragrance commands 36.8% of e-commerce consumer focus, trailing functional efficacy by a margin of fewer than two percentage points.

The commercial consequence is measurable and substantial: fragrance-retaining body care products reached CN¥ 12.64 billion in MAT2025, up +61.8% YoY from CN¥ 7.81 billion; fragrance-retaining hair care products reached CN¥ 9.37 billion (+38.5% YoY). Both sub-segments are growing at roughly twice the rate of their parent categories. This is not a trend — it is a structural shift in what Chinese consumers are buying when they purchase personal care products.

Understanding the fragrance shift requires examining three layers: why scent became emotionally significant, which product categories are capturing the growth, and where the next wave of differentiation lies within the fragrance dimension itself.

Why Scent Now Rivals Efficacy

The elevation of fragrance to near-parity with efficacy in hair care reflects a broader change in what personal care means to Chinese consumers. When asked why scent matters in their hair care choices, 46.8% of respondents cited relaxation as the primary motivation, followed by image management (28.9%) and lifestyle rituals (24.3%). The aggregated picture is clear: consumers are purchasing hair care partly as a self-care ritual, and fragrance is the primary sensory signal of that ritual's quality.

Hair care "scent" discussion on social media reached 5.0 million posts in MAT2025, up +25.7% YoY. The scale of this conversation is notable: scent-related discussion across Weibo, Douyin (抖音), and Xiaohongshu (小红书) outpaces discussion of ingredients, texture, and quantity combined. This social media footprint both reflects and amplifies consumer interest — the more scent is discussed as a dimension of quality, the more consumers weight it in their own purchase decisions.

In body care, the fragrance dynamic is even more pronounced. Scent accounts for 50.2% of product evaluation buzz, dwarfing all other dimensions. Hydrating and moisturizing, the historically dominant consideration in body care, captures just 10.0%. Cleansing power — the most basic functional claim — registers at only 1.6%. This inversion of the conventional efficacy-first hierarchy represents a fundamental market realignment.

Hair Care: Fragrance-retaining Products Accelerate to CN¥ 9.37 Billion

Fragrance-retaining hair care products grew from CN¥ 6.76 billion in MAT2024 to CN¥ 9.37 billion in MAT2025, a CN¥ 2.61 billion increase representing +38.5% YoY growth. To put this in context, the overall hair care market grew +17.9% over the same period. Fragrance-retaining products are therefore growing at more than twice the category average, making them the single most powerful value-added proposition in hair care.

The product formats capturing this growth span the category. Shampoos and conditioners with long-lasting fragrance positioning have become mainstream. Hair mist and leave-in fragrance products — formats that were niche in prior years — are showing rapid adoption. The prevailing formulation philosophy for high-performing products in this space is the three-note composite fragrance structure (top-middle-base notes), borrowed directly from fine perfumery and applied to everyday hair care. This construction allows brands to tell a more sophisticated fragrance story and to credibly claim longevity, since the base notes persist long after application.

Brand positioning in this sub-segment increasingly uses the language of fine fragrance: "emotional soothing," "scent journey," "fragrance wardrobe." This framing is not incidental — it signals to consumers that they are purchasing a sensory experience, not just a cleansing product, and justifies a price premium over commodity alternatives.

Body Care: Fragrance-retaining Products Reach CN¥ 12.64 Billion at +61.8% Growth

The body care fragrance story is even more commercially significant. Fragrance-retaining body care products grew from CN¥ 7.81 billion to CN¥ 12.64 billion — an increase of CN¥ 4.83 billion in a single year. At +61.8% YoY, this growth rate substantially outpaces even the strong +27.0% growth of the overall body care market. Shower gels and body lotions with scent-retention positioning dominate this sub-segment in absolute terms, while shower oils and body care oils are growing rapidly from smaller bases.

The fragrance dimension is not merely a marketing claim layered onto existing formulations. Leading brands in the fragrance-retaining body care segment are reformulating with novel fixatives, encapsulation technologies, and higher fragrance oil concentrations to deliver genuinely extended scent longevity. The consumer expectation being set — that body care should function as a wearable fragrance throughout the day — is raising the technical bar for the entire category.

Fragrance Family Dynamics: Mainstream vs. Emerging

Within the broader fragrance-retaining segment, consumer preferences are evolving in two directions simultaneously. Traditional floral fragrances — cherry blossom, rose, camellia — retain the largest absolute market share. In body care, floral fragrances represent CN¥ 7.11 billion in sales (+22.0% YoY), establishing a clear anchor for mainstream consumer preference.

However, the growth story lies in emerging fragrance families. Oriental fragrances grew +137.1% YoY in body care, reaching CN¥ 0.54 billion; gourmand fragrances grew +109.9% to CN¥ 0.44 billion; woody fragrances grew +63.9% to CN¥ 1.07 billion. These categories are influenced by the growing Chinese consumer familiarity with fine perfumery — a market that itself has grown substantially — extending naturally into daily personal care.

The dynamic in hair care mirrors body care but with a sharper tilt toward emerging notes. Fig, lime, and green tea — categories that barely registered in prior years — are growing at rates exceeding +300%. Aromatic fragrances in body care grew +36.6% to CN¥ 2.90 billion, capturing sophisticated consumers who want their personal care products to occupy a different olfactory register from conventional floral options.

The strategic implication for brands is a two-tier fragrance portfolio. Mainstream floral and fruity offerings capture the broadest consumer base, but premium positioning and the highest growth rates sit in oriental, woody, and gourmand territories. Brands that move early to establish credible positioning in these emerging families — while the competitive set is still small — can lock in the brand associations that will define category perception as these segments scale.

Oil-based Hair Care: A Fragrance-adjacent Breakthrough

A closely related trend illustrates how fragrance and functional innovation can reinforce each other. Oil-based hair care — scalp essential oils, hair oils, and serum oils — has emerged as a breakout category with social media topic volume surging to 46,000 posts, an extraordinary +861.8% YoY increase. Scalp oil sales reached CN¥ 1.64 billion (+66.8% YoY), while hair care oil sales reached CN¥ 3.84 billion (+11.2% YoY).

Oil-based hair care products inherently carry stronger, more persistent fragrance profiles than water-based formulations — the oil medium functions as a natural fixative, extending scent longevity. This means that brands entering the oil-based hair care space with compelling fragrance positioning can credibly deliver on the fragrance-retention promise that consumers increasingly expect. Rene Furterer (a French brand) demonstrated the premium potential: the brand grew revenue +165.9% YoY in scalp oils while maintaining a CN¥ 570 average price point, more than double the category leader Kerastase at CN¥ 268.

The Competitive Implications

The fragrance shift has altered the competitive landscape in three important ways.

First, fragrance investment is now a threshold requirement. Brands without a credible fragrance story — or with generic, undifferentiated scents — will find it increasingly difficult to justify price points above commodity levels. This is particularly true in body care, where 50.2% of consumer evaluation centers on scent. No amount of efficacy investment compensates for a weak fragrance execution in this environment.

Second, fine fragrance expertise has become a source of competitive advantage for non-traditional players. Maison Margiela's Lazy Weekend Body Lotion Shower Gel Gift Set and Rituals' Amsterdam Body Care Fragrance Gift Set are examples of brands bringing genuine olfactory credibility to personal care gifting — and commanding the premium prices that follow. Traditional personal care players that lack fine fragrance heritage must either develop it through acquisition and partnership, or invest in building genuine in-house expertise.

Third, the social media vocabulary of fragrance is now a distinct content format. Consumers sharing fragrance reviews on Douyin and Xiaohongshu are using the note structure and longevity language of fine fragrance — discussing "dry-down," "projection," and "sillage" in the context of shower gel and body lotion. Brands that can produce content that speaks this language authentically are capturing the most engaged segment of the personal care audience.

Conclusion

Fragrance in China's personal care market has undergone a categorical shift: from a background attribute that consumers noticed but rarely prioritized, to the primary lens through which they evaluate, discuss, and choose products. The CN¥ 9.37 billion and CN¥ 12.64 billion fragrance-retaining sub-segments in hair and body care — both growing at multiples of their parent categories — reflect a consumer who is purchasing personal care as a sensory and emotional experience. Brands that have invested in fragrance as a core capability are capturing disproportionate growth. Those that have not face a narrowing window to establish differentiated positions before the consumer preference patterns solidify further.

For the full category analysis, download the H1 2025 China Personal Care Market Report.