C-beauty, or Chinese beauty is an umbrella term encompassing contemporary beauty products, practises, and ideals originating from China.[1][2] China has the second largest beauty market in the world, after the United States.[3] Common C-beauty products include cosmetics, skin care, hair care, perfumes, and nail art.[4][5][6][7] C-beauty often incorporates influences from traditional Chinese medicine and Chinese art.[8][9]

Overview

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Chinese beauty products are known for their elaborate packaging, rapid innovation, and cost-effectiveness due to the high expectations of Chinese consumers.[10][11] As the Chinese market is intensely competitive, some C-beauty brands have multiple product lines in the works simultaneously. They may take only three to six months to conceptualize, launch, and manufacture a product line.[12]

Pechoin, founded in 1931, is China's oldest skin care brand.[13] Lip muds are a cosmetic product invented by Chinese brand INTO YOU, and later adopted by several other Chinese brands.[11][14] C-beauty content creators are credited for popularizing the skincare routine of Vitamin C and Vitamin A serums at different times of day via the "Morning C, Night A" slogan.[15][16][17] C-beauty products that are heavily influenced by Chinese culture may be characterized as being part of a broader social movement known as "guócháo" (国潮) or "China chic", which celebrates traditional Chinese culture.[18][9]

K-beauty became popular in China in 2012 and South Korea surpassed the United States and Japan in 2015 to become the second largest exporter of cosmetics to China after France. However, the popularity of K-beauty declined sharply starting from 2018 due to a combination of unappealing packaging, low efficacy, unreasonable prices, and an over-reliance on the popularity of the Korean Wave rather than focusing on the quality of the products themselves to maintain consumer interest. This provided the opportunity for domestic C-beauty brands to grow their market share as they offered a more diverse range of higher quality products at more affordable prices compared to K-beauty.[19][20]

Global expansion

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The intense competition of the Chinese beauty market has caused Chinese companies to expand into overseas markets.[21] Skincare brand Herborist was the earliest to expand, opening its first European flagship store in Paris in 2015.[22] In 2016, Chinese cosmetics brand Kailijumei's color-changing, flower lipsticks became a viral sensation overseas.[23][24][25] One of the most internationally successful C-beauty brands is Flower Knows.[26][27]

Within a five-year span, from 2017 to 2022, the C-beauty industry doubled its market share. In 2022, C-beauty brands surpassed international competitors in sales within China.[28] China exported US$4.85 billion worth of cosmetics in 2021.[29] In 2023, the C-beauty market value was worth US$67.18 billion.[30] In the early 2020s, Chinese makeup styles and cosmetics became popular in Japan.[31][32]

In 2021, the practice of gua sha facial massage and jade rollers became viral in the West through TikTok.[33][34] Although this faced criticisms of cultural appropriation as most brands selling Chinese facial tools in the West were not of Chinese origin and Western influencers were promoting gua sha massage methods with no basis in traditional Chinese medicine.[35][36][37]

A broad range of Chinese makeup styles and techniques have been labelled "Douyin makeup" in the West, named after the Chinese version for TikTok.[38][39] However, the majority of these makeup trends have nothing to do with Douyin, and people in China do not use the term "Douyin makeup" themselves. Chinese people simply refer to the makeup styles collectively as "Chinese makeup" or by the specific names of the styles.[40]

Regulation

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Since 2014, cosmetics manufactured and sold in China do not require animal testing if reliable safety assessment reports are provided, although it continued to require animal testing for imported products from other countries. This law was amended in 2021, when foreign companies were allowed to export cosmetics to China without animal testing.[41]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Luo, Jiaqi (2020-01-05). "The New Generation of C-Beauty". Jing Daily. Retrieved 2024-01-18.
  2. ^ International, Oban (2022-02-02). "The Rise of Chinese Beauty Brands". Oban International. Retrieved 2024-01-18.
  3. ^ "China's Cosmetics and Personal Care Market: Trends and Outlook". China Briefing News. 2023-07-20. Retrieved 2024-01-18.
  4. ^ "13 C-Beauty Products You Need to Know for the Year of the Rabbit". Vogue. 2023-01-20. Retrieved 2024-01-19.
  5. ^ Luo, Jiaqi (2022-07-18). "The Lipstick Index Is Out. Meet The Nail Effect". Jing Daily. Retrieved 2024-01-19.
  6. ^ Zhang, Tianwei (2022-05-13). "A Closer Look at China's Hair Care Market Boom". WWD. Retrieved 2024-01-19.
  7. ^ Achim, Adina-Laura (2022-07-14). "Detangling the Complexities in China's Haircare Market". Jing Daily. Retrieved 2024-01-19.
  8. ^ Team, Dao (2022-01-12). "Is C-beauty on its way to surpassing international brands?". Dao Insights. Retrieved 2024-01-18.
  9. ^ a b "Can China's Cosmetics Giant Florasis Crack America?". The Business of Fashion. 2023-05-30. Retrieved 2024-01-19.
  10. ^ Luo, Jiaqi (2020-01-05). "The New Generation of C-Beauty". Jing Daily. Retrieved 2024-01-19.
  11. ^ a b "Is This the World's Prettiest Makeup?". ELLE. 2023-11-22. Retrieved 2024-01-18.
  12. ^ Teh, Cheryl. "Fast fashion brands like Forever 21 and H&M have inspired China's latest monster trend — fast beauty brands turning out new products in record time". Business Insider. Retrieved 2024-01-18.
  13. ^ "Top Leading Cosmetics Brands in China and Full Strategy Analysis". 2023-09-13. Retrieved 2024-01-18.
  14. ^ Luo, Jiaqi (2021-10-19). "How Did 'Lip Mud' Become China's New Beauty Obsession?". Jing Daily. Retrieved 2024-01-19.
  15. ^ Hu, Denni (2023-03-24). "C-beauty in 2023: A New Competitive Landscape". WWD. Retrieved 2024-01-19.
  16. ^ Dynvibe. "Morning C, Night A". Dynvibe. Retrieved 2024-01-19.
  17. ^ Nan, Lisa (2023-12-13). "Beauty buzz 2023: The top 6 Chinese slang terms that shaped skincare trends". Jing Daily. Retrieved 2024-01-19.
  18. ^ "'China-chic' trend builds youngsters' patriotism, cultural confidence". South China Morning Post. 2022-11-10. Retrieved 2024-01-19.
  19. ^ "曾经跨维打击的韩妆,如今败走中国". 18 July 2023.
  20. ^ "South Korean cosmetics lose shine in China as local brands glow". Nikkei Asia. Retrieved 2024-01-19.
  21. ^ "China's start-ups take on big global beauty brands". www.ft.com. Retrieved 2024-02-20.
  22. ^ WW, FashionNetwork com. "Herborist: first European store in Paris". FashionNetwork.com. Retrieved 2024-01-19.
  23. ^ "This Flower Jelly Lipstick Is Going Viral For All the Right Reasons". Cosmopolitan. 2016-06-22. Retrieved 2024-01-19.
  24. ^ "These Lipsticks With Actual Flowers in Them Might Be the Prettiest Ever". Allure. 2016-06-21. Retrieved 2024-01-19.
  25. ^ "Kailijumei's line of color-changing, flower lipsticks are all the rage now across the world". SoraNews24 -Japan News-. 2016-06-28. Retrieved 2024-01-19.
  26. ^ "Flower Knows, China's up-and-coming beauty brand, is rapidly gaining international popularity through its distinct approach to aesthetics". Elle Canada. Retrieved 2024-01-19.
  27. ^ "Chinese Beauty Brand Flower Knows Surges Into the International Beauty Market". Grazia Middle East. Retrieved 2024-02-20.
  28. ^ Nan, Lisa (2021-07-28). "C-Beauty Surpass International Brands For The First Time". Jing Daily. Retrieved 2024-01-18.
  29. ^ Rozario, Kevin (2023-07-06). "C-beauty doubles its market share in just five years". Jing Daily. Retrieved 2024-01-18.
  30. ^ Nan, Lisa (2023-12-19). "China beauty trend predictions for 2024". Jing Daily. Retrieved 2024-01-18.
  31. ^ "Chinese-style makeup catches eye of young Japanese women". Nikkei Asia. Retrieved 2024-01-18.
  32. ^ "Japanese youngsters want to look like Chinese starlets". The Economist. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 2024-01-18.
  33. ^ "What's gua sha? Chinese medicine experts explain TikTok's viral skin care technique". ABC News. Retrieved 2022-09-23.
  34. ^ Seo, Hannah (2022-09-12). "Dry Brushing, Body Scraping, Gua Sha: Lymphatic Health Is All the Rage". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-09-23.
  35. ^ Burke, Cait (2020-10-28). "Has the gua sha beauty tool been culturally appropriated?". Fashion Journal. Retrieved 2024-01-19.
  36. ^ Velasco, Pia. "Here's What I Wish the West Would Understand About Gua Sha".
  37. ^ Bowman, Emma. "Asian founders work to steer the narrative as beauty trends pull from their cultures". NPR.
  38. ^ Zhou, Maggie (2023-07-03). "What is Douyin makeup, according to a makeup artist". Fashion Journal. Retrieved 2024-01-19.
  39. ^ "How to Get the Douyin Makeup Look Trending On TikTok". Teen Vogue. 2023-04-04. Retrieved 2024-01-19.
  40. ^ Tai, Crystal (2023-09-20). "The viral rise of Chinese-style beauty and 'Douyin makeup' on TikTok". Jing Daily. Retrieved 2024-01-19.
  41. ^ "China Exempts Almost All Imported Cosmetics From Animal Testing". The Business of Fashion. 2021-03-05. Retrieved 2024-01-19.