Mid-Tier Brands Grow 7.5% in China's Online Cosmetics
By Jotham Lim
4 min read
Executive Summary#
Mid-tier brands expanded their share of China's online cosmetics market by 2.1 percentage points in H1 2025, while their sales grew 7.5% year on year. This analysis looks at the competitive dynamics that are changing China's makeup and skincare industry, from the product and marketing strategies of premium brands such as La Mer (海蓝之谜) to the experiential marketing of mid-tier brands such as Galenic.
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Sales Shift Toward Mid-Tier Brands#
Sales shifted toward mid-tier brands in H1 2025, as they expanded their share of the market by 2.1 percentage points and achieved 7.5% sales growth year on year. We believe this shows a more competitive market in which smaller brands are gaining ground, because digital-first marketing and targeted product innovation allow them to compete with much larger international groups.
Key drivers behind this shift include:
- Consumer preference for niche and specialized products over mass-market offerings
- Effective digital marketing on platforms like Douyin (抖音) and Xiaohongshu (小红书)
- Product innovation addressing specific skincare concerns
- Value-conscious consumers seeking quality alternatives to premium brands
Domestic brands are part of the same shift, and KANS (韩束) shows how a local player can compete with global groups through digital-native marketing and product innovation tailored to the preferences of Chinese consumers.
Premium Brands: Product Innovation and Integrated Execution#
La Mer (海蓝之谜)#
La Mer (海蓝之谜) builds on product innovation and coordinated marketing and channel execution, with its star product Concentrate La Mer at the centre, and we believe it shows how premium positioning can succeed while the market polarises. Its strategy rests on storytelling around its luxury heritage and on targeted digital campaigns.
Helena Rubinstein (赫莲娜) follows a similar integrated product, marketing and channel strategy.
Mid-Tier Brands: Growth Through Focused Execution#
Mid-tier brands gained momentum in H1 2025, and some of them grew at triple-digit rates through targeted product innovation and digital-first marketing.
Mid-Tier Case Studies: Experiential Marketing, Ingredients and Heritage#
Galenic#
In May 2025, Galenic launched its "Brightening Platinum Tennis Court" pop-up store at Shanghai New World Daimaru Department Store, which combined a sports tanning scenario with technology-driven skincare as part of an integrated product, marketing and channel plan. The activation generated over 500 million social exposures, according to our H1 2025 makeup and skincare report.
Forest Cabin, Pechoin and MAOGEPING#
Forest Cabin (林清轩) concentrated on natural ingredient positioning and made effective use of livestream commerce, while Pechoin (百雀羚), a heritage Chinese skincare brand, revitalised the brand to reach younger consumers.
MAOGEPING (毛戈平), a Chinese cosmetics brand, has built on the "Chinese aesthetic" trend and on an Eastern beauty positioning that resonates strongly with domestic consumers.
Strategic Implications for Market Participants#
For large established brands: competition from agile mid-tier brands increased in H1 2025, and holding a position takes renewed innovation and authentic digital engagement, since brand heritage alone is not enough.
For mid-tier challengers: the segment's growth shows that focused execution on product innovation and experiential marketing, supported by platform-native content, can make up for a lack of scale.
For international brands: La Mer and Helena Rubinstein show that premium positioning can work when it is backed by integrated execution, while mass-premium positioning, caught between a credible luxury story and a value proposition, has come under pressure.
More from This Report#
About the Data#
This analysis draws on Moojing Market Intelligence data covering H1 2025. Moojing analyses brand and category performance across major Chinese e-commerce platforms, and share figures reflect online retail sales across major platforms.
This content adheres to Moojing's editorial standards .
Frequently Asked Questions
Concentration is loosening. Mid-tier brands grew sales 7.5% year on year in H1 2025 and added 2.1 percentage points of share. Leadership positions in this category were built on distribution reach and brand heritage, and both count for less when a challenger can reach the same consumer through content and one specific product claim.
Four drivers reinforce one another. Consumers are preferring niche and specialised products over mass-market ranges. Digital marketing on content platforms lets a small brand reach a defined audience without building distribution first. Product innovation aimed at one specific skincare concern gives that audience a reason to switch. And value-conscious buyers are actively seeking quality alternatives to premium pricing. None of those requires scale, which helps explain how some mid-tier brands grew at triple-digit rates in H1 2025.
They integrated product, marketing and channel around a single idea. In May 2025 Galenic opened a "Brightening Platinum Tennis Court" pop-up in a Shanghai department store, merging a sports-tanning scenario with technology-led skincare, which gave the product an occasion of its own, and the activation generated over 500 million social exposures. Forest Cabin built on natural-ingredient positioning executed through livestream commerce, and Pechoin, a heritage domestic brand, revitalised itself for younger buyers. The common factor is one coherent idea carried through product, content and channel.
Heritage alone no longer defends an established brand's position in this category. Premium positioning still works, as La Mer and Helena Rubinstein show through integrated product, marketing and channel execution. What has come under pressure is mass-premium, the segment caught between a credible luxury story and a value proposition. The practical response is to pick a side: either invest in the storytelling and formulation that justify a premium, or compete on the specificity and price the mid-tier challengers are winning with.
